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02 Aug 02 - bugs; government websites; milk containers; corporations; submissions ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Bill Richards in the 8/2/02 Wall Street Journal, and from the website of the Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers: BUGS THAT EAT BUGS FIND A GROWING NICHE Biological control, or biocontrol for short, has become a big business. Biocontrol is the practice of rearing and releasing beneficial insects, mites and nematodes to seek out and destroy other insects and mites that are considered to be agricultural and horticultural pests. This is done as an alternative to chemical pesticides. Biocontrol is on the upswing because more bugs are growing resistant to pesticides, and more consumers are buying organic. The Association of Natural Biocontrol Producers (ANBP), a Santa Ana (CA) based trade group that represents the 30 biggest biocontrol insect providers in the U.S. and Canada, estimates that about $200 million in commercial bugs are sold each year - with demand growing about 10 percent annually. This adds up to a lot of bugs. For example, a gallon of ladybugs equals 72,000 ladybugs. One farmer in Texas uses an airplane to spray 12.5 million wasps and lacewings over his 1,100 acres of organic corn, wheat and soybeans. For more information on biological control, see the ANBP website at: http://www.anbp.org -------------------- Link to a gateway website for state and local government websites in the U.S. (forwarded by Bill Reed): http://www.statelocalgov.net This website, "State and Local Government on the Net," makes it easy to find the government website for virtually any state, city or county in the U.S. Just click on the state and scroll down, if you're looking for a city or county website. This gateway website is maintained by Piper Resources, an Internet publishing and research firm based in Minneapolis. -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Marcia Rutan, Snohomish County Solid Waste Management Division, Everett, WA: CORRECTED VERSION AVAILABLE OF MILK CONTAINER REPORT In a 6/5/02 posting, I described a report that I had done, regarding the use of milk cartons and milk pouches in schools. I just want to let people know that a corrected, updated version of that report will be distributed this fall. The earlier version - which I distributed to people on this list who wrote to me requesting it - was inaccurate and should be immediately deleted and pulled from use and distribution. If you received this report and distributed it further, would you please also make sure to notify those parties of this situation? Thanks! Also let me know if you would like to request the updated version. E-mail: marcia ( D O T ) rutan ( A T ) co ( D O T ) snohomish ( D O T ) wa ( D O T ) us Phone: (425) 388-6489 -------------------- Link to the IdealsWork website, which allows people to compare the corporate responsibility levels of companies in regards to specific issues, including the environment (forwarded by Kinley Deller): http://www.idealswork.com For background information on this website, which is operated by a small for-profit organization, see: http://www.idealswork.com/help/index.asp ------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who sends in contributions to the Waste Prevention Forum. Your news, views and questions are what make the Forum a success! Occasionally, though, someone sends us something and we are unable to use it, so I want to let you know some of the reasons we might not include your posting or referral on the Forum: - We may have already run something about that item or website in the past few months. - It may deal just with recycling, without any obvious connection to reduction or reuse. - We may have found problems with a website when we checked it out. If you have any questions, please let me know. And keep sending all that great stuff. Thanks! E-mail: tom [D O T] watson [A T] metrokc [D O T] gov - end -