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21 Dec 00 - holiday spending; Verizon; box reuse; ribbons; mail; thank you; subscribers ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From Karen May, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA: As one who works to encourage waste reduction, I have been delighted to hear the recent reports on local and national news that holiday spending is down. Although I know there are other more likely factors responsible, how I'd love to claim this as a victory for waste reduction efforts - that people are finally waking up! I am discouraged by the message (and, one could argue, the reality for some) behind the news - that less spending is bad news: Merchants are hurt and the economy suffers. My question is this: Is it possible in a capitalist economy to ever value less or at least mindful consumerism? If so, what will it take to bring this attitude shift about? I'd love to hear thoughts or suggestions on this. E-mail: karen (D O T) may (A T) metrokc (D O T) gov -------------------- From Karen Higgins, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Los Angeles, CA, responding to the recent postings about the new program from Verizon Wireless, "New Every Two," where if you sign up with them for a digital plan, you can trade in your old phone for a new wireless phone every two years: I called Verizon to see what they did with the phones, because it looked like a wasteful program. Don't know the percentage reused, but Verizon reps said they refurbish the telephones and use them as loaner phones for customers with repairs. In addition, they have periodic collection drives with the Wireless Foundation in Washington, DC, to donate refurbished phones for domestic violence prevention programs to use. At least they collect them; many other products are just thrown out by the consumer every few years anyway (not by US, of course). E-mail: khiggi ( AT ) ladwp ( DOT ) com -------------------- From Steve Long, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Boston, MA, responding to the 12/18/00 posting by Rick Hlavka about the U.S. Postal Service's rejection of Rick's attempt to reuse a box with the label or wording "limonene" crossed out: Although I am not a chemist, and I am merely speculating here (please don't shoot me!), I suspect that the U.S. Post Office returned the package because limonene is a flammable material. I found two types of limonene on a quick and dirty Web search. The Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for limonene145 states that it is a "FLAMMABLE LIQUID. AVOID HEAT, SPARKS, AND OPEN FLAME." The MSDS for limonene-d states that it is a "Combustible liquid. Keep away from heat, sparks and open flame. Guard against spontaneous combustion." Even though Rick said that he had crossed out the "limonene" label, perhaps the P.O. was concerned that limonene had soaked into the box and made the box itself flammable. E-mail: Stephen ( D O T ) Long ( A T ) state ( D O T ) ma ( D O T ) us ------------------- From Rick Hlavka, Green Solutions, South Prairie, WA, responding to Steve's e-mail above (which Steve sent to Rick earlier): Thanks to Steve for checking on that. I must admit, looking up the chemical characteristics of limonene was something I didn't get around to. I believe the product in question, though, was an aqueous solution of the limonene, something like 90 percent water and 10 percent limonene, so it probably wasn't flammable. Still, it did have the warning label about keeping it out of reach of children, so they may have been correct in rejecting the box per their (new?) policy. Part of my interest in getting the word out, of course, is that their policy strikes me as unreasonably strict, since the original label had clearly been crossed out and a personal mailing label put on the box. E-mail: RickHlavka [ AT ] aol [ DOT ] com ------------------- Excerpted from item by Michelle Cole in the 12/15/00 Portland Oregonian (first seen in Jim Schrock's "Delete this Newsletter"): In Portland, Oregon, holiday ribbons and bows are being collected for reuse at three recycling drop-off sites by the Portland Recycling Team, from Dec. 23 through Jan. 7. Two nonprofit groups, Schoolhouse Supplies and the School and Community Reuse Action Project (SCRAP), will see that the ribbons and bows are reused for children's craft projects and to create costumes for the Procession of the Species on Earth Day. -------------------- Excerpted from an article by John H. Cushman Jr. in the 12/18/00 New York Times: MAIL STATISTICS - Mailings by banks to customers dropped 18 percent from 1996 to 1999. - Bills and bill payments are the most common form of first-class mail. More consumers are paying their bills online every year. - Of the 880 million Social Security checks, tax refunds and other payments delivered last year, 68 percent were sent electronically. - The U.S. Postal Service's studies suggest that total mail volume, 207 billion pieces this year, will grow more slowly than the overall economy and will peak in 2003 at about 216 billion pieces. Then it will decline gradually because of a moderate shift to electronic bill payments and e-mail messages. However, most experts outside the Postal Service suggest a more rapid diversion - also affecting catalogs and other direct mail - reducing total volume to as few as 188 billion pieces by 2008. -------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division and National Waste Prevention Coalition, Seattle, WA: As moderator of the Forum, I would like to thank everyone for participating this year, and wish you all the best for the holidays and the new year! It's been another great year for the Forum. We are steadily gaining subscribers, and now have about 315 (I have heard that the Forum also gets forwarded to many others). Below I have printed the list of our subscribers, so you can see who's reading your messages! Our subscriber list is really a Who's Who of waste prevention leaders in the U.S., Canada and several other countries, and also includes journalists and experts in other fields. So, keep the news and opinions coming! It's hard to believe that the year 2000 has gone by so quickly. I have two new year's resolutions so far. One is to achieve more concrete results with my waste prevention projects. The other has to do with something my daughter told me, which she heard from her teacher: A child laughs an average of 400 times a day, but an adult only laughs an average of 14 times a day. My goal is to help improve the daily laugh average for adults. (I'm sure I'm already above average, at least in this one category, but I know I can do even better!) Thanks again, everyone, for being a part of the Forum! Tom E-mail: tom (D O T) watson (A T) metrokc (D O T) gov -------------------- Subscribers to the Waste Prevention Forum, December, 2000: Abrams, Heather; Alderson, Lisa; Aldridge, Mahlon; Alekel, Dale; Allaway, David; Aller, Sharon; Allison, Peter; Angus, Michal; Arner, Rob; Asp, Karen; Assmann, David; Ayde, Mary; Baasch, Gail; Bailor, Ann; Baker, Tanya; Bakke, Rory; Balek, Joyce; Barnhart, Patrick; Barton, Paul; Becker, Charlotte; Bernthal, Tim; Biddle, David; Bisson, Connie Leach; Blue, Dan; Blythe, Sue; Bogar, Janine; Boisson, Edward; Borges, Paula; Bozanich, Pat; Bradley, Athena Lee; Brawer, Wendy; Brown, Ken; Broydo, Leora; Bushnell, Vickie; Byrch, Chris; Case, Melanie; Cera, David; Chin, Yen; Christiansen, Pete; Christmann, Holly; Clark, David; Clarke, Marjorie; Clayton, Mark; Cloak, Connie; Conroy, Sharon; Cosgrove, Darin; Coville, Gerty; Coward, Megan; Crisley, John; Crockett, Judy; Cubic, Aaron; Cucina, Hope; Culver, Alicia; Cuyler, Alex; Daoust, Ruth; Daudon, Marc; Davidson, Cathie; Davis, Stephanie; DeBell, Jack; Deller, Kinley; Desmond, Roberta; Devine, Paul; Dewell, Jane; Diangson, Ticiang; DiCarlo, Yvette; Diccicco-Craft, Dee