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09 Aug 00 - hauler requirements; suitcases; Dump & Run; Lowe's; worms; furniture banks ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- >From Barbara Frierson, City of Alameda Public Works, Environmental Services Division, Alameda, California: The City of Alameda is defining features to include in a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the next solid waste franchise (including recycling and yard waste). I have included a requirement that the new service provider reuse or recycle our current recycling/greens collection containers, and that they convert all vehicles used in this city to low-emissions fuel. What other suggestions does the Forum have on waste prevention features to include in the RFP? Thanks! E-mail: bfrierso [ A T ] ci [ D O T ] alameda [ D O T ] ca [ D O T ] us Phone: (510) 749-5897 -------------------- The next two postings are in response to the 8/8/00 posting from Renee Kimball about the "Suitcases for Kids" program, which was the subject of an 8/7/00 item. -------------------- >From Julie Rhodes, Reuse Development Organization, Indianapolis, Indiana: Okay, I just couldn't let this one go. I think Renee Kimball is WAY off base in her criticism of the Suitcases for Kids program. During a recent business trip, I was getting ready for a session and had the television on in my hotel room. Oprah Winfrey's show that day highlighted children who had identified problems in their communities, and were moved to action to try to solve the problem. Eleven-year-old Aubyn identified that foster children don't have much to call their own, and as they move from place to place, they are carting around a plastic trash bag. In hopes of providing at least something of permanence and stability for the children, Aubyn began collecting reusable suitcases and stuffed animals. When Aubyn comes home from school each day, she doesn't play dolls with her friends or sit and watch TV for hours on end - instead, she's a productive member of society - even at 11 years old. She carefully cleans the suitcases and places one clean stuffed animal in each one, with a note that she has written herself. I can't remember exactly what she says, but it is a message that helps the child who receives the gift feel like someone cares. No, Aubyn isn't solving all the world's greatest problems - or even this child's greatest problems. But, we all feel more grounded when we feel cared about and have a little something to call our own. And, suitcases and stuffed animals are getting reused - not bought new. In that way, everyone wins! On a very small but significant scale, this is teaching about how reuse can help us solve societal challenges, in the same way that food banks and furniture banks and building materials reuse centers do on a much larger scale. I think this program accomplishes a great deal. I also think that if we had more children like Aubyn in this world, that we'd have more grown-ups who care about their fellow person instead of working to see how far away from people they can remove themselves. I may be an optimist, and I may think a little "pie-in-the-sky," but her story moved me - as did some of the others during that show. Another child would choose to have her birthday party at a different charity each year, and her friends were asked to bring a contribution for the charity, not a birthday gift. There was a theme each year, and the kids would dress in costume, and it was a great lesson for all. One year they visited a nursing home and visited and shared cake with the residents; another year was at the Humane Society and they got to see the animals and play in the yard with them. I know that this response is less about waste prevention and reuse than it is about social conscience, but I just couldn't let this message go by without a comment. E-mail: jlrhodes [AT] in [DOT] net --------------------- >From Steve Long, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Boston, MA: It seems to me that perhaps part of the value of the Suitcases for Kids program is to offer some dignity and creature comforts for kids who otherwise may not have any. E-mail: Stephen [ D O T ] Long [ A T ] state [ D O T ] ma [ D O T ] us --------------------- >From Roger Guttentag, consultant and writer, Harleysville, PA, responding to the 8/7/00 news item about Dump & Run Inc., a new nonprofit service on the East Coast that is starting programs to collect college students' castoff items in the spring and sell them to incoming students in the fall, with the proceeds going to charity: In response to the mention of the Dump & Run program, here's a web page link on the Tufts University site for those Waste Prevention Forum readers who may be interested in doing followup contacts: http://www.tufts.edu/~eco/ E-mail: rgutten [AT] concentric [DOT] net Note: This website does not currently have information on the Dump & Run program at Tufts (the link for Dump & Run just contains an old schedule of collection times from last May). But, as Roger notes, this site may be useful if you're trying to contact someone with Tufts' student Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO) group, to ask them about their experience with the Dump & Run program. --------------------- >From Bill Sheehan, Athens, GA, GrassRoots Recycling