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27 Sep 01 - school disposables; bikes; business programs; paper; Miss America; Depression ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From Mary Joe de Beck, Seattle Public School District, logistics/resource conservation, Seattle, WA: HELP! Our new director believes that disposable kitchenware is "more environmentally friendly" than reusables, which is a major change in policy here at the Seattle School District. I need feasibility studies on reusables vs. disposables. Thanks for your help. E-mail: MDEBECK ( AT ) seattleschools ( DOT ) org Phone: (206) 298-7601 -------------------- From Marcus Archambeault, Community Cycling Center, Portland, OR: I am serving an Americorps position at the Community Cycling Center on Alberta Street in Portland, Oregon. I'm the recycling coordinator. This organization is involved with many programs designed to create sustainable communities and educate citizens on bicycle awareness, safety and maintenance, and is in the process of developing a comprehensive waste prevention/reuse program for bike materials. Tires and tubes have become a waste product that we desperately need to be recycling or reusing. Is there any information people can provide, as to a cost-effective way to take care of these products? We are a non-profit, so it would be a stretch for us to pay a recycler. I'm not sure we generate enough to make it worthwhile for them either. I believe the tubes are Butyl rubber and the tires are Buna. I am also interested in aluminum recycling, but the tires are my main focus. Thank you for your time and concern. This is the beginning of a progressive movement in dealing with bicycles that have been put out to pasture! I look forward to hearing from you. E-mail: chainmail_76 [A T] yahoo [D O T] com Phone: (503) 228-8864 -------------------- From Victor Aguiar, Ecology Action, Santa Cruz, CA: HOW DO YOU ENCOURAGE BUSINESSES TO REDUCE WASTE? We at Ecology Action are gearing up for another year of business waste reduction assistance in Santa Cruz County and elsewhere. To increase our chances of success, we'd like to know what other assistance providers are doing to ensure follow-through after businesses are given recommendations. This has been the hardest part of the process for us, even after providing a clear task list and evidence of potential savings. We're interested in knowing about any business assistance programs and how they encourage operators to act on recommendations in the absence of mandates. We've gotten some excellent information from Spokane County in Washington state, where employee resistance is suggested as a major factor in non-participation. Any thoughts, stories? E-mail: vaguiar [ AT ] ecoact [ DOT ] org Phone: (831) 426-5925, ext. 13 --------------------- From Jerry Powell, Resource Recycling magazine, Portland, OR: Ricoh Co. has developed a process to make reusable paper that can be reprinted more than 200 times. The paper uses dyestuff currently employed in thermo-sensitive paper. The machine used for printing is also used for erasing. E-mail: RESRECYCLE [AT] aol [DOT] com --------------------- The next two postings are in response to the recent postings about the new Miss America, Katie Harman of Oregon, who mentioned environmental protection during the pageant last Saturday. A question was raised about whether, if something is objectionable in some ways, does it make it any better if it has a positive angle (to us), such as environmentalism? --------------------- From M.L. Healey, Martha's Vineyard, MA: In response to the posting asking where we draw the line, I'd like to pass along part of a sentence from Joanna Macy's telling of the Shambhala Warrior's Prophesy. It has become a mantra for me the last few weeks: "...it is not a battle between the good guys and the bad guys... the line between good and evil runs through the landscape of every human heart." Do we want environmental awareness to be a cliquey thing with insiders and outsiders, or do we want to afford ourselves of every opportunity to show how being "Green" is cool, smart, and getting more mainstream by the day? Think how many teenage girls, awash in Seventeen magazines and nail polish, were positively influenced to know someone they look up to is not only Green, but says so to the whole world, and saying it helped her to become Miss America. WOW. We can't predict and shouldn't judge how anything will be received, we just have to keep putting the good stuff out there, and trust. E-mail: ml (A T) vineyard (D O T) net -------------------- From Paul Dunn, City of Omaha (NE) Public Works Department, recycling program: For several years, the Miss America pageant has been trying to break out of the mold of a beauty contest because of the scholarship money the winner receives. I think they may have made the greatest strides this year. I didn't and generally don't watch the contests, but I did watch David Letterman's interview with the new Miss America, and I was very impressed. She did not appear to be the typical Miss America. She has an attractive face, but it is not perfect (she has a mole or two). She was articulate and caught on to Dave's jokes very quickly (usually he has to explain them) and she held her own dishing it back at Dave. She once again stressed her issues and commented about water. I have had the opportunity to meet a former Miss America (she married Jon Christiansen, Nebraska's representative to Congress) and was thoroughly un-impressed by her because she fell into the old Miss America mold. She was attractive, but was not a person you would want to carry on a conversation with for more than 30 seconds. If they (contest sponsors) truly are now picking an attractive but equally important, a well-rounded person, three cheers for the Miss America contest. E-mail: pdunn ( AT ) ci ( DOT ) omaha ( DOT ) ne ( DOT ) us -------------------- From Desmond Machuca, City of SeaTac, public works, SeaTac, WA, responding to the 9/25/01 posting by Cathy Buller, suggesting that resource efficiency/waste reduction could be portrayed as a patriotic duty: I love Cathy Buller's idea of a workshop on Depression Era resource conservation tips. E-mail: desmond ( A T ) seatac ( D O T ) wa ( D O T ) gov - end -