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16 Aug 00 - phone books; campaigns; glasses; pay-as-you-throw; tips; peanut butter; lawns; garage sales ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- >From Ann Schneider, Ann Schneider & Associates consulting, Mountain View, CA, and co-chair, Repair, Resale and Reuse Council of the California Resource Recovery Association, responding to the 8/11/00 posting from Margaret Kitchell about unwanted "Yellow Pages" phone books: I must admit to a Silicon Valley lifestyle where we have his and her home offices, a separate business/fax line, and ISDN line, and a cell phone. So I used to get four phone books from Pac Bell and more from GTE because we sit on the edge of an area code change. It took me three years to convince PacBell's outsourced phone book distribution company that we were a home and only needed one phone book. Every time I called to get this stopped, I was told it was OK because I could recycle the extra books. I persevered and nagged and for two years I only received one, but this year it bounced back to three of the same books. I know I have to, but I can't face the endless phone calls I'll have to place, to stop this from happening again. I think it is time for a national legislative action on phone book source reduction. This action should be very clear that recycling is not an excuse for wasteful production and distribution. I would be happy to try to get our state to carry this legislation, but I know my legislators will ask me if any other states are doing this. (They asked about that this year, when we sought a regulation change to allow reimbursement from the Medicare agency for reusable adult diapers, same as for disposables.) We will be approaching our legislators this fall with ideas for the next session. Is anyone willing to draft up some language that we all could use in our home states? E-mail: SchneiderAnn ( A T ) juno ( D O T ) com Phone: (650) 962-0404 -------------------- >From Susan Salterberg, Center for Energy and Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA: SEARCHING FOR WASTE REDUCTION CAMPAIGNS I am aware of the San Francisco "Shop Smart" campaign, the Indiana "Had It Up to Here" campaign, and the Minnesota "If Not You, Who?" campaign. Can people tell me of other waste reduction campaigns? I'd like contact information, too. Thanks! E-mail: ssalter ( AT ) netins ( DOT ) net Phone: 319/498-4516 -------------------- Link to a website with information on the used eyeglasses collection program sponsored by the LensCrafters chain and the Lions Club (thanks to Katie Kennedy and Marcia Rutan for this item): http://www.lenscrafters.com/helping_5.html This program accepts old prescription eyeglasses and sunglasses. The glasses, which are repaired and donated to people in developing countries, are collected at Lions Clubs and LensCrafters locations around the nation (the website includes a store locator). -------------------- >From Bruce Nordman, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, responding to the 8/11/00 posting by Brian Foran about pay-as-you-throw garbage collection fee systems, in which households are charged based on the amount of garbage they throw out, rather than paying a flat fee: I think pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) is a great idea and can lead to some people reducing the amount of yard waste they put into their trash cans (whether they on-site compost or put it into yard waste collection) and increase the amount of residential recycling with consequent drops in the material in the trash can. These well-justify implementing such programs. HOWEVER, I think it is implausible to think that the amount of municipal solid waste produced (aside from some yard waste) will be reduced by PAYT, and so in general it is not a source reduction program. The marginal cost of throwing things away is so tiny compared to purchase costs, that it doesn't make sense that a rational consumer would change behavior based on this. Additionally, few if any people would do such a calculation (common sense says it isn't worth it). I have never seen any good evidence that PAYT causes source reduction aside from some yard waste, or a plausible argument as to why it might. (An exception might be donation of reusables, but that is because it is like recycling in practice in that it doesn't affect purchase or consumption). E-mail: BNordman [ A T ] LBL [ D O T ] gov -------------------- >From Jeff Laufle, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle, WA: I work in a large office in Seattle. Many employees here are conscientious about waste reduction and recycling, but some are not as tuned in, and reinforcement never hurts. I recently posted this on our e-mail bulletin board, and thought the info might be useful to others: With the latest office cleanup a distant memory from last fall, let's not forget some waste reduction guidelines that were brought out, and think about some others. This list is by no means exhaustive - you can probably come up with more ideas yourself. - Re-use supplies, such as file folders and binders, when possible. Unless they are worn out or broken, there is no reason to toss them out when you are done with them. And when you do need, say, a three-ring binder, does it absolutely have to be brand-new? The vast majority of the time, a used one will do. Putting together a presentation package? Ask yourself if the customer might not be more favorably impressed with your willingness to conserve resources than by how much the binder shines, especially if you explain it to them. - Copy double-sided whenever possible. It will save trees and money, and will reduce the bulk that you, or the recipient of your copy, will have to manage. Might save mailing costs, too. - In fact, when you finally must replace your computer printer, push for one that will copy on two sides (duplex), and then use that feature. For now, you can take a cue from some here who print drafts on the back side of scrap paper. - When copying, make it a habit to hit the Reset or Clear button first thing as well as after you are finished. That way, you prevent the waste that might result if the previous user did more or different copying than what you want, and you help save the next person the same headache. - Double-check your work for errors before printing or copying it. - Recycle! Read and heed recycling guidelines! - Going to a meeting downtown? Check out the bus. It saves resources and parking hassles. Schedules are in the lobby. - Commute by bus, bike or carpool. - Finally, take the waste reduction ethic home with you. Re-use, recycle, compost, buy in bulk. Whenever it just seems cheaper to toss something out that can be re-used, stop and think about all the hidden costs beyond your own sphere that are involved in replacing it with something new. And check out this City of Seattle web site for places to donate or obtain used items of many types: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/util/useitagain E-mail: jeffrey (DOT) c (DOT) laufle (AT) usace (DOT) army (DOT) mil -------------------- >From Brian Foran, California Integrated Waste Management Board, Sacramento, CA, responding to the 8/11/00 posting from Samanthe Sheffer, who described a new product - individually-wrapped peanut butter slices - and asked, "Is this a brains versus profits thing, or have we lost our minds?": We have lost our minds. E-mail: bforan [ AT ] CIWMB [ DOT ] ca [ DOT ] gov -------------------- Excerpted from a message and press release sent by David McDonald, Seattle Public Utilities, Seattle, WA: The Ecologically Sound Lawn Care research report, which has been in draft under testing and review for two years, has just been published. The full title is, "Ecologically Sound Lawn Care for the Pacific Northwest: Findings from the Scientific Literature and Recommendations from Turf Professionals." The report contains three useful tools for landscape professionals, public agency resource managers, and education and outreach staff: 1) An introduction to ecologically-based lawn care, and a thorough review of the science that supports a change toward practices that require less water, synthetic fertilizer and pesticides, and produce less waste. 2) Complete, field-tested ecologically sound lawn care practices for the region west of the Cascade Mountains, based on interviews with turf professionals and scientists around the region and extensive review of the professional literature. 3) An annotated bibliography of useful books, articles, videos, and Internet sites. The entire report, or a summary, can be downloaded from Seattle Public Utilities' Resource Conservation website at: http://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/util/lawncare/LawnReport.htm Printed copies of the report can be requested by calling (206) 684-7560. E-mail: david [D O T] mcdonald [A T] ci [D O T] seattle [D O T] wa [D O T] us -------------------- Link to an article about how to operate a successful garage sale, "Garage Sales: Cash Not Trash," by Susan Wright, extension consumer education specialist, College of Agriculture and Home Economics, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM: http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_g/g-106.html -------------------- Note from Tom: I'll be out of the office August 21-24, so there will be no Forum during that time. Hope you've all been having a great summer! - end -