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15 May 03 - clothing; conference; song; contractors; moving; house; bags ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive -------------------- From Blair Pollock, Orange County Solid Waste Management Department, Chapel Hill, NC, responding to the 5/12/03 posting seeking advice to deal with the problem of trash being thrown into clothing donation trailers and boxes: I believe this is a universal problem. It certainly exists in our community. All the local schools used to have a thrift donations box, as our local thrift stores are operated by the PTA and quite successful. They are now all gone and there are only three supervised drop-off locations. No opening, box, sign or other passive device prevents people from putting rags and junk in the box. The worst items for them were wet clothing (which mildewed everything else), and stained, torn or ripped clothes. There was not that much outright garbage, but some. Now all sites are staffed. E-mail: bpollock (A T) co (D O T) orange (D O T) nc (D O T) us -------------------- From Barbara Frierson, City of Fremont Environmental Services, Fremont, CA: I wanted to share this article about a recent conference: Put 150 recyclers in a room, and what do you get? Less than half-a-pound of trash at the end of the day. When the Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) hosted more than 150 recyclers, composters and waste-reduction enthusiasts for a daylong conference in San Francisco on March 18, 2003, they generated less than 7.5 ounces of trash for the entire event, which included a buffet lunch and two refreshment breaks. "Everyone talks about waste reduction," said NCRA president Heidi Melander, "but our conference shows we can all walk the walk." NCRA treasurer and hospitality coordinator Kathy Evans noted that the organization saved money by taking the Zero Waste approach. Lunch was served on tin pie plates, and attendees drank from a variety of thrift-store mugs and cups. Norcal Waste Systems (Sunset Scavenger and Golden Gate Disposal & Recycling) provided containers and recycling service for recyclable paper, beverage containers, and compostable leftovers. The actual trash? A plastic potato chip bag and some plastic bottle neck-rings. They will be saved in the NCRA archives as a goal to beat next year, and as a benchmark for other environmental organizations, according to conference coordinator Arthur Boone. E-mail: BFrierson ( A T ) ci ( D O T ) fremont ( D O T ) ca ( D O T ) us -------------------- Lyrics to the song "Ka-ching," sung by country music star Shania Twain on her latest album, "Up" (first heard by Alexandra Scott): (Note from Alexandra - I heard this song on a German radio station.) Ka-Ching By Shania Twain and R. Lange We live in a greedy little world / that teaches every little boy and girl To earn as much as they can possibly / then turn around and / Spend it foolishly We've created us a credit card mess / We spend the money we don't possess Our religion is to go and blow it all / So it's shoppin' every Sunday at the mall Can you hear it ring / It makes you wanna sing It's such a beautiful thing - Ka-ching! Lots of diamond rings / The happiness it brings You'll live like a king / With lots of money and things When you're broke go and get a loan / Take out another mortgage on your home Consolidate so you can afford / To go and spend some more when you get bored All we ever want is more / A lot more than we had before / So take me to the nearest store Can you hear it ring / It makes you wanna sing You'll live like a king / With lots of money and things Ka-ching! ------------------ From Katie Spataro, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, responding to the 5/12/03 posting seeking waste prevention technical assistance resources for building contractors: Here is the link to the King County Contractors Guide, which is subtitled, "Save money and resources through job-site recycling and waste prevention": http://dnr.metrokc.gov/swd/bizprog/sus_build/ConGuide.pdf E-mail: katie [D O T] spataro [A T] metrokc [D O T] gov -------------------- Excerpted from a 5/14/03 press release from Box Bundles Inc., of Philadelphia, PA (forwarded by Jerry Powell): A survey of nearly 300 Americans considering a move has found that more than half of those surveyed believe that 20 to 30 percent of their household possessions are garbage at moving time. The national survey was conducted by Box Bundles, a national provider of moving boxes, moving supplies and move management information, through its website. According to moving industry statistics, the average American household contains approximately 5.3 rooms and nearly 1,000 pounds of belongings per room. The household belongings can include furniture, appliances, clothes, and other household amenities. According to the Box Bundles survey, that translates to 1,500 pounds of excess or "garbage" per household. ------------------- Excerpted from an article by Christopher Schwarzen in the 5/14/03 Seattle Times (forwarded by Thor Peterson): (Note from Thor: Small is beautiful - but apparently can get you evicted under some homeowners associations' rules.) HOMEOWNERS EVICTED OVER HOUSE DEEMED TOO SMALL Alan Hord and Sharon Adams celebrated their third wedding anniversary May 13th by being evicted. The couple were forced out of their 2,000-square-foot home near Monroe, Washington, because it didn't meet the standards set by their tiny neighborhood association. The problem: The house isn't big enough. Hord bought the 5-acre property with a view of Mount Rainier about six years ago for $415,000. He moved into a home that had been converted from a barn. But at 2,000 square feet, the barn didn't satisfy the Mountain View Country Estates Homeowners Association's rules. All homes must be at least 3,000 square feet. Hord had told neighbors he would build a new house on the property but never did. Hord says the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks hurt his finances. But neighbors say Hord has failed to live up to an arbitrated agreement signed almost two years ago, and missed several opportunities to request an extension. Hord promised then to build a new place or be evicted and pay a $10,000 penalty to the homeowners association. His deadline for construction passed last week. ------------------- Excerpted from a message from Anne McLaughlin, City of Portland, Solid Waste and Recycling Division, Portland, OR: Several months ago there was an item on the Forum about the environmental messages on some REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) shopping bags. I mentioned that I especially liked the slogan on their bags, "Reuse is the sincerest form of recycling," and I asked whether it has been used before. Well, I recently heard from David Lemley, of Lemley Design Company in Seattle. He wrote me to say: "My design firm created the bags, the marketing strategy and wrote the copy you folks mentioned. That line of copy is proprietary to REI now, but you could always ask them (for permission to use that slogan about reuse)." E-mail: amclaughlin ( A T ) ci ( D O T ) portland ( D O T ) or ( D O T ) us - end -