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28 Feb 01 - earthquake debris; tuna pouches; SUVs ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From Tom Watson, National Waste Prevention Coalition and King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA: I guess this is a good time to ask if anyone has experience salvaging demolition materials for reuse, after an earthquake. Following today's big quake here in the Seattle area, there is a lot of debris. Because local governments want to handle this material as quickly and efficiently as possible for our citizens and businesses, a lot of it may end up going to disposal, and we also hopefully can recycle some of it. But I'm interested in hearing ideas for reuse for certain types of this waste. For example, where brick walls or chimneys came down, possibly a free brick pile could be set up, so people could use those bricks for borders in their yards and gardens. Something like that would probably work best in a neighborhood, or a rural area. Anyway, let me know if you have any thoughts on this. And thanks to those of you who have written to see if my family and I made it through the quake okay. We're fine. Unfortunately there were some injuries throughout the region, and a lot of damage. All of us here in the Northwest appreciate your concern. E-mail: tom (DOT) watson (AT) metrokc (DOT) gov --------------------- Excerpted from message from Heidi Siegelbaum, O'Neill and Siegelbaum, Seattle, WA: Bumble Bee Seafoods is moving from cans to pouches for its tuna packaging (see Bumble Bee's press release below). Has anyone done a life cycle analysis to see what the difference is? No doubt the pouches will be tossed as garbage, whereas at least the recycling rate/resource ramifications of tin-coated steel are not bad. E-mail: wastenot (A T) speakeasy (D O T) org -------------------- Excerpted from a 2/23/01 press release from Bumble Bee Seafoods, on the PackagingNetwork.com website (forwarded by Heidi Siegelbaum): Bumble Bee Tuna in a Pouch is available this year, initially in regional markets. The easy-to-open, drain-free, vacuum-sealed pouch delivers moist tuna without the mess. Bumble Bee Chunk Light Tuna in Water and Chunk White Albacore in Water are available in 3-ounce convenience size pouches for suggested retail prices of $1.19 and $1.69, and 7-ounce family size pouches for suggested retail prices of $1.99 and $2.79. The 3-ounce size is ideally proportioned for a meal on the go or lunch salads at the office and because it's drain-free, it can be used in recipes calling for 6 ounces of canned tuna. The larger 7-ounce pouch can make three to four sandwiches and can be added in recipes calling for 12 ounces of canned tuna. "Consumers have told us it can be a messy hassle to open and drain tuna cans," said Jennifer Hayes, Director of Marketing, New Products, Bumble Bee Seafoods. Bumble Bee Seafoods, headquartered in San Diego, is a unit of ConAgra Foods, North America's largest foodservice manufacturer and second largest retail food supplier. -------------------- The next four postings are in response to the recent postings about the Unimog, the huge new sport utility vehicle (SUV) from DaimlerChrysler (one posting mentioned a recent National Public Radio story, which described how an environmental group had used the Unimog in South America, and liked it). -------------------- From Sarah Grimm, BRING Recycling, Eugene, OR: I may be jaded, but my hit on that NPR story and the organization called Conservation International is that it was a great big "greenwash" job for the auto industry. E-mail: bring [A T] efn [D O T] org -------------------- From Charlotte Becker, Association of Oregon Recyclers, Gresham, OR: I just have to ask - Would the Unimog be considered a heavy truck? What rules and taxes would it be subject to? What are weight limits? This vehicle was designed for the U.S. It wouldn't fit on European roads. What about legislation banning certain large vehicles from public streets and roads, unless they are displaying a sticker that certifies that they pay an annual road tax of $10,000 to cover part of the damage from the weight, the use of resources and the danger to other drivers. And what about special insurance policies, with premiums that make the national debt look really small? I too heard the NPR story and was dismayed. At the end of the story, the woman did say that this was not a vehicle that she wanted to see commuting in an urban environment - it's just too scary! E-mail: aor [A T] mindspring [D O T] com -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Renee Kimball, "Enuf! The Planet's Favorite Band," Portland, OR: The following website was done in humor, but I guess the Unimog is life imitating the funny papers. There are times when it's all you can do to laugh. The Ultimate Poseur's SUV Page: http://poseur.4x4.org/ I think I'll enter our song "S.U.V." for an Emmy next year. At least it rhymes and you can understand the words. E-mail: rrrRenee (AT) aracnet (DOT) com --------------------- From the Ultimate Poseur's SUV Page (see above for link; forwarded by Renee Kimball): An episode of The Simpsons featured an advertisement for an SUV called the Canyonero: Voice 1 (Quickly, and in the background): "The Federal Highway Commission has ruled the Canyonero unsafe for highway or city driving." Voice 2 (sang by Hank Williams, Jr. himself, to country music): "Twelve yards long, two lanes wide, sixty-five tons of American pride, Canyonero, Canyonero! Top of the line in Utility Sports, unexplained fires are a matter for the courts, Canyonero, Canyonero! She blinds everybody with her super-high beams, she's a squirrel squashin' deer smackin' drivin' machine! Canyonero, Canyonero! Woah Canyonero! Woah!!!! - end -