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21 Feb 01 - donations; plant pots; mercury; resources; pallet wrap; disks; SUV; cell phones ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Follow-up on the posting earlier today about the death of Donella (Dana) Meadows, director of the Sustainability Institute and a leading voice of the sustainability and simplicity movements (forwarded by Marcia Rutan): According to Hal Hamilton, a friend and colleague of Dana Meadows, gifts in her honor should be made to the Sustainability Institute, P.O. Box 174, Hartland Four Corners, VT, 05049. The website for the Institute is at: http://www.sustainer.org -------------------- From Steve Fisher, recycling program, City of Edmonds, WA: City of Edmonds Parks personnel use a large amount of plastic starter plant pots for their extensive flower basket program. Almost all of them are the smaller types - two-and-a-half-inch and four-inch sizes, many connected as flats. For awhile, staff has been reusing these containers over and over until they tear or become unusable. They feel the pots are sturdy enough to be reused a few times and hate the thought of tossing them after one use. Each use, though, calls for labor to hand-clean and sterilize each pot. Management is now studying the cost of this labor compared to buying new pots each year. Parks has a very tight budget for this program. Area nurseries are only interested in taking used one-gallon size plastic pots or larger, as the cost of sterilizing versus a new larger pot is at least a "wash." The small pots are polystyrene and I have checked locally for anyone interested in even taking them for recycling and have had no luck. Do any forum subscribers have any information on sources seeking these pots, or any low-cost no-waste alternatives to bedding hundreds of plants? E-mail: Fisher [ AT ] ci [ DOT ] edmonds [ DOT ] wa [ DOT ] us Phone: Phone (425) 771-0235 -------------------- From the website of Health Care Without Harm, an international activist coalition: MERCURY THERMOMETERS ON THEIR DEATH BED As of 1/23/01, there are now 20 retailers and distributors around the nation - many of them major chains - that have pledged to stop selling mercury fever thermometers. They are: Albertson's, Astrup Drug, Brooks Pharmacy, CVS, drugstore.com, Kinney Drugs, Kmart, Long's Drugs, Meijer's Supermarkets, Rite Aid, Royal Ahold (Stop and Shop, Giant, BiLO), Safety 1st, Safeway, Target, The First Year, Thrifty White, Toys 'R Us/Babies 'R Us, Wal Mart, Walgreen's and Winn-Dixie. Health Care Without Harm website: http://www.noharm.org --------------------- The next three postings are in response to the 2/16/01 posting seeking lists of publications, organizations, associations, activities or legislation that foster reuse and pollution prevention. --------------------- From Steve Long, recycling markets program, Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, Boston, MA: Here are some reuse resources: - U.S. EPA reuse directory for New England: http://www.epa.gov/region1/steward/reuse/index.html - WasteCap of Massachusetts: http://www.wastecap.org - The Reuse Development Organization (ReDO): http://www.redo.org E-mail: Stephen ( D O T ) Long ( A T ) state ( D O T ) ma ( D O T ) us -------------------- From Jeff Tumarkin, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WasteWise program, Washington, DC: NEW WASTEWISE ONLINE RESOURCE DIRECTORY Since 1994, WasteWise has maintained a library of waste reduction resources to help WasteWise partners find information on designing, implementing, maintaining, and assessing solid waste reduction programs. Now, WasteWise brings this information right to your fingertips in a comprehensive, searchable, online resource directory. The directory includes listings of: - WasteWise publications and postings from the WasteWise listserver - Agencies that provide waste reduction information and assistance - Reuse organizations and materials exchanges - Informational websites - Articles from solid waste management magazines - Waste reduction guides from trade associations WasteWise is also coordinating with EPA's Jobs Through Recycling (JTR) program to incorporate its municipal solid waste technical assistance resources. JTR library information on wood, electronics, and tires should be available soon. Visitors can search the directory for information on specific products, materials, or waste reduction activities at: http://www.ergweb.com/wwta/intro.asp E-mail: Tumarkin (D O T) Jeff (A T) epamail (D O T) epa (D O T) gov --------------------- From Tom Watson, National Waste Prevention Coalition and King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA: I just want to remind everyone about the main National Waste Prevention Coalition (NWPC) website: http://www.metrokc.gov/nwpc Click on "Waste Prevention Resource Center" (or just scroll down) for links to more than 40 waste prevention-related websites. The Coalition site also has information on Coalition projects and a "Waste Prevention News" section. Another great resource, maintained by Darin Cosgrove, is the searchable archive for this listserv, the NWPC's Waste Prevention Forum. It is located at http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive This link is also at the top of every installment of the Forum. E-mail: tom [ DOT ] watson [ AT ] metrokc [ DOT ] gov --------------------- From David Allaway, Solid Waste Policy and Program Development, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Portland, OR: I am looking for information about packaging alternatives to pallet wrap. I understand that there are at least two "reusable" alternatives: one is a netting that secures the packages in place on the pallet, the other product is an elastic band (similar to a giant rubber band) that holds the packages in place. Specifically, I am seeking examples of any companies that are currently using one of these (or other) alternatives to pallet wrap. Willingness to be interviewed (informally) about their experience with it (does it work, how does it work, etc.) would be a very nice plus. Any contacts or ideas you can provide would be appreciated. The National Recycling Coalition has already been contacted for info. Thanks. E-mail: ALLAWAY [ DOT ] David [ AT ] deq [ DOT ] state [ DOT ] or [ DOT ] us Phone: (503) 229-5479 -------------------- From Leanne Meyer, recycling program, U.S. Postal Service, Lansing, MI: Does anyone out there have a good source for recycling 5-and-a-1/4-inch floppy disks? I used Data Memory Marketing in the past, but they have dropped the program. This one seems to be a hard one to get rid of. Thanks. E-mail: LMEYER1 [ A T ] email [ D O T ] usps [ D O T ] gov Note from Tom: Although we do not usually run questions that deal with recycling alone, we're running this because there might be a reuse or reformatting solution (probably not in the U.S. though). If your reply deals solely with recycling, respond directly to Leanne. -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Keith Bradsher in the 2/21/01 New York Times (forwarded by Karen Hamilton): (Note from Karen: I thought that this was a joke, but apparently not.) Freightliner, which is owned by DaimlerChrysler, plans to start selling a four-wheel-drive vehicle that dwarfs even the largest family vehicles on the road. Based on a German military transport, the vehicle, called the Unimog, will be 20 feet long and 9 feet 7 inches tall. The front seat is reached by a three-step ladder. It is almost three feet taller than the current tallest sport utility vehicle (SUV), and more than a foot longer then the Ford Excursion SUV. The Unimog weighs 12,500 pounds, more than the weight of two Chevrolet Suburbans. It gets about 10 miles to the gallon of diesel fuel, worse than any existing SUV. "You don't need roads," says the cover of the Unimog sales brochure, "when you can make your own." The vehicle will sell for a base price of $84,000. Freightliner will start taking orders for the Unimog in October, with manufacturing to begin next January. -------------------- Link to an article by John Branton in the 2/1/01 Vancouver (WA) Columbian, about a cellular phone donation program in Clark County, Washington (first seen in Jim Schrock's Delete This Newsletter): http://www.columbian.com/02012001/clark_co/176260.html - end -