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18 Aug 00 - pay-as-you-throw; shopper research; worms; job ** 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 Bruce Nordman's 8/16/00 posting about pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) garbage collection fee systems, in which households are charged based on the amount of garbage they throw out, rather than paying a flat fee. -------------------- >From Brian Foran, California Integrated Waste Management Board, Sacramento, CA: I, like Bruce, am not aware of any solid evidence that PAYT refuse collection fee systems achieve source reduction. On the surface, I also agree with Bruce that the marginal cost of disposal is so small compared with product purchase costs that few consumers will reduce their product consumption in order to lower their garbage bill. However, I believe this analysis overlooks the strength of symbolic measures and the ability of such measures to change mindsets, which ultimately does lead to behavior change. If nothing else, PAYT is a symbolic measure. Most consumers - no matter how wealthy - will take note when their refuse collection bill increases, for whatever reason. When consumers discover that the size of their refuse collection bill correlates directly with the amount of garbage that they throw away, a mental connection has been made that likely didn't exist before. This, by itself, is worthwhile, even if the mental connection never leads the consumer, for example, to use old T-shirts (ha!) for cleaning instead of paper towels. So many of the environmental problems in our society today are due to the fact that the real cost of those problems are hidden from consumers. In a traditional one-fee/one-can refuse collection system, there is no feedback to the consumer that filling that garbage can to the brim results in any more cost - financial or environmental - than putting the can out half-full. A PAYT system at least provides feedback to the consumer that there is some "punishment" for wasteful behavior and some "reward" for conserving behavior. If more of our societal goods and services were based on a "pay for what you use" system, I think that ultimately it would change consumers' mindsets enough that source reduction behavior would result. E-mail: bforan [A T] CIWMB [D O T] ca [D O T] gov -------------------- >From Michelle Portman, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Boston, MA: Tellus Institute (under contract to the Massachusetts DEP) attempted to measure the amount of the source reduction and recycling resulting from pay-as-you-throw in Massachusetts. This report, completed in December, 1999, found that the total amount of source reduction resulting from PAYT in the 76 communities throughout the state that had adopted such a system was 43,130 tons in 1997; whereas, the resulting recycling amounted to 30,549 tons, making the total diversion attributed to PAYT programs 73,679 tons. So, one can see that source reduction is a substantial amount of this total. They also estimated, based on these figures, that if PAYT was adopted in all 351 communities throughout the state, 537,950 tons could have been source-reduced statewide (out of a total of 918,970 tons that could have been diverted as a result of PAYT programs). Not all of the source reduction counted here is home yard waste! Without getting into all the details found in the report, the parameters used to estimate these quantities include: unit pricing charge, the type of recycling available to the town (usually drop-off or curbside), and the total municipal solid waste generated in each town. Some of these factors were arrived at based on literature on PAYT impacts. One can possibly take issue with some of the numbers, but this does give us some idea of the potential contributions of PAYT programs. E-mail: michelle [ D O T ] portman [ A T ] state [ D O T ] ma [ D O T ] us -------------------- >From Ellen Harrison, Cornell University Waste Management Institute, Ithaca, NY, responding to Susan Salterberg's 8/16/00 posting seeking information on waste reduction campaigns: You might be interested in a project we did several years ago on consumer waste prevention education. We conducted a research project in which we tracked shopper purchases before and after several different educational interventions. The results showed no impact. To find out how to get a copy of the final report on the project, or the summary, see our website at www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmi Scroll down and click on "Educational Resources for Solid Waste Management." Then scroll down and click on "Enviroshopping Resources." The name of the project is, "Waste Reduction through Consumer Education." We also have a couple of other items: A series of print, TV and radio spots on waste prevention for consumers ("Nature Does It Right... Why Can't We?") and a packet of ready-to-use Shop SMART materials (we used Minnesota's Shop SMART - save money and reduce trash - concept/logo). Also see the "Educational Resources for Solid Waste Management" section of the website for info on how to get these. E-mail: ezh1 [ A T ] cornell [ D O T ] edu -------------------- Link to the website for the Vermillennium, the International Conference on Vermiculture and Vermicomposting, which will be held Sept. 16-22, 2000, in Kalamazoo, Michigan (forwarded by Marcia Rutan): http://www.wormwoman.com/vermillennium.html Note: This conference is hosted by Mary Appelhof, one of the leading authorities on vermicomposting (also known as worm composting). Her website is at: http://www.wormwoman.com -------------------- Excerpt from a job announcement from the City of Everett, Massachusetts (forwarded by Steve Long): POSITION OPENING - RECYCLING COORDINATOR/GRANT MANAGER, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS Job Description: Expand and maintain various recycling and source reduction programs in the city of Everett (population 35,760). Track waste and recycling tonnages. Help manage yard waste and white goods pick-up contracts. Assist with City Hall recycling efforts. Promote buy-recycled education in the city and within the municipal offices. Manage the educational component of the city's recycling program and promote new programs to boost recycling tonnages for paper and commingled products. Coordinate the various grants, which the city applies for, and manage and track performances of various programs. Oversee and expand the current multi-family recycling program and the business-recycling program. Work closely with the public works director and staff and a volunteer solid waste committee. Plan and organize special events and boost the recycling rate of the city. Permanent full-time position, 35-hour work week. Salary Range: $25,500 plus (negotiable), plus benefits (no dental or vision). Position to be filled as soon as possible. Contact: David Ravanesi, director of public works, City Hall, Room 26, Everett, MA, 02149. Phone: 617-394-2287. -------------------- Reminder from Tom: I'll be out of the office August 21-24, so there will be no Forum during that time. - end -