Dee; Dickerson, Catherine; Donnette, Rachel; Dorn, Betsy; Dubois, Peter; Dunn, Debby; Dunn, Judi; Dunn, Paul; Durrant, Curtis; Dutton, Lea. Eade, Teresa; Eckl, Beth; Egbert, Mark; Egger, Nicole; Estes, Tom; Estreller, Susana Reyes; Etienne, MaryEllen; Ewing, Bill; Fikejs, Liz; Fikejs, Matt; Fine, Polagaya; Fisher, Jill; Fisher, Sally; Flora, David; Foran, Brian; Foss, Scott; Frevert, Kathy; Friedrichsen, Andrea; Frierson, Barbara; Frost, Crystal; Fuller, Brian; Gaisford, Jeff; Gaither, Michelle; Gavin, Megan; Glaser, Lise; Glass, Susan; Goldsmith, Leslie Bullock; Grant, Sandy; Graves, Beth; Gregg, Jennifer; Grimm, Joan; Grimm, Sarah; Grodinsky, Carolyn; Gruder, Sherrie; Guillemin, Robert; Gustafson, Laurie; Guttentag, Roger; Hagston, Bart; Hainault, Tony; Halvorson, Christy; Hamilton, Karen; Hamilton, Susan; Hammer, Steve; Hamner, Burton; Hanzel, Brad; Harder, Greg; Hardison, Jeanette; Harrison, Ellen; Haskins Schimpff, Jana; Havstad, Cynthia; Hawkins, Gina; Hawley, Robin; Haynes, Jim; Healy, M.L.; Heller, Lisa; Henderson, Mary; Higgins, Karen; Hill, Jim; Hill, Marc; Hinkle, Vanessa; Hlavka, Rick; Honadel, Tim; Hood, Timonie; Houser, Rhonda; Hughes, Wilson; Hung, Vilan; Hursh, Carl; Istvan, Laurence; Izzo, Sami; Jakupcak, John; Jimerson, Joyce; John, Jodi. Kimball, Renee; Kingsbury, Tony; Kinsella, Susan; Kirschenbaum, Joy; Kitchell, Margaret; Kiwala, Kathy; Kochan, Leslie; Koenenn, Connie; Kraten, Carrie; Kroeger, Christy; Kroening, Paul; Kunz, David; Laufle, Jeff; Lawrence, Bill; Lee, Eugene; Leopold, Lynn; Lien, Doug; Lilienfeld, Bob; Lindler, Jim; Linsin, Monica; Lobin, Peter; Long, Stephen; Lorenz, Connie; Lynch, Meg; MacCauley, Catherine; Machuca, Desmond; Malaret, Nancy; Marr, Andrew; Maxwell, Tom; May, Karen; McArdle, Wendy Wilson; McCabe, John; McClearn, Pat; McClure, Shelly; McCoy, Christine; McLaughlin, Anne; McReynolds-Pellinen, Mary; McVay, Brian; Mellem, Suzy; Meyer, Glenn; Meyer, Leanne; Mihalenko, Alyson; Mingo, Jerry; Mobley, Jim; Mojo, Steven; Mooney, Susan; Morin, Keri; Mouw, Scott; Nazy, Janet; Nelson, Eric; Nesheim, Barb; Newenhouse, Sonya; Newman, Edward; Nicholls, Jan; Nordman, Bruce; Nussbaum, Sandra Thorp; Olson, Kari; Orloff, Alan; Orman, Spencer. Packard, Ben; Palacio, Cynthia; Park, Eric; Patton, Betty; Peterson, Thor; Phillips, Melissa; Pierskalla, Kristin; Pines, Eydie; Plagenz, Joel; Platt, Brenda; Pollock, Blair; Poplock, Randy; Portman, Michelle; Powell, Jerry; Pratt, Wendy; Prest, Gayle; Priano, Lieve; Pugh, Brian; Quinn, Trevor; Raine, Woody; Reed, Bill; Rhodes, Julie; Rifer, Wayne; Riggs, Chris; Ritter, Leann; Rolfe, Susan; Rosenberg, Betsy; Royer, Scott; Ruben, Dan; Ruby, Mike; Rutan, Marcia; Salterberg, Susan; Sandlin, Erv; Sandner, Heather; Saphire, David; Sarafides, Athena; Schaefer, Tanya; Schneider, Ann; Schoenecker, Colleen; Schrag, Elizabeth; Schrock, Jim; Schwegman, Patty; Scott, Alexandra; Sepanski, Lisa; Seto, Patricia; Sheehan, Bill; Sheffer, Samanthe; Sherf, Barbara; Shimada, Shirley; Siegelbaum, Heidi; Simmons, Alan; Skony, Wendy; Sloan, Bill; Smedberg, Jeffrey; Smith, Rita; Sommerville, Pamela; Spille, Tom; Stein, Kathy; Steinberger, Mo; Stitzhal, David; Stole, Lori; Stone, Nancy; Storz, Lynne; Sturm, Nate; Stutzman, Crispin; Swart, Dave; Talbot, Jim; Tang, Scarlet; Tanzi, Carol; Timmons, Angie; Todd, Shawn Casey; Truth, Caroline; Tumarkin, Jeff; Van Deventer, Mary Lou; Van Dyke, Donald; Van Orsow, Rob; Vigoren, Margie; Warner, Kate; Warner, Lynn; Watson, Tom; Webber, Bonnie Lane; Weber, Bev; Weber, Lori; Weimer, Sarah; Wells, Kate; White, Jesse; Whitworth, Janis; Wiggins, Susanne Brunhart; Williman, Muriel; Wilmot, Tiffany; Wing, David; Woestwin, Carl; Wolfe, Julia; Zaccheo, Barbara Nichols; Ziolko, Susan. - end -