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26 Apr 00 - Earth Day; Verde; retail reuse boom; exchanges ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- The first four postings are in response to the 4/21/00 postings about Earth Day (an essay by Donella Meadows, and comments from Marcia Rutan). -------------------- >From Marcia Rutan, Snohomish County Solid Waste Management Division, Everett, WA: As usual, sticking my neck out, I hear the other side which is also valid and true. I respect Donella Meadows' authority and concern, though I think the intention of Earth Day is to affect human beings to change behavior toward the earth, not to impress Mother Earth. Never-the-less, it really is a struggle. I don't like some of the co-opting of Earth Day for celebrity showcasing, marketing and shallow effort. Yet, without Earth Day, there's no yearly gathering of energy in acknowledgement of the Earth. At what point does a radical and energetic impulse become so institutionalized and watered down that it's ineffective and a waste of time? Is Earth Day at this point? Another question I have is whether it's actually just less important in this country because we're more buffered from the direct effects of environmental destruction compared to other countries. Are other cultures and countries taking this more seriously because they see the consequences at their doorstep? The optimist in me wants to hope that there are people affected by this worldwide public focus on the environment and that even though it's not a transformational or cathartic turn of the tide, it's something that helps. But maybe that's staying with what has become comfortable, instead of dumping the whole thing and starting over with a creative effort that has real drive to it. On Earth Day things get done to help the earth that would not get done: plantings, stream cleanup, litter pick-up, education, other service projects. But, as Donella points out, it really is not enough to alter the devastating effects of human population and greed. Help! Is Earth Day dead? Drugged into complacency? Worth revitalizing? Can Earth Day be accepted and included as it is - not THE answer to environmental concern, but one small piece that helps? Or are we putting too much energy into something that should die, so that there's room for something more effective? I'd love to hear what other people think. E-mail: marcia [ DOT ] rutan [ AT ] co [ DOT ] snohomish [ DOT ] wa [ DOT ] us -------------------- >From Ticiang Diangson, Seattle Public Utilities, who is involved with the "Environmental Justice - Pass It On!" U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant project: One more perspective on Earth Day: I was very disheartened - I didn't see in any media coverage or public events anywhere any mention of environmental justice. People of color and low-income people continue to be the "yellow canaries" - bearing the largest burdens of environmental pollution and degradation, and receiving less protection and assistance from environmental groups and government agencies than mainstream white communities, other species and the wilderness. What a welcome and remarkable surprise it would be to see big-name environmental leaders and organizations talking to the public about environmental racism and the "invisible" survivors of environmental irresponsibility. Who decides what gets celebrated on Earth Day? E-mail: Ticiang [ DOT ] Diangson [ AT ] ci [ DOT ] seattle [ DOT ] wa [ DOT ] us ------------------- >From Barbara Frierson, City of Alameda, CA: Thank you SO MUCH for running the "Two Perspectives on Earth Day" from Marcia and Donella in the Forum! I've forwarded them abundantly, and everyone appreciated the thoughtful views. I was even able to work one little factoid into a radio interview I did on Earth Day (more recycling happening, but more people -> more garbage!). The material/info in the Forum is the greatest! E-mail: BFRIERSO [A T] ci [D O T] alameda [D O T] ca [D O T] us ------------------- Excerpted from message from Betsy Rosenberg, environmental journalist, San Francisco: I thought that the "Two Earth Day Perspectives" (by Marcia Rutan and Donella Meadows) were GREAT!!! I was so moved by them that I read them, with proper attribution of course, at an Earth Day event I m.c.'d over the weekend. Several people asked me for copies. Kudos to Marcia and Donella. Also, I wanted to let you know that I am now working for Verde.com, which is a brand new environmental news website aimed at "mainstream consumers," with two daily webcasts featuring yours truly. We take e-mailed questions from anywhere (it IS the worldwide web!) and I answer them "on-air." Though the topics can be on any aspect of the environment, as you might imagine I perk up on anything to do with waste/reduce/reuse/recycle! Check it out if you can at 9 a.m. and noon - you have to go to one of the special "channels" - i.e. Work and Money, Travel and Outdoors, etc. - to get access to Answerdesk. The Verde website is at: http://www.verde.com I'm also still doing the "TrashTalk" spots for KCBS radio in San Francisco. E-mail: BRosenberg [ A T ] verdemedia [ D O T ] com ---------------------- Excerpted from an article by Leslie Kaufman in the 4/26/00 New York Times, on the front page of the business section: SECONDHAND STORES MOVING INTO THE RETAIL MAINSTREAM Shopping secondhand stores, once the passion of an eccentric minority, is becoming a mainstream activity. Heightening demand is the fact that the industry has worked hard to transform itself, with many store owners adopting sophisticated marketing techniques, building