Network: GrassRoots Recycling Network is working with forest activist groups to ensure that demand reduction - including reuse and recycling - are part of efforts to preserve forests. Below is the new wood products procurement policy from the Lowe's chain of home improvement stores (note Number 4). Also, here is an excerpt from a press release today from Dogwood Alliance, one of the forest groups out in front on demand reduction: Over the last 10 years, more than 100 chip mills (facilities that grind whole logs into wood chips for paper and chipboard) have been constructed in the South, causing accelerated clearcutting and the conversion of native forests to pine plantations. Industry experts predict a doubling of pine plantations in the region over the next two decades. In its policy, Lowe's committed to "work with vendors to encourage the maintenance of natural forests and environmentally responsible forest practices". Local groups working on recycling across the South are also encouraged by Lowe's new policy. "It's nice to see a company the size of Lowe's adopt a policy to increase the purchase of recycled products and promote wood re-use," said Bill Sheehan, network coordinator for the Georgia-based GrassRoots Recycling Network. "It's difficult for companies making recycled products to compete in the marketplace when big timber companies are being subsidized to clearcut our forests. Lowe's new policy may help start leveling the playing field for recycled products." LOWE'S WOOD PRODUCTS PROCUREMENT POLICY The world's forests support the ecological and climate processes upon which biodiversity and human life depend. Lowe's is concerned about the protection of these critical resources and recognizes that, through the products we sell, our company can play an important role in determining whether these forests will remain for future generations. Lowe's long-term goal is to ensure that all wood products sold in our stores originate from well-managed, non-endangered forests. In order to meet this goal, Lowe's will: 1. Aggressively phase out the purchase of wood products from endangered forests as these areas are identified and mapped. This includes an immediate ban on wood coming from the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. 2. Work with vendors to encourage the maintenance of natural forests and environmentally responsible forest practices. 3. Give preference to the procurement of wood products from independently certified, well-managed forests. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is recognized as having the highest certification standard available today and will be given preference over other certification systems. 4. Work with our customers to increase the efficiency of wood use, including the promotion of wood reuse, recycling, and advanced framing techniques. 5. Work with our suppliers to increase the procurement of quality recycled, engineered and alternative products, when their environmental benefits are clearly demonstrated, including alternative fiber and tree-free paper products used for printing and packaging. In order to accomplish our goal, we will support the work of the World Resources Institute, the Certified Forest Products Council, and other organizations that help to improve forest management practices worldwide. We will also ask our suppliers to help us to increase the supply of certified wood products that we can make available to our customers. Notes: Maps that designate "endangered forests" have been created in various levels of detail by organizations such as the World Resources Institute's Global Forest Watch Program. As these designations are further developed, Lowe's will work with its suppliers to change their supply areas. Endangered forests (or high conservation value forests) include intact (primary and old growth) forests. They also include the most nearly intact tracts of all threatened forests and forests of special importance to the conservation of global biodiversity, where little or no primary and old-growth vegetation occurs today. In rare circumstances, wood from endangered forests may be accepted if it is certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or equivalent system. - end of Lowe's policy - Bill Sheehan's e-mail: bill_sheehan ( AT ) mindspring ( DOT ) com Note: This new Lowe's policy is also posted on the Lowe's website at: http://www.lowes.com Click on the picture of the forest in the upper right-hand corner. ---------------------- >From Renee Kimball, waste prevention advocate, Portland, Oregon: This message is for those of us who still sin at the fast food trough. Wendy's has gone back to wax-coated soft-drink cups! For people who do worm composting, no more rummaging through the finished castings picking out plastic after composting the cups - yahooo! One small step for human beans, one giant step for worms. E-mail: rrrrenee [A T] aracnet [D O T] com ----------------------- Link to the website for the new National Furniture Bank Association (NFBA), which is part of the furniture.com website (first seen on the Reuse Development Organization listserv): http://www.furniture.com/nfba.asp Click on "Local Directory" for a list of the 18 NFBA-associated furniture banks around the country, including addresses, phone numbers and (in some cases) e-mail and website addresses. - end -