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25 Jun 03 - precaution; office supplies; events; compost; garage sales ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- Excerpted from a 6/19/03 column by Ruth Rosen in the San Francisco Chronicle, and from a 6/18/03 article in Rachel's Environment & Health News (forwarded by Stephen Long): SAN FRANCISCO TO ADOPT PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE San Francisco will become the first city in the U.S. to adopt the Precautionary Principle - a new policy framework widely used in western and northern European countries for developing laws that protect health and environment. For years, Bay Area leaders from the breast cancer, public health, environmental health and environmental justice communities have worked to promote the Precautionary Principle. More than 15 non-profits and advocacy groups have been involved with this effort. Now, as a result, the City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors has passed a new environmental code that embraces the Precautionary Principle as the lens through which future regulations will be evaluated. Mayor Willie Brown is scheduled to sign the code into law by early July. So just what is this Precautionary Principle? It is a way of thinking that seeks to prevent diseases caused by environmental pollution. The Precautionary Principle shifts the burden of proof. Rather than asking, "How much harm is allowable?" it forces us to consider, "How little harm is possible?" When science cannot yet fully establish a cause-and-effect relationship, but can provide reasonable evidence of harm, this principle urges us to take precautionary measures. In other words, if we wait until we're absolutely certain, we may have waited too long. For example, a lot of time went by, despite early scientific warnings, before the dangers posed by lead, cigarettes and asbestos were addressed. Lives might have been saved if governments had acted sooner. Will the new ordinance make any difference? "Yes," said Jared Blumenfeld, who heads San Francisco's Department of the Environment. "The world cannot be 'risk-free,' but there are safer alternatives to the many toxic, carcinogenic and environmentally destructive practices and products in use today." The Precautionary Principle, Blumenfeld pointed out, forces us to reframe the questions faced by government officials. Instead of asking, for example, "How much air pollution from fossil fuels should we tolerate in the Bay Area before we're absolutely certain it causes respiratory illnesses?", the Precautionary Principle directs us to look for cleaner sources of sustainable energy. Preventing harm is nothing new in California, which has a long tradition of pioneering legislation and policies on the behalf of public health and the environment. California was the first state to measure air pollution, to develop standards for protecting public health from automotive emissions and to require labeling of toxic hazards in consumer products. Don't be surprised if this environmental code spreads to other cities and counties. For example, Berkeley, just across the bay, is already examining San Francisco's nearly minted ordinance. --------------------- From Jeffrey Smedberg, County of Santa Cruz Public Works Department, recycling programs, Santa Cruz, CA, responding to the 6/18/03 posting about the idea of an in-house grants program for waste reduction and environmentally preferable purchasing projects: The most environmentally preferable purchase option is often to avoid the purchase. One project in our County offices waste reduction program is a supplies and equipment swap. We have an e-mail distribution list to our volunteer "Recycling Advocates" in each department by which we can advertise excess and/or slightly used items such as file folders, file boxes, labels, binders, binder clips, note pads, desk accessories, and special supplies for equipment no longer used such as toner, cartridges or specialized paper. More substantial items - considered "assets" - are "surplused" to the County Warehouse, where other departments know they can go for good deals (often no-cost asset transfers) on furniture and other equipment. Advertised items often move quickly, and the announcements help promote the concept of reuse. E-mail: dpw179 ( A T ) co ( D O T ) santa-cruz ( D O T ) ca ( D O T ) us --------------------- Link to information on the upcoming Venues and Special Events Waste Reduction and Recycling Workshop in Ontario, CA (forwarded by Renee Kimball and Kerry Rasmussen): http://www.crra.com/vserc/workshops/conf2003workshop.pdf This workshop will be held Sunday, July 20, 2003, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ontario Convention Center (Ontario is located in Southern California, east of Los Angeles). It is sponsored by the Venues and Special Events Recycling Council, a non-profit educational division of the California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA). The workshop will be held in conjunction with the CRRA conference, to be held July 21-23 at the convention center. --------------------- Excerpted from a 4/28/03 article by Tess Taylor in City Limits, a community development newsletter in New York City (forwarded by Bob Muldoon): NEW YORK CITY LOOKS AT ON-SITE COMMERCIAL COMPOSTING New York City is studying the feasibility of establishing a composting facility at Hunts Point Market, an open-air meat and produce center in the South Bronx. The market generates 100 tons of waste a day. The study, which will be done by DSM Environmental Services, a Vermont firm, is the city's first attempt to help a commercial market use composting to reduce waste. "Hunts Point is an ideal space for building a composting facility because you have a fixed organic waste stream right there," said Venetia Lannan, deputy director of composting for the Department of Sanitation. "It's an important option for us to explore." The city has already tried it on a much smaller scale: In 1996, DSM helped Rikers Island set up a compost system that now handles about half of its waste, at a cost of only $60 a ton. The processed food scraps are then used in island gardens and for landscaping. Whether it will work for the Hunts Point Market, and ultimately for other large commercial facilities, will depend on the cost of building and operating the plant - including controlling the smell - and marketing the compost. The city hopes it can put together a business plan "that would make a compost facility work in a public-private partnership," said Lannan. (Note from Tom: For the purposes of this listserv, "waste prevention" includes on-site composting projects, but not off-site composting facilities. It appears that this would be an on-site, or possibly right-next-to-the-site, project.) -------------------- Link to garage sale tips, for both sellers and buyers, on the Frugal Village website: http://www.frugalvillage.com/gsale.shtml Tips include: - For sellers: Display things like tools, lawn equipment, weights, and electronics near the road, to help encourage men to stop when a husband and wife are driving by, and the wife wants to stop. - For buyers: Go early for the best items; go on the last day of the sale for cheap items. - For sellers: Have some current ads of items to show what they cost new. This illustrates how good your deal is for the buyer. - end -