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24 Jan 03 - NWPC project; phone books; durability; green building; Bill Gates ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: NWPC NATIONAL PROJECT UPDATE Last fall, on this Forum, we began discussing proposals for a new project for the National Waste Prevention Coalition (NWPC). About 35 different Forum subscribers submitted comments on the proposals, and additional suggestions. Thank you for the terrific response! (To read some of the comments, click on the Forum Archive link above and search for "NWPC project.") The two proposed projects with the most support were: Junk Phone Book Reduction; War on Obsolescence/Campaign for Durability. Based on people's comments (and offers to help), and also based on the available time and resources that I will have available (since I coordinate the NWPC as part of my job with King County), here is what we would like to do: - PHONE BOOKS. Move ahead with this project. First we'll gather detailed info nationwide on the problem of unwanted phone books, and potential solutions. I will head up this fact-finding effort, but I hope that some of you will also get involved. - OBSOLESCENCE/DURABILITY. Keep the concept and idea of this project alive, but try to get other organizations (or individuals who would take a lead role) involved before moving ahead with it. So, please let me know if you or your organization would like to help work on the phone book project, or if you have any questions or comments about either project. To refresh people's memory, here's a quick summary of the phone books issue: Unwanted phone books - Problem has grown in recent years, as competing companies dump unrequested phone books on porches or in the doorways of businesses or apartment buildings. - Many solid waste agencies around the nation (including King County), have received complaints about this issue. But until now, there has not been a national effort to reduce this waste. - The goal is not to stop companies from producing phone books, or to inhibit competition. The main idea behind this project is that residents and businesses should have the right NOT to receive these phone books. - When the phone book companies say, "Oh, what's the big deal, people can just recycle them," it gives us a great opportunity to explain the difference between waste prevention and recycling, point out the waste of resources, etc. - This project can tie in with existing local and state "reduce junk mail" efforts, and it has the potential to be just as popular with the public. E-mail: tom (D O T) watson (A T) metrokc (D O T) gov Phone: (206) 296-4481 ------------------- Excerpted from an article by Gregg Herrington in the 1/21/03 Columbian newspaper, Vancouver, Washington (forwarded by Kinley Deller): COUNTY OFFICIAL CALLS HEAPS OF PHONE BOOKS LITTER Clark County residents who haven't received Verizon business phone books on their doorsteps might want to look near their mailboxes where hundreds, if not thousands, have been left in heaps. Some have been picked up by residents in recent days, but many remain on the ground along roadsides and in yards, unsightly piles of books in open-ended plastic bags. "What they're doing is littering," said Linda Morehead, Clark County's top code enforcement officer. Anti-littering and anti-nuisance laws are weak and hard to enforce, she said, so "we'll probably call (Verizon) and ask them to voluntarily come and pick them up." A Verizon spokeswoman later said, "We apologize and will make things right" by picking up the unclaimed books and delivering one to the doorsteps of each house in those areas. ------------------- Link to a column on obsolescence and durability by Bill Rathje, in the January/February 2003 MSW (Municipal Solid Waste) Management magazine (forwarded by David Allaway): http://www.forester.net/mw_0301_beyond.html Note from David: This is about the reuse of durable goods, and includes some research results. Interesting food for thought, especially for those interested in the obsolescence issue. -------------------- Link to information on a Jan. 30, 2003, workshop in Atlanta on green buildings, sponsored by the Energy Services Coalition (forwarded by Michael Arny): http://www.escperform.org/meetings/GAagenda2.htm -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Danny Hakim in the 1/19/03 New York Times, and from the website of Republic Services, Inc.: There's money in garbage. Republic Services, based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a major company providing solid waste collection, transfer, disposal and recycling services. Republic has 12,700 employees and operations in 22 states. And guess who Republic's largest shareholder is? None other than Bill Gates, of Microsoft fame. For Gates, trash has been a good hedge in a bear market. Since the beginning of 2000, while Microsoft stock has fallen 52 percent, Republic stock has gone up 45 percent. Another high-profile shareholder is Wayne Huizenga, the Miami Dolphins owner and one of the founders of Republic, which was started in the mid-1990's. Huizenga was Republic's chairman until last month. - end -