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24 Jan 02 - hand dryers; definitions; grocery stores; cups; book; hospitals ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Wayne Gash, Washington State University, Material Resource Services, Pullman, WA: Some time back I was inquiring about some information regarding electric hand dryers vs. recycled paper towels. The article linked to below, by Nadav Malin in the January, 2002, Environmental Building News, is the first thing I've seen that isn't just an ad for an electric dryer manufacturer. Maybe this is too, but it appears to have a legit life-cycle analysis to back it up. The referenced material indicates that virtually any electric hand dryer is more efficient than any hand towels. I'm disappointed as a recycler, but since the university is planning to generate its own electricity, at first glance it appears electric is the way for us to go. The article, which describes a new hand dryer for public restrooms that gets hands dry in one-third the time, and uses about one-third the energy of conventional dryers, is at: http://www.buildinggreen.com/products/xlerator.html E-mail: wcgash (AT) wsu (DOT) edu -------------------- From Susan Salterberg, Center for Energy & Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA: Does anyone know of any written and generally accepted definitions of reduce, reuse, recycle, renew? Thanks. E-mail: ssalter [A T] netins [D O T] net -------------------- The next two postings are in response to the 1/18/02 posting seeking information on strategies to reduce waste (commercial packaging and other waste streams) in grocery stores. -------------------- From Dale Alekel, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA: I recently completed a pilot reusable packaging project involving a small natural food store chain, a local farmer and a container rental company that rented durable produce containers. Pilot results will be added to the following website by April: http://www.metrokc.gov/greenworks Send me an e-mail at dale [ D O T ] alekel [ A T ] metrokc [ D O T ] gov if you'd like to receive the report electronically sooner than April. Last year, King County's Green Works Program worked with Albertson's (a grocery store chain with nearly 2,500 stores in 37 states). Their waste prevention and recycling achievements and practices are worth looking at: http://www1.albertsons.com/corporate/ourcomp/oc_recycle.asp?cat=2&subcat=5 -------------------- From Blair Pollock, Orange County Solid Waste Management Department, Chapel Hill, NC: At the "eco" Wal-Mart in the Kansas City area about 1995, the store itself had a station for customers to discard and deposit unwanted packaging after they paid for the item. The store then ostensibly recycled it. I saw this project in action on a tour, don't know the outcome of it. Further, two of our local natural foods-oriented grocery stores, Weaver Street Market Coop and Wellspring Grocery, practice separation of prep waste (not post-consumer) for composting, and sell milk in returnable glass bottles from a local dairy (a number of the conventional grocery stores also sell this local milk; one stopped doing it because there was no bar code on the bottles). Wellspring, one of the natural food stores, part of the Whole Foods chain, formerly had a program we funded with a grant, where they provided sanitized take-out containers to customers for a one-dollar deposit (most containers didn't come back, and the program ended due to under-use). They participate in the Stonyfield Farm Yogurt container mail-back program. The State of North Carolina Health Board just denied the Town of Chapel Hill's request to allow citizens to bring their own take-out containers to delis for refills (they can bring their own containers to grocery stores for bulk items like cooking oil, grains, etc., but not to get prepared food at a deli). E-mail: bpollock [A T] co [D O T] orange [D O T] nc [D O T] us -------------------- The next two postings are in response to the 1/22/02 posting seeking information for a student research project on the life cycle of disposable paper coffee cups. -------------------- From Ben Packard, Starbucks Coffee Company, environmental affairs, Seattle, WA: We did a significant research project on this very issue in collaboration with the Alliance For Environmental Innovation, a project of Environmental Defense. Together we wrote a report summarizing our research efforts around disposable cups and the environmental benefits of reusable serveware (glass and ceramics). Go to http://www.environmentaldefense.org Search for Starbucks, and it will bring you to the Adobe Acrobat file of our report. E-mail: BPackard ( A T ) starbucks ( D O T ) com -------------------- From Susan Ziolko, Clackamas County Community Environment Division, Clackamas, OR: Washington County, in Oregon, has a display showing the number of cups that one reusable mug could replace. You may want to contact Paul Seitz, at paul_seitz [ AT ] co [ DOT ] washington [ DOT ] or [ DOT ] us He may have some other data as well. E-mail: susanz (A T) co (D O T) clackamas (D O T) or (D O T) us -------------------- From Susan Salterberg, Center for Energy & Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA: "MATERIAL WORLD" WILL BE AVAILABLE AGAIN For those of you interested in using the hardcover book, "Material World: A Global Family Portrait" (mentioned at the National Recycling Congress last week) as a waste reduction education tool, it is temporarily out-of-print. I have talked with Faith, the author's wife, and she explained that the publisher (Sierra Club) inadvertently delayed reprinting. Faith's best guess is that the book will once again be available in March or April. E-mail: ssalter [A T] netins [D O T] net -------------------- Link to the new website for Hospitals for a Healthy Environment, or H2E: http://www.h2e-online.org H2E is a voluntary program designed to help hospitals enhance workplace safety, reduce waste and waste disposal costs, and become better environmental stewards and neighbors. H2E is a joint project of the American Hospital Association, the Environmental Protection Agency, Health Care Without Harm, and the American Nurses Association. This website provides tools including a list of mercury reduction resources and a guide to minimizing waste. - end -