WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ARCHIVE   BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX

26 Mar 01 - fiberglass; curriculums; food containers; Verizon; utility meter; Personal Valet; paperless city councils ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From David Allaway, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Portland, OR: Does anybody have experience working on solid waste prevention with manufacturers of fiberglass products? (Examples of fiberglass products include showers and bathtubs, hot tubs, and fast food restaurant booths.) We are developing a fact sheet on environmental best management practices for fiberglass products manufacturers and would appreciate any information, suggestions, etc., specifically on the topic of solid waste prevention. Thanks. E-mail: ALLAWAY ( D O T ) David ( A T ) deq ( D O T ) state ( D O T ) or ( D O T ) us Phone: (503) 229-5479 ------------------ From Susan Salterberg, Van Buren County Solid Waste Commission, Keosauqua, IA, and the Center for Energy and Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA: Does anyone know of any curriculum materials that introduce 5th to 12th graders to the importance of pollution prevention for business and industry? I'm thinking that children might be agents of change. For example, if kids learn why it's important for an auto mechanic to recycle oil, they may influence their parents' decisions on where to take their business. I hope someone will be able to point me to some materials. Thanks. E-mail: ssalter ( AT ) netins ( DOT ) net Phone: (319) 498-4516 ------------------ From Barbara Zaccheo, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WasteWise program, Washington, DC: I received an e-mail from a person interested in advocating reusable food containers in restaurants and cafeterias. Has anyone ever looked into this? There are obviously a range of health and safety concerns. E-mail: Zaccheo [ D O T ] Barbara [ A T ] epamail [ D O T ] epa [ D O T ] gov ------------------ Message sent 3/23/01 from Maureen Burke of Verizon Wireless, in response to a 12/15/00 Forum posting critical of the potential wastefulness of a new Verizon program, "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: (Note - This message was sent to Barbara Zaccheo, of the U.S. EPA WasteWise program, who had forwarded her the original posting. Thanks to Barbara for forwarding Marueen's response to us.) Dear Barbara - This memo is in reply to the concerns you forwarded to me regarding the Verizon Wireless "New Every Two" program. In April, 2000, Verizon was formed by the combination of the U.S. wireless businesses of Bell Atlantic, GTE and Vodafone. The company includes the assets of Bell Atlantic Mobile, Air Touch Cellular, GTE Wireless, PrimeCo Personal Communications and Air Touch Paging. Currently the company is in the process of gaining synergies and developing unified policies. The New Every Two program offers $100 towards the purchase of a new wireless phone when a Verizon Wireless customer has fulfilled a two-year service agreement for a digital calling plan, with an access charge of $35 a month or more. To take advantage of the program, you are required to renew your service with Verizon Wireless for another two years. Industry data indicates that the average wireless customer obtains a new wireless phone about every 18 months. The New Every Two program was designed, in part, to encourage customers to keep their phones for two years. Although the program is a customer-retention device, economics dictate the $100 allowance towards a new phone be offset by the reuse of the phone turned in. Returns from this program will begin on or after April 1, 2002. At the present time, when customers turn in wireless phones to Verizon Wireless, they are accepted and, in many instances, they are refurbished and put back into service as field replacement units. For example, 600,000 phones were refurbished in the former Bell Atlantic Mobile service areas during 2000, and approximately 250,000 phones were refurbished in the former PrimeCo service areas during 2000. Phones that are not refurbished locally are shipped to one of Verizon Wireless' warehouses. When enough phones and related equipment are collected at the warehouses, they are sold at auction for reuse or parts and scrap value. The contract for sale addresses environmental issues relating to the phones. Verizon Wireless is presently developing a unified policy for the return of wireless phones throughout its entire footprint that will further Verizon's commitment to the environmental quality of life in the communities it serves. I hope this information answers any concerns regarding the New Every Two program. We are proud to be an award-winning WasteWise partner and intend to keep this status. Please contact me if you have any questions. Sincerely, Maureen Burke ------------------- Link to the website for the Kent (WA) School District Resource Conservation Program's "Real-Time Resource Consumption Meter" (forwarded by Kinley Deller): Note from Kinley: This is very cool. http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/KSD/FP/CO/ This meter keeps a running tally of the kilowatt hours of electricity used by the district, the cubic feet of natural gas used, the gallons of water used, and the gallons of garbage produced, and the cost to the district. The Kent School District is located in the city of Kent, just south of Seattle. ------------------- From Marc Hill, King County Solid Waste Division, household hazardous waste program, Seattle, WA, responding to the 3/21/01 posting about the Personal Valet, a soon-to-be-introduced, cabinet-size clothes refresher made by Whirlpool, which removes odors and wrinkles using a chemical formula developed by Procter & Gamble: Regarding the new appliance from Whirlpool: I'd be interested to know the composition of the chemical that Procter & Gamble developed. Toxicity, proper disposal of spent product (if necessary), etc., would all be useful information. I'll check their respective websites, but if anyone hears anything else about this product (especially in terms of the chemical), please pass it along. Hopefully, there was some forethought put into the process of developing this product and its accessories, but history shows us this is not usually the case. Thanks! E-mail: marc ( D O T ) hill ( A T ) metrokc ( D O T ) gov ------------------- Link to an article by Janet Burkitt in the 3/18/01 Seattle Times about how some city councils are trying to go paperless, by putting city reports, memos and proposed ordinances and resolutions on computers, which members would use at meetings in place of printed packets: http://www.seattletimes.com Click on "Search Archive." Scroll down to number 3 and type in "paperless" and hit Enter. Scroll down and click on, "Paperless City Council? Edmonds Considers Idea." This article includes information on how the small city of Lenexa, Kansas, has eliminated printed packets for its city council meetings. - end -