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06 Dec 02 - printers; disposables; salvaging; time; mass mailings ** 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 the 12/2/02 posting about how Information Technology (IT) staff in one office have said that a duplex printer requires four times as much cleaning as a non-duplex printer, using toxic chemicals. -------------------- From Gina Hawkins, City of Gainesville, recycling program, Gainesville, FL: People shouldn't allow themselves to get sucked into this argument. The IT people are concerned because THEY have to clean the printers four times as often. I notice they made no mention of the toxic chemicals (bleach, etc.) used to make the paper they are wasting by not duplexing. I think we should give people paper accounts and then watch how little they print because they have to pay for it themselves. Likewise, bonuses could be given to people who reduce their paper consumption compared to the previous year(s). E-mail: hawkinsrm (A T) ci (D O T) gainesville (D O T) fl (D O T) us --------------------- Excerpted from a message from Vikki VanDuyne, City of Bellevue, commercial recycling program, Bellevue, WA: Our service contracts are the same with duplex as without.... E-mail: VVanduyne [AT] ci [DOT] bellevue [DOT] wa [DOT] us -------------------- Link to a 12/4/02 ABC News report by Amanda Onion on the increase in disposable products (forwarded by David Stitzhal): http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/disposable021204.html "There is a definite trend toward disposable," says Tom Vierhile, executive editor of Productscan Online, a database on new products. "People want things ready to go, ready to eat, ready to use, ready to apply. That's the society we live in and it lends itself to disposable products." From cleaning wipes to facial cloths and storage containers, Vierhile says the number of disposable grocery products has more than doubled since 1995. Last year alone, manufacturers introduced 110 kinds of disposable wipes - up from 28 new wipes products in 1998, according to Product Alert, a publication on packaged goods. The new use-and-toss items include wipes for floor brooms and mops, wipes to clean the toilet, scrub greasy pans and even bathe the baby. In the ever-innovating realm of high-tech, companies have turned to disposables as a way of dealing with frequent technology upgrades. A new breed of "talk and toss" mobile phones has entered the market, and disposable videos and DVDs are becoming available. To some extent, even computers have become disposable. According to the National Safety Council, computers in 1994 lasted an average of four to six years. By 2004, estimates predict the average life of a computer will be just two years. The trend has conservationists worried. "It takes something like 25 pounds of garbage to make a pound of product," says Debra Lynn Dadd, founder and sustainability adviser for WorldWise, an organization that encourages environmentally responsible consumerism. "So when you use these products, you're not only throwing out the wipe or the towel, there's also the material that was disposed when the product was made. That's waste we never even see." -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Hillary Rosner in the 12/5/02 New York Times: SALVAGE DECOR: READY FOR ITS CLOSE-UP Salvaging building materials and reusing them, sometimes known as deconstruction, is the latest version of recycling. It began at the grassroots and has spread across the country. In Minneapolis, a nonprofit group, the Green Institute, expects to sell $1 million worth of salvaged building materials this year - 15 percent more than last year - gathered at 80 demolition and renovation sites and peddled at a 26,000-square-foot store. In Baltimore, the Loading Dock mines buildings for anything that might sell, including insulation, wallpaper and gas stoves. If all goes as planned, a new nonprofit group in New York City, Arrow, will start selling materials from dismantled buildings at a store in Queens next spring. At a time when home construction averages $90 a square foot, according to the National Association of Home Builders, salvaged materials offer those with a good eye and a sense of adventure a chance to buy someone else's prize at a fraction of its original price. The National Trust for Historic Preservation, in a report last year, said that demolitions of "epidemic proportions" were taking place in historic neighborhoods. In many areas, nonprofit organizations, many with an environmental or job-creating bent, have recognized a niche market, plowing the profits from sales of used goods back into their causes. Entrepreneurs and smart shoppers are also taking note. Like flea markets and thrift shops, salvage depots are fast becoming a cool place to go for vintage bargains. "People see the value in this stuff," said Matthew McKinney, the deconstruction manager at Resource 2000, a nonprofit organization that began dismantling houses and selling the parts in