WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ARCHIVE   BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX

17 Dec 01 - green government; e-cards; skepticism; NRC; buildings; exchange; diapers ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From Dave Kunz, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Portland, OR, responding to the 12/7/01 posting about the Illinois governor's executive order requiring state agencies to reduce waste and conserve resources, and also responding to recent postings about electronic cards, or "e-cards": I feel good that the governor of Illinois has taken a strong position on waste, as should all governments. Being "green" is not a left/right political sentiment, it's hard work. Governments should expend energy to find and stop waste within their systems because it inspires behavioral change. American businesses are mostly made up of American families. We all must reduce waste and over-consumption as a responsibility of freedom. I don't feel like good e-correspondence is a waste if I save it to disks for posterity. I like the handmade quality of some video and electronic graphics as much as I do the process of making paper and ink creations. But e-mail is one dimensional absent camera transmission. Soon real-time smiles will be showing up on those e-greeting cards. My 2001 Christmas tip: Save those great Christmas cards for next year, then cut the graphic out with pinking shears, punch a hole, add some ribbon and you have thoughtful "To/From" tags for your gifts. Variations abound. Happy Holidays. E-mail: KUNZ (DOT) David (AT) deq (DOT) state (DOT) or (DOT) us -------------------- Excerpted from the website of the Grist, an on-line magazine published by the Earth Day Network (forwarded by Sandra Nussbaum): THE SKEPTICAL ENVIRONMENTALIST In his new book "The Skeptical Environmentalist," Danish professor Bjorn Lomborg claims that many environmental worries are "phantom problems" created or inflated by the environmental movement for its own ends, with the result that time and money are diverted from other, needier causes. These are quotes from his book: "We will not lose our forests; we will not run out of energy, raw materials, or water. We have reduced atmospheric pollution in the cities of the developed world and have good reason to believe that this will also be achieved in the developing world. Our oceans have not been defiled, our rivers have become cleaner and support more life. ... Nor is waste a particularly big problem. ... The problem of the ozone layer has been more or less solved. The current outlook on the development of global warming does not indicate a catastrophe. ... And, finally, our chemical worries and fear of pesticides are misplaced and counterproductive." In response, Grist magazine published on 12/12/01 a package of articles by environmental experts, addressing Lomborg's claims. These articles are at: http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/books/lomborg121201.asp ------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: NRC - JUST FOUR WEEKS AWAY I just want to remind everyone about the National Recycling Congress (NRC), which will be held Jan. 13-16 in Seattle (this conference was originally scheduled for Sept. 30-Oct. 3, but was postponed due to the terrorist attack). The locations, schedules, etc. for the conference are all virtually the same as they were before (only the dates are different; the times and days of the week are unchanged). As far as I know, only a very few speakers have canceled, and good replacements are being found for those. If you're not already planning to come, you should really consider it. Many of the leaders in waste prevention (reduction and reuse) from around the nation are planning to attend this conference, representing government (local, state and federal), non-profits, corporations, and activist groups. Some terrific sessions, tours, and workshops dealing with waste prevention are scheduled. (And of course there's all the great recycling stuff too, if you're also interested in that.) It's expected that more than 1,100 people will attend this conference. Some good winter rates are available at many Seattle hotels (you don't have to stay at NRC's designated hotels). See this website (sponsored by the Seattle Convention and Visitors Bureau) for more information: http://www.seattlesupersaver.com/pages/hotels.htm See the Visitors Bureau's regular website for general info on Seattle: http://www.seeseattle.org/ For more information on the conference, see the National Recycling Coalition's website at: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/ Scroll down and click on this section: "Updated Information Now Available! Everything You Need for the Annual Congress & Exposition in Seattle." If you have any questions about the conference - especially the waste prevention stuff - just let me know. Hope to see you all next month! E-mail: tom [DOT] watson [AT] metrokc [DOT] gov --------------------- Link to a 12/14/01 editorial in the Baltimore Sun praising the reuse of buildings (forwarded by Bill Ewing): http://www.sunspot.net/news/opinion/editorial/ Scroll down and click on "New life for old buildings." --------------------- Link to the Los Angeles County Online Materials Exchange (LACoMAX), which is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works, Environmental Programs Division, Alhambra, CA: http://ladpw.org/epd/lacomax/index.cfm This free materials exchange is somewhat unusual because it covers all types of materials and is open to anyone - businesses, organizations and residents - in Los Angeles County. --------------------- Link to a 12/16/01 article by Richard Fausset in the Los Angeles Times about a diaper recycling pilot project in Santa Clarita, a suburban city in Southern California: http://latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-121601diapers.story Although this article is about a recycling project, it includes useful background and statistics on disposable diapers and the percentage of them in the waste stream. - end -