chain operations and adding stores in affluent suburbs. Determined to shed their image as dank backwaters for the down and out, stores that sell used goods have installed better lights, dressing rooms and even coffee bars. Internet auction sites like eBay have also given new exposure and high-technology chic to the age-old practice. As a result, sales at pawnshops, antique stores and secondhand shops have been growing nearly twice as fast as other retail. In 1997, the last year for which the Census Bureau kept comprehensive numbers, Americans spent some $12 billion on merchandise bought at these secondhand stores, about a 30 percent jump from 1992, after adjusting for inflation. Census estimates, which will not be confirmed until 2002, suggest that the industry grew 23 percent, to $17 billion, last year. The boom economy has supplied secondhand stores, whether charitable or for-profit ventures, with enormous amounts of high-quality merchandise. Areas of the secondhand market are also increasingly being fueled by the rapid obsolescence of high-technology gear. The resale personal computer business barely existed a decade ago. Now industry experts estimate that it exceeds $5 billion a year. The used-music business is also exploding. In addition, secondhand goods have flourished in the new retail medium of the Internet. Note from Tom: To see the full article, you need to go to the New York Times website at http://www.nytimes.com and register, if you're not registered already. Once you're registered (which is free), I believe you can see an article for free within a day or two of publication, but after that you have to pay $2.50 per article to see a copy of the story. ---------------------- >From Roger Guttentag, consultant and writer, Harleysville, PA, responding to the 4/14/00 posting about a U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA) research project to look at establishing a national, coordinated effort to link waste exchanges: Here are my thoughts on the need for a national materials exchange. 1. What is known about the usage patterns of current exchange users? For example, what percentage of users are actually searching multiple exchanges? What classes of materials are these users generally searching for and, more importantly, are they finding them? What type of organizations are represented by these users as well? Further, what is known about the local utilization of existing materials exchanges? Do these exchanges believe that they have achieved high utilization rates by locally-based users? What constraints are they experiencing in raising utilization rates, as well as successful exchange rates? My point in raising these questions is that the consideration of a need for a national materials exchange must be guided by the needs of current as well as potential users of these services. In addition, we need to be certain that, by investing in developing a national materials exchange, we are not diverting necessary resources from unmet current needs of operating local and regional exchanges, such as funding more promotional and outreach efforts on their behalf. 2. Several directory listings of Web accessible materials exchanges already exist and have been identified in previous list messages such as the those maintained on the Jobs Through Recycling, Recycler's World and South Waste Information Exchange (SWIX) Web sites (I like the design of the SWIX listing from the perspective of the information it offers on each exchange). While the assessment of a national exchange proceeds, perhaps it would be useful to promote one, if not all, of these exchange listings. Maybe the formation of a material exchange webring (or its equivalent) is the next logical step. One problem is that not all local materials exchanges are online. 3. One very critical issue to consider is whether a national materials exchange will operate on the querying of a centralized (one single database) or decentralized (multiple linked databases) information system. I would like to suggest that the EDA (and the Environmental Protection Agency) give a hard look at the querying of a decentralized information system strategy based on current Web-based examples: meta-search engines and comparison shoppers (also called shopbots). Meta-searchers, like Dogpile, MetaCrawler and Profusion, have no databases of their own. Their function is to query the databases of other search engines. Similarly, comparison shoppers, like DealTime and MySimon, work on the basis of responding to a single query to search the catalog databases of multiple e-retailers. I use a specialized shopbot for locating the best pricing on books. A similar approach (which I call the Matexbot) maybe could be used for searching the databases of local/regional materials exchanges. The upside to the Matexbot would be that it does not require the development of a new database (as well as an organization to code, manage and maintain it), it could strengthen the existing system of materials exchanges, and it could provide the motivation (as well as funding) to get online those materials exchanges which aren't online. The downside to this proposal is that it would require that all current exchange listings (if they want to be part of this system) migrate to some kind of queryable Web-accessible database. There may have to be some agreement on database standards in order the facilitate the effectiveness of the Matexbot (this point is speculation on my part since I am not familiar with intelligent agent/bot technologies beyond knowing that they exist). E-mail: rgutten (A T) concentric (D O T) net - end -