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13 May 02 - e-government; cell phones; consumption; lipstick; wood; plastic bottles ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Susan Kinsella, Conservatree, San Francisco, CA: I have been asked by a city government to find out about local laws and executive orders related to e-government (electronic government) and the paperless office, as well as successful applications (whether or not required by laws). They are particularly interested in any cost-benefit analyses available. Any information that people can forward to me would be great. Thanks. E-mail: paper [ AT ] conservatree [ DOT ] com -------------------- Excerpted from an INFORM press release (forwarded by Barbara Zaccheo) and a 5/13/02 article in Recycling Today's electronic newsletter: Cell phones are typically used for only 18 months before being replaced. By 2005, about 130 million of these devices, weighing approximately 65,000 tons, will be retired annually in the U.S. These statistics are from "Waste in the Wireless World: The Challenge of Cell Phones," a new study written by Bette Fishbein and published by INFORM, a New York City-based environmental research organization. The report also notes that cell phone use has grown dramatically in the U.S., from 340,000 subscribers in 1985 to more than 128 million in 2001. "Waste in the Wireless World" analyzes the environmental problems created by cell phones, which also apply to other wireless electronic devices, such as personal digital assistants, portable e-mail devices, pagers, pocket PCs, and MP3 music players. Wireless waste poses particularly acute problems when these small devices are sent to landfills or incinerators, where releases of the many toxic materials they contain create threats to human health and the environment. The report makes a number of recommendations, including: - Reduce toxic substances in these devices, particularly lead and brominated flame retardants. - Establish a worldwide technical standard for all cell phone carriers, and standardized cell phone design elements. - Develop financial incentives, such as deposit/refund systems, to encourage consumers to return wireless devices for collection and reuse or recycling. - Design with disassembly, reuse and recycling in mind. The full text of the report is at: http://www.informinc.org/cellphone.htm -------------------- Link to a 4/29/02 press release from the United Nations Environment Programme about its new Life-Cycle Initiative to help combat the environmental impact of rising consumption patterns worldwide (first seen in the Centre for Sustainable Production and Consumption newsletter): http://www.uneptie.org/pc/cp7/ Scroll down to "Press Release" in the bottom left-hand corner. This website also includes links to draft documents related to this initiative, including draft Global Status Reports on sustainable consumption and cleaner production. The press release notes that money spent on household consumption worldwide increased 68 percent between 1980 and 1998. The bulk of this was in "high-income" countries. Purchases by consumers in low-income countries represented less than 4 percent of all private consumption. However, purchases in low-income countries are rising and the impacts could be dramatic. It is estimated that 200 million vehicles would be added to the global fleet if car ownership in China, India and Indonesia were the same as the current world average of 90 cars per 1,000 population. --------------------- Excerpted from an article by Emily Nelson in the 5/9/02 Wall Street Journal: Cover Girl Outlast Lipstick, a no-smudge, long-lasting lipstick introduced by Procter & Gamble a year ago, is now the number one selling lipstick in America. Although using this brand should reduce the use of lipstick, it does come with a tube of glossy moisturizer that women can reapply on top of their color (without having to look in a mirror). Because Cover Girl Outlast has been so successful, other companies are now launching and heavily advertising their own brands of long-lasting lipsticks. And Procter & Gamble is now testing long-lasting perfumes in its British research lab. --------------------- Excerpted from an article by Emily White Read in the 5/10/02 Wall Street Journal: As a result of the phaseout of arsenic-treated wood, sales have jumped recently for composite decking (a mix of wood and plastic) and lumber preserved without arsenic, according to retailers and manufacturers. Following reports of arsenic leaching from lumber used for playgrounds and decks, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced in February that it had reached an agreement with manufacturers of arsenic-treated lumber to take those products off the home market by the end of 2003. But the alternatives don't come cheap. ACQ, a new version of pressure-treated wood that doesn't contain arsenic, costs about 10 percent more than the arsenic-treated lumber. Naturally rot-resistant redwood costs 75 percent more. -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Suzanne Slesin in the 5/10/02 New York Times: NEW LIFE FOR PLASTIC BOTTLES Plastic bottles can be turned into drinking glasses simply by cutting them with a sharp knife. Several of these glasses, in various colors and shapes, were recently displayed at a student design exhibition in Milan, Italy. They were designed by recent graduates of the Design Academy Eindhoven in the Netherlands. On some of them, the tops acted as bases, turning the glasses into graceful flutes and goblets. The bottoms of the bottles were easily turned into tumblers. Bottles that work well for this include some vegetable oil bottles and water bottles. All you need to cut the plastic bottles is a sharp knife and a steady hand. Cut along the indentations and use scissors to smooth around the edges or to make cut-outs at the rims. Most bottles will produce two glasses, a flute and a tumbler. - end -