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30 May 00 - More on meat; art with reused materials; green buildings ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- The first two postings are in response to the recent postings about the environmental implications of eating meat, which included a quote from Howard Lyman, president of EarthSave International. -------------------- >From Eric Park, Solid Waste Engineering, Christchurch City Council, Christchurch, New Zealand: I am not a vegetarian either and note that when Allan Savory was asked the question, he said look at your teeth - human beings are carnivores. If you read some of Allan's book, "Holistic Resource Management," which I strongly recommend, you will see how the environment actually needs animals to survive (that won't surprise anyone). It's just the way we as humans manage animals that messes things up. E-mail: Eric ( DOT ) Park ( AT ) ccc ( DOT ) govt ( DOT ) nz ------------------- >From Woody Raine, Office of Pollution Prevention and Recycling, Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission, Austin, Texas: Thanks for quoting the Lyman article. I quit eating meat twenty-something years ago strictly for environmental reasons. (You know the story, fell in with the wrong crowd. Wanting to be a part of them, adopted some of their bad habits. One thing led to another and I quit meat.) At that time, I made my abstention decision based on the resources consumed producing meat. Since then, learning about the waste generated in the process has strengthened my resolve. For more on the subject, and many others related to this forum, I suggest reading "The Consumer's Guide to Effective Environmental Choices; Practical Advice from the Union of Concerned Scientists," by Brower & Leon. Their analysis shows that, while cutting meat consumption won't necessarily reduce our water consumption, it can dramatically reduce our adverse impact on land use and water pollution. E-mail: WRAINE ( AT ) tnrcc ( DOT ) state ( DOT ) tx ( DOT ) us -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Marilyn Brackney, artist and teacher, Columbus, Indiana: I am one of eight artists and craftsmen featured in the Insight column of the June issue of The Crafts Report. This is a national publication for the crafts professional, providing information on topics such as marketing, growing a business, and industry news. The focus of the article is art and recycling, and there are many marketing suggestions for those who are interested in finding outlets for their work. The article includes a photo of one of my recycled works entitled "Pieces of My Past," which was selected by Indiana First Lady Judy O'Bannon for display last year in the governor's residence. I maintain an art/reuse-and-recycling Web site for kids at http://users.hsonline.net/kidatart/ A special feature, the Trash Matcher, allows visitors to locate art activities based on the solid waste they have available. The site's mascot, Trashasaurus Rex, will be adopted this summer by the Rocky Mount Children's Museum of North Carolina. E-mail: kidatart [ AT ] hsonline [ DOT ] net Note from Tom: The article that Marilyn refers to is not available online, since The Crafts Report only puts selected articles on its website. However, I did find an excellent interview with Mckenna Hallett, an artist in Hawaii who uses reused materials in her work and is a proponent of voluntary simplicity. That article, dated June, 2000, is at: http://www.craftsreport.com/june00/onlineexclusive.html ------------------- Excerpted from an article by John Holusha in the May 29, 2000, New York Times (forwarded by Stephen Long): TAX INCENTIVE APPROVED FOR "GREEN" BUILDINGS New York State has taken the lead in making commercial and residential buildings more efficient and more in harmony with the environment by adopting a "green building credit" against state income taxes. The credit, which was included in the state budget signed into law by Gov. George Pataki on May 15, is intended to encourage building owners and developers to use advanced technologies like fuel cells and photovoltaic panels to generate electricity and to use materials that improve air quality inside buildings. "This is a huge deal," said Robert Fox Jr., a partner in Fox & Fowle Architects, which specializes in environmentally sensitive design. "Basically, the state is offering to pay developers for the excess costs of doing green buildings." Green buildings are generally defined as those that use energy more efficiently than those with conventional designs and that provide workers with well-lighted spaces furnished with an abundance of clean air. One of the objectives of designing a green building is to avoid using carpets, paints or other interior materials that can release harmful chemicals after being installed. The credit is limited to a total of $25 million for all projects over five years. It was advocated by an unusual alliance, including the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents owners, developers and brokers, and the Natural Resources Defense Council, a major environmental advocacy group. Similar bills are in the works in Maryland and California, but New York's law appears to be the first, according to the council. "This collaborative effort is a prototype for other states and eventually the federal government to follow," said Deborah Beck, the executive vice president of the Real Estate Board. The legislation provides a credit of 5 percent of the capitalized cost of a project - up to $3.75 per square foot for interior work and $7.50 per square foot for exterior work - to builders who meet energy goals and use nontoxic materials in construction. To qualify, a building must meet requirements for energy use, indoor air quality, waste disposal and water use. There is also a credit equivalent to 10 percent of the cost of new air-conditioning equipment that uses refrigerants that do not harm the ozone layer. There are additional credits for tenants who build their interior space to conform with the goals. Builders using fuel cells and photovoltaic panels, which produce electricity without the pollution associated with conventional power sources, are eligible for special additional credits. Fuel cells produce electricity by consuming natural gas in a catalytic process that does not burn the fuel. The only emissions are carbon dioxide and water, in contrast to the mixture of chemicals flowing from the stacks of plants burning fossil fuels. The technology is evolving rapidly, Mr. Fox said. "In five years, fuel cells will be able to provide power at one-third the current cost," he said. Photovoltaic panels convert sunlight directly to electricity with no emissions at all. Although individually they do not produce much power, they can replace conventional materials in the skin of a building, and when wired together they can produce usable amounts of power without any expenditure for fuel. - end -