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24 Mar 00 - Eddie Bauer; Kingdome; simplicity ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- The first three postings are in response to David Stitzhal's 3/22/00 posting, seeking options for specific reuse needs for the Eddie Bauer chain of clothing stores. ------------------- Excerpted from messages from Julie Rhodes and Lee Anne Scott, Reuse Development Organization (ReDO), Indianapolis, IN: Designing long term solutions to excess inventory problems is a main focus of ReDO's new Donations Program. We knew there was a niche to fill for companies that are seeking reuse options and need a national organization to help them do it. We hope to work with Eddie Bauer and other retail apparel companies to promote reuse as an environmentally sound, socially beneficial, and economical means for managing surplus and discarded materials. In fact, that is ReDO's mission statement. ReDO's Donation Program organizes the connection between corporate donation of inventory to local reuse centers (501c3 non-profit organizations) around the country. Our full scope is to coordinate the donation, help plan the transportation, and prepare a complete set of documentation for the corporation's records of who received the materials and how they were used. Though we are early in the start-up/pilot phase, our goal is to work with organizations that have (1) too much material for a single reuse center or a single region; and (2) have locations and material spread out all across the country. Our goals are to provide actual facilitation of materials management in the first case, and assistance in connecting with local organizations in the second case. ReDO's network of non-profit organizations includes: Habitat for Humanity ReStores; other building materials reuse centers; materials for arts and education programs; furniture and household furnishings providers; and others. In addition to looking to ReDO's Donations Program, Eddie Bauer and others might also consider listing very small donations of material (a single rack here or there) with Excess Access, a San Francisco-based organization. For information, see their website at: http://www.excessaccess.com/homeSite/pages/subhome.html If they are looking for resell options, they can look on the Recycler's World website at: http://www.recycle.net There is also a way to list items available. This may not be the quickest means for moving items (not as proactive as other methods might be). For more information on ReDO's Donations Program, contact Lee Anne Scott, ReDO's Donations Program Coordinator, at 765-564-3991, or by e-mail at: donations (A T) redo (D O T) org ----------------- >From David Wollner, BRING Recycling, Eugene, OR: BRING has had success selling used store fixtures in our reuse yard and we find them highly desired items, particularly clothing racks and Plexiglas. I bet other reuse facilities have similar luck with them, too. I have, in the past, approached stores that are unfortunate enough to be liquidating and have asked them to donate fixtures rather than sell them 10 cents on the dollar, and I would be happy to relieve Eugene's local Eddie B. outlet of any of their outdated displays. E-mail: bring [ A T ] efn [ D O T ] org ----------------- >From Janine Bogar, Thurston County Solid Waste, Olympia, WA: I am confused by the request re: Eddie Bauer stores, and feel the need for more information. What are end-of-life fixtures? What are they made of? What sort of dimensions? How old are they? (He speaks of their older generation of design.) Similarly, what are the shelving units made of? But mostly, I am dismayed by this line: "Eddie Bauer switches such shelving out with some regularity in an effort to keep their stores as up-to-date and new-looking as possible." Is this REALLY necessary? The merchandise already changes with regularity; must the shelving units change too? It seems to me Eddie Bauer could save a lot of money, time and stress (not to mention resources) by changing their mindset, not their shelves, and releasing their so-called need to change their shelving units regularly. Am I missing something? Thanks! E -mail: bogarj [ AT ] co [ DOT ] thruston [ DOT ] wa [ DOT ] us ------------------- The next two postings are in response to Tom Watson's 3/22/00 comments about the implosion of the Seattle Kingdome this Sunday, March 26. ------------------- >From Brian Foran, California Integrated Waste Management Board, Sacramento, CA: There is not only something wrong with tearing down a perfectly functional stadium (the Kingdome) after only 24 years from a resource conservation perspective, but from a financial resource perspective. Many such "public" sports facilities are subsidized by public dollars - which infuriates those who are not sports fans, and even some who are (like myself). Because of the public subsidy, the financial sting of demolishing such facilities after such a brief lifespan is not as sharp as it would be if the facility was constructed with strictly private funds. And where such facilities are built with strictly private funds, it makes one wonder about the distribution of wealth in our society - i.e., how is it that any individual or group of individuals can raze a multi-million dollar structure after only 24 years (when interest is probably still being paid off on the original loan), and still afford to build another multi-million dollar structure in its place immediately afterwards? Knowing that 90 percent of the demo debris will be recycled doesn't cheer me up, either. E-mail: bforan [ AT ] CIWMB [ DOT ] ca [ DOT ] gov ------------------- >From David Stitzhal, Full Circle Environmental, Seattle, WA: KINGDUMB We have family plans to wake up our daughter Kaya and head out early Sunday morning to get a good spot to watch the Kingdome implode. I figure it will be a hallmark of wastefulness early in this century. Kaya will be able to say she was there, back then, when society wasted whole buildings, whole nations, whole peoples, whole ecosystems. E-mail: Fullcircle [A T] nwnexus [D O T] com ------------------- Excerpted from a column by Joe Queenan in the Living section of the 3/23/00 New York Times (column forwarded by Jeff Gaisford): Simplicity has evolved into a secular religion for affluent Americans in recent years, making a likable but neurotic class of people feel even more uncomfortable with themselves. At heart, simplicity buffs yearn for an earlier, simpler time when people did not have BMWs, villas in Tuscany and 401Ks, because they had simplified their lives by being poor. Since no one these days actually wants to give up the villas in Tuscany or be poor, the alternative is to read books and magazine articles about how simple life would be if only it were not so complicated. Clinically, this is best described as vicarious Shakerism. Philosophically, the simplicity movement derives from the belief that if one could only reduce paperwork, one's children would be less annoying. Because the simplicity movement proceeds from the flawed assumption that material supplied by journalists can help simplify anything, it is probably doomed. But before it fizzles, it will almost certainly manage to support a number of content-driven, advertisement-laden Web sites. Two new ones of note are: http://www.o2simplify.com/ and http://www.pathfinder.com/realsimple/ It is clear that online simplicity remains so complicated that a few navigational guides are needed. Here then are seven ways to simplify the use of simplicity Web sites: 1. Get rid of all but one of your credit cards so you won't have to read any more articles online about getting rid of all but one of your credit cards. 2. Get better-looking. A considerable amount of online simplification material is devoted to improving your looks, which you wouldn't have to read about if you weren't so plain. 3. Hire a nanny to raise your kids, eliminating the need to read online articles about child-rearing. 4. If a guide to simplifying something contains more than 60 helpful hints, accept the fact that some things cannot be simplified. 5. Get rid of half your friends, creating more time to visit simplicity Web sites. 6. Move to Nebraska. You can read the article in Real Simple, the magazine, about why you should move to Nebraska later. Meanwhile, just pack up and go. 7. Hire a college student or impoverished senior to visit simplicity Web sites and prepare a summary of all the ways you can make your life simpler. Better yet, let the nanny do it. - end -