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17 Oct 01 - shopping and Sept. 11; hierarchy; AOL; Target; ULS; graffiti; holidays; energy ** 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 postings and events, related to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack. -------------------- From Yen Chin, City of Seattle, Seattle, WA: I see two distinct aspects to material objects: their physical thingness and the meaning they contain. The physical thingness contains concrete reality and the utilitarian value of the object. The meaning comes from a social construction and may - and often does - have no connection to the object's physical thingness. The meaning more closely resembles a verb than a noun, and we do well to pay attention to the how and the why of it rather than the what. I agree that the September 11th attacks tore off the cover on American materialism (among other things) and revealed a rich humanity below that glittering surface. That humanity offers much hope for the possibilities of making a worthwhile future by doing work in the present that feeds our hearts and souls. This revelation was an unintended consequence of the attacks, one that runs counter to the desires of both the attackers and the dominant political economy in this country against which the attacks were directed. So our so-called leaders urge us to return to "normalcy" while they feed us large doses of fear. Ask how and why. When I ask those questions I see insanity or at least a perversity so twisted that I shrink from trying to penetrate it. I hope that I never understand why they would want to re-bury the rich humanity rather than work to release it. But that's what they're doing. And the normality to which they wish us to return is one of over-consumption. The one we all know during the end-of-the-year shopping season, where the system encourages us to attempt to buy love. Let's all buy safety. Let's all buy hope. Let's all buy back a care-free past. This doesn't have to be. We could resist the marching orders and invoke our better selves. We could work to keep the covers off so we can see and cultivate the rich humanity that lies below and inside us all. That's difficult and challenging work that requires a large degree of self reflection and a desire to change ourselves rather than assuming we hold the truth that others must adopt. E-mail: yenchin [ AT ] igc [ DOT ] org -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Marc Hill, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA: I heard excerpts from President Bush's press conference last week, and one thing really caught my attention. He said, "Now, the American people have got to go about their business. We cannot let the terrorists achieve the objective of frightening our nation to the point where we don't conduct business or people don't shop." It was that last part about shopping that really struck a nerve. Perhaps he was trying to play up the "invigorate the economy" angle, but is "shop till you drop" really a core value of the American lifestyle that a President should be promoting? Was the terrorists' objective to keep us from buying a bunch of stuff? It seemed like a strange comment to make when you are discussing issues in this context. I've not come across anyone who has sworn off shopping altogether, so I must be missing something here. Perhaps I'm being too critical or making too much of it, but my ears really perked up when I heard that. I also thought it meshed well with a recent piece on the Waste Prevention Forum regarding this very subject. E-mail: marc ( D O T ) hill ( A T ) metrokc ( D O T ) gov -------------------- From David Wollner, BRING Recycling, Eugene, OR, responding to the 10/05/01 posting from Donald Van Dyke proposing a new solid waste management hierarchy: (Note - The proposed hierarchy was: 1. Reduce; 2. Buy used/remanufactured/recycled; 3. Reuse onsite; 4. Reuse offsite; 5. Remanufacture; 6. Recycle onsite; 7. Recycle offsite; 8. Recover energy; 9. Dispose as little as possible) Regarding the proposed hierarchy, I wonder whether #5, "Remanufacture," is the same as restore/repair? If it is not, those important steps need to be added to the hierarchy, maybe a step ahead. I also don't see that buying recycled is equally as important as buying reused. It only encourages a default lifestyle that is not sustainable. E-mail: bring [ A T ] efn [ D O T ] org -------------------- Excerpted from an item by Pamela LiCalzi O'Connell in the technology section of the 10/11/01 New York Times: NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TARGETS AOL MAILINGS Are America Online's promotional CD-ROMs - those shrink-wrapped discs that regularly appear in your mailbox - junk mail or pop-culture artifacts? To John Lieberman and Jim McKenna, technology professionals from San Francisco, those seemingly ubiquitous CDs, which cannot be used for any other computer-related purpose, are "needless pollution." Through their Web site - http://www.NoMoreAOLCDs.com - the two have embarked on an online mission to amass one million of the discs and deliver them to AOL's headquarters in Dulles, VA. Since August, Mr. McKenna said, he has received more than 2,600 discs as a result of his effort. An affiliate site is gathering discs in Britain, and other sites are being readied in Australia, France and Germany. A spokesman for AOL, Nicholas Graham, emphasized that the company has an internal recycling policy, adding, "We think the number of people who are pleased to get the discs far outweighs those who are not pleased." In fact, there is a growing segment of the population that can't wait for the next AOL CD to pour out of cereal boxes: collectors. AOL has distributed more than 1,000 versions of the discs, and there are people who want to collect all of the many permutations. Some versions with distinctive artwork have sold on eBay for more than $100 each. Lydia Cline, an architect in Overland Park, KS, has collected more than 500 AOL CD versions. Far from detritus, AOL's discs "are destined to be among the antiques of the digital age," she said. "Ten years from now everyone who has tossed them out might wish they had saved a few." -------------------- Excerpted from a 10/15/01 article by Jim Konkoly in Waste News about Target's waste reduction and recycling programs: The Target Corp., headquartered in Minneapolis, MN, is one of the nation's major retailers, with 1,055 stores and annual sales of $36.9 billion. The company emphasizes waste reduction, especially packaging reduction. Target is able to track and measure its waste per unit of sale, and that has been dropping since 1994, said Jim Bosch, environmental manager for Target. "We've essentially been able to reduce the waste generated per dollar of sales by 33 percent," he said. Target reuses or recycles 455 million clothes hangers and 20,000 shopping carts per year. In both cases, hangers and carts are reused whenever possible (carts are sent to a refurbisher). The shopping carts "that meet our standards are repaired and reused at Target stores," Bosch said. "Those that don't meet our standards are delabled and either resold or recycled." One of the benefits of this reuse is that it makes the carts available to Target's stores for one-third of the cost of a new cart, he added. -------------------- From Bob Lilienfeld, Cygnus Group, Ann Arbor, MI: I've got The ULS (Use Less Stuff) Report back on-line. A few other reference materials are also up, including "42 Ways to Trim Your Holiday Wasteline" and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) Source Reduction Curriculum done a few years ago. Hope to have more up soon. The new address is, appropriately enough, http://www.use-less-stuff.com E-mail: bob [ AT ] cygnus-group [ DOT ] com -------------------- From Crispin Stutzman, Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Seattle, WA: Today I received a question from someone with the City of Seattle about graffiti removal and whether anyone has developed written guidance on best practices to use when removing graffiti. Topics would address the least toxic products that do the job, and how to use the smallest amount of remover/solvent/etc. possible. Seattle already has some programs in place to work to prevent the graffiti in the first place, so the main thrust of this question really is on how to most safely and responsibly get rid of existing graffiti. Any insights or leads would be greatly appreciated! E-mail: cstutzman [ A T ] pprc [ D O T ] org -------------------- From Sarah Grimm, BRING Recycling, Eugene, OR: The Center for a New American Dream has a great website with a wonderful info sheet on making the holidays (and every day) more earth friendly. - Home page: http://www.newdream.org - "Simplify the Holidays" web page: http://www.newdream.org/holiday/home.html Sarah's e-mail: bring ( A T ) efn ( D O T ) org -------------------- Link to a column by Robert Kuttner in the 10/15/01 Boston Globe on energy policy (forwarded by Steve Long): http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/288/oped/A_self_sufficient_energy_policy_+..shtml (Note from Steve: Please note the references to: the use of recycled materials; high performance buildings; and conservation.) - end -