Boulder, Colorado, in 2001. The group has handled 30 deconstruction projects this year, double last year's amount. Jim Primdahl, deconstruction manager at another nonprofit, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, in Portland, Oregon, and a member of the board of the Used Building Materials Association, says that it is hard to stay on top of the demand for information on ways to obtain lightly used cabinets, windows, beams and floor tiles. Some bargain-hunters work with architects who specialize in so-called green design and who know how to draw the best from vintage goods. "It's all about using less energy in design and construction," said Julee Herdt, a professor of architecture at the University of Colorado who leads courses in green technology and environmental design. "If that means a surface isn't perfectly smooth or has some blemishes, then perhaps that's the new aesthetic." Resource 2000 recycles not only entire houses but also elements of buildings, like the basketball court flooring it took from a demolished Air Force facility near Denver and a truckload of surplus bulletproof glass it got from a prison. Arranged along rough aisles are sections devoted to kitchen cabinets, lighting fixtures, molding, copper pipes and solar panels. Prices are 30 to 50 percent below retail. The depot's projected sales this year are $400,000, up from $250,000 in 2001, said Kurt Buss, the program director. Dismantling a standard wood-frame house takes about two to three weeks and costs about $6 to $8 a square foot. When tax deductions from donating materials or profits from selling them are factored in and balanced against the cost of demolition, deconstruction often offers sellers and buyers a win-win equation. Despite having to hire a special contractor to remove asbestos siding and a tricky asphalt roof, a nonprofit group in Pittsboro, North Carolina, the Rural Advancement Foundation International-USA, came out ahead four years ago after choosing to deconstruct rather than demolish a 19th-century structure, originally a rectory. The foundation's architect was able to recycle valuable materials like handmade bricks in creating a new green building on the same site. The vintage heart pine went into the flooring and trim, and the old foundation stones will be incorporated into landscaping. Habitat for Humanity helped with the deconstruction, reusing or selling the appliances and plumbing and lighting fixtures. While old stuff often has cachet, it can be hard to work with - and naturally, it does not come with a manufacturer's guarantee. Furthermore, "because most residential homes are built on a mass-production scale, the standard contractors are not going to Resource 2000-type stores," said Alexis Karolides, an architect with the Rocky Mountain Institute, which advocates recycling. "They have to order things on a huge volume, and they're cranking these houses out fast." In Snowmass, Colorado, where a lot of new money is going into McMansions, Karolides gathers materials from houses the day before demolitions. "It's amazing what you can get here," she said. Figuring out how to make everything fit "makes it more complicated," she added, "but the rewards are significant. You have materials like worn floors or siding or old barn wood - interesting, unique items you took from another building." ------------------- Link to the website for "Take Back Your Time" day (forwarded by Marcia Rutan): http://www.timeday.org The first Take Back Your Time Day will be held next fall, October 24, 2003. Take Back Your Time Day is a nationwide initiative to challenge the American epidemic of overwork, overscheduling and time famine. The coordinator of the Take Back Your Time Day effort is John de Graaf, Seattle-based author and producer of the "Affluenza" television documentaries on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). The website notes that, among other problems, overwork contributes to the destruction of our environment, encouraging the use of convenience and throw-away items. -------------------- From the U.S. Postal Service Postal Bulletins, September through November, 2002: The Postal Bulletin is published bi-weekly by the U.S. Postal Service. It is the official source of Postal Service information for post offices. According to the Bulletin, these are some of the recent bulk mailings that have been sent out nationally: - J.C. Penney "Super Saturday" flyer, delivered Sept. 2002. 20.4 million flyers. - J.C. Penney "Real You" catalog, delivered Sept. 2002. 5 million catalogs. - Macy's flyer, delivered Sept. 2002. 3.2 million flyers. - J.C. Penney Anniversary Sale flyer, delivered Sept.-Oct. 2002. 24.6 million flyers. - Sally Beauty Supply flyer, delivered Sept.-Nov. 2002. 3.3 million flyers. - The Swiss Colony catalog, delivered Oct.-Nov. 2002. 6.4 million catalogs. - Billy Graham letter, delivered Oct.-Dec. 2002. 5.6 million. The Postal Bulletins for 2002 are online at: http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/bulletin/pb2002.htm - end -