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12 Sep 00 - wireless phones; business paper programs; pool covers; green company; call for papers ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- >From Leslie Bullock Goldsmith, Project TAURUS (a waste reduction education program for Taylor, Adams and Union counties in Iowa, funded by the Union County Solid Waste Commission), Creston, Iowa: I'm a waste reduction coordinator in southwest Iowa. I recently heard about Motorola's "Call to Protect" program to refurbish wireless phones for use by people who are threatened by domestic violence. For more on this program, see: http://www.donateaphone.com I began collecting phones from our area to send in to this program, and received a call from an area business who sells wireless phone service. It seems they have stockpiled over 70 phones (they took phones from folks who bought a new service and were required to get a new phone), and they wanted me to send the phones in to "Call to Protect" for them. I suggested they might consider doing this themselves, which they didn't like. The spokesman said they do not make any money off these old phones, why should they pay to get them refurbished? They represent Verizon Wireless. When I asked about Verizon's recycling program, they said they didn't have one. These wireless phone representatives require new customers to discontinue the use of perfectly good phones when they purchase their services, in order to use Verizon's phones. Why is this? Do any of the wireless phone companies have more environmentally-friendly programs regarding these phones? Through this recycling program I've found many folks out there who have 2 or 3 phones stuck away and they don't know what to do with them! I contacted Verizon via e-mail regarding this problem, and they said they would pass my suggestion up the line. How can we get these companies to be more accountable with their products? Any suggestions? E-mail: recycle ( AT ) heartland ( DOT ) net --------------------- >From Sandy Grant, City of Santa Monica Task Force on the Environment, Santa Monica, CA: I am working on a community-based social marketing project with Doug McKenzie-Mohr for the City of Santa Monica, California. I'm looking for information about communities who have implemented paper waste generation reduction programs with their local businesses. Doug thought that some people on this Forum might have some info for me. Thanks. E-mail: sgrant51 ( AT ) earthlink ( DOT ) net --------------------- The next two postings are in response to the 9/8/00 posting from Renee Kimball about "bubble wrap" pool covers. Renee asked, "Any suggestions to help slow the flow of hundreds of thousands of square feet of this stuff going to landfill each year?" Note: If anyone has any additional comments on this subject that deal primarily with recycling, send those directly to Renee at: rrrRenee [ A T ] aracnet [ D O T ] com If they deal with waste prevention, we can also run them in the Forum. ---------------------- >From Steve Long, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Boston, MA: While I am aware that the Waste Prevention Forum focuses primarily on source reduction and reuse, I thought that Renee Kimball's request for ideas regarding options for "avoided disposal" of used pool covers might generate some responses from recycling market development professionals who subscribe to U.S. EPA's Jobs Through Recycling Listserve (JTRNet). If anyone knows how to find a recycling option for a difficult-to-recycle material, it would be JTRNetters. I posted Renee's question on JTRNet and asked JTRNetters to respond directly to Renee. For future reference, the JTR site has some very useful information, and an archive (NetShare) at: http://www.epa.gov/jtr/ Hope this helps. E-mail: Stephen [DOT] Long [AT] state [DOT] ma [DOT] us ---------------------- >From Tony Kingsbury, Dow Plastics, Midland, MI: On the question about "what to do with old pool covers?", I would suggest calling the folks at TREX. TREX manufactures a product called "Easy Care Decking" which is made half from recycled wood fibers/chips and half from recycled plastic film. TREX is growing rapidly and is having a hard time finding enough film to feed its growing needs. If I remember right, they will need about 200 million pounds of recycled film this year. Since the film used in plastic bubble type pool covers is LDPE (#4), it should work great in TREX's process. The TREX website has all the details on how to recycle films http://www.trex.com On a personal note: I am in the process of redoing my deck with this material. Although it looks like wood, it doesn't warp, crack, or need the constant upkeep that traditional pressure-treated lumber decks need. The TREX product cuts, screws, and handles just like wood, and it looks great. E-mail: rakingsbury ( AT ) dow ( DOT ) com ---------------------- Link to an inspiring article by Michelle Cole in the 9/5/00 Portland Oregonian about John Emrick, the chairman of Norm Thompson Outfitters, an Oregon-based catalog and retail company (from Jim Schrock's "Delete this Newsletter"): http://www.oregonlive.com/outdoors/index.ssf?/news/oregonian/00/09/lc_31emrik05.frame --------------------- Excerpted from a call for papers from the Air and Waste Management Association (forwarded by Marjorie Clarke): The Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) annual conference will be held in Orlando, Florida, June 24-28, 2001. The Municipal and Medical Waste Management Division of the AWMA invites the submission of abstracts for the conference's waste prevention and recycling sessions, which include: - Integrated Waste Management: Recycling, Reuse, and Reduction - Issues in the Measurement of Waste Reduction - Waste Generation: Trends of Municipal Solid Waste and Its Composition - Demanufacturing and Recycling of Computer, Consumer Electronics, and Automotive Components - Environmental Benefits, Resource Conservation, and Climate Change from Waste Prevention and Management Activities The deadline for online abstract submissions is September 20. For more information, go to the AWMA website at: http://www.awma.org/ace2001/ or e-mail Marjorie Clarke at: mclarke (AT) shiva (DOT) hunter (DOT) cuny (DOT) edu - end -