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25 Sep 01 - patriotism; Miss America; trade-offs; Use Less Stuff; printer cartridges ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- The first two postings are in response to recent events, and to a comment in a 9/24/01 posting, hoping that people don't forget environmental protection and waste prevention, as America enters a new phase. -------------------- From Cathy Buller, Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Seattle, WA: I never thought I'd consider casting resource efficiency/waste reduction as a patriotic duty - but heck, it makes sense. Is it time for a workshop on how to revamp Depression Era/World War II resource conservation tips to fit a unified national effort in our drastically different industrial/information age? Geez, maybe THIS is what'll tip the balance so green purchasing, power, production, etc. become the dominant paradigm we've always envisioned. Common sense, patriotic, cost saving - you bet!! E-mail: cbuller (AT) pprc (DOT) org -------------------- From Betsy Rosenberg, environmental journalist, San Francisco, CA: I too am hoping that this tragedy does not knock the environment down to the bottom of the agenda after so many people worked so hard to get it to the front pages. I'm praying the thread might be that Americans got a wake-up call about what's important and that we must fight to protect what we hold precious - be it life or quality of life - before it's too late. And maybe, just maybe, people will be a little more serious about what matters and leave some of the sports and materialism addictions behind for more noble pursuits. We can only hope. E-mail: Betsyrosenberg (A T) cs (D O T) com -------------------- The next three postings are in response to the 9/24/01 posting from Tom Watson, noting that in last Saturday's Miss America pageant, the winner, Katie Harman of Oregon, had described Oregon as "the national leader in environmental protection," and had said her most prized possession was her water bottle. -------------------- From Charlotte Becker, Association of Oregon Recyclers (AOR), Gresham, OR: It's no accident. Our new Miss America is a graduate of Centennial High School here in Gresham (which is just outside Portland). Its school district is the only "All Green" school district in Oregon through the Oregon Green Schools Program. This means every one of the schools in the district is a certified Green School. The district was presented with AOR's Government Recycler of the Year Award at our conference this year in Eugene. It's been a banner year for Centennial! E-mail: mail (AT) aorr (DOT) org ------------------ From Cathy Buller, Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Seattle, WA: How satisfying - a "Green" Miss America, and great PR for the Northwest! E-mail: cbuller [A T] pprc [D O T] org ------------------ From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: In all fairness, I should mention that I also got a response, not for publication, from a friend (whose opinions I really respect), blasting me for watching the Miss America show, and for letting my daughter watch it. It does raise some interesting questions. If there are things, like beauty pageants for instance, that are objectionable in some ways, does it make them any better if they have a positive angle (to us), such as environmentalism? I think there are a lot of trade-offs like this that we all deal with, especially in the environmental field. As partnerships with corporations (as part of the product stewardship movement, for example) become more common, trade-offs will become more and more of an issue. Where do we draw the line? E-mail: tom [D O T] watson [A T] metrokc [D O T] gov ------------------- From Glenn Meyer, Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, St. Paul, MN: With the holiday season coming on strong (I'm just dealing with the retail reality here), I'm really missing Bob Lilienfeld and the Use Less Stuff (ULS) report. Although he packed in the ULS theme, does anyone know if he would make the old content available through others? His statistics on the extra waste during the holidays and the "42 Ways to Trim Your Holiday Wasteline" publication are among the most referenced pieces for news media and waste educators alike. Is Bob a member of this listserv, or does anyone keep in contact with him? E-mail: glenn ( DOT ) meyer ( AT ) moea ( DOT ) state ( DOT ) mn ( DOT ) us ------------------- Excerpted from a message from Jeanette Hardison, the Get SMART! Resource Efficiency Program in Benton and Yamhill counties, Corvallis, OR, responding to the 9/24/01 posting about companies that buy empty ink-jet and laser printer cartridges: Here is another company: Step Forward Activities, Inc., in Baker City, OR, is a not-for-profit that buys AND remanufactures empty inkjet and laser printer cartridges, while providing jobs for people with disabilities. They guarantee their product won't damage your equipment or they'll replace your entire machine. Here is their contact information: Website: http://www.stepforwardactivities.org/page5.html E-mail: stepfwd (AT) eoni (DOT) com Phone: 888-606-6166 (toll-free) Jeanette's e-mail: lunadancer (A T) earthlink (D O T) net - end -