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08 Aug 03 - polystyrene; junk mail; Green Guardian; Australia; transport packaging ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- Excerpted from a message from Lisa Friend, RE Sources, Bellingham, WA: POLYSTYRENE CHUNKS RE Sources is a non-profit environmental education organization. We're looking at giving local consumers more options for polystyrene (often called Styrofoam) chunks than "Sorry, those have to go in the trash." Has anyone already developed a consumer education / advocacy program around polystyrene blocks encouraging their return to the manufacturer, or buying materials with less packaging? If so, we'd like to build on that program, rather than reinvent the wheel. Please let me know. Our outreach is based in northwest Washington, but I suspect this is a national problem. E-mail: recycle ( AT ) re-sources ( DOT ) org -------------------- Excerpted from a message from Rob VanOrsow, City of Federal Way, solid waste and recycling program, Federal Way, WA: I thought this might be of interest, since it has been a topic under discussion. It is from an e-mail that was labeled "Andy Rooney's tips": "When you get 'ads' enclosed with your phone or utility bill, return these 'ads' with your payment. Let the sending companies throw their own junk mail away. When you get those 'pre-approved' letters in the mail for everything from credit cards to second mortgages, and similar type junk, do not throw away the return envelope. Most of these come with postage-paid return envelopes, right? It costs them more than the regular 37 cents postage IF and when they receive them back. It costs them nothing if you throw them away! The postage was around 50 cents before the last increase and it is according to the weight. In that case, why not get rid of some of your other junk mail and put it in these cool little, postage-paid return envelopes. Send an ad for your local chimney cleaner to American Express. Send a pizza coupon to Citibank. If you didn't get anything else that day, then just send them their blank application back! If you want to remain anonymous, just make sure your name isn't on anything you send them. You can even send the envelope back empty if you want to, just to keep them guessing! Eventually, the banks and credit card companies will begin getting their own junk back in the mail. Let's let them know what it's like to get lots of junk mail, and best of all they're paying for it - Twice! Let's help keep our postal service busy, since they are saying that e-mail is cutting into their business profits, and that's why they need to increase postage costs again. You get the idea! If enough people follow these tips, it will work - I have been doing this for years, and I get very little junk mail anymore." (This is Rob again) This brings up the same old questions: Is it more resource efficient to just recycle the junk mail at home and attempt to use normal channels to reduce junk mail, or to have junk mail shipped by US mail to the senders to motivate them to reduce all future junk mail sending? What if you send more than an ounce of junk mail back - does this cost the marketers more postage? Will this help keep postal rates lower for the rest of us? At what point do the marketers find less expensive channels to reach consumers? Can a "truce" be reached? Is balance possible in a market-driven economy? E-mail: Rob [DOT] VanOrsow [AT] ci [DOT] federal-way [DOT] wa [DOT] us --------------------- Link to GreenGuardian.com, a website that encourages residents and businesses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MN) area to make environmentally-responsible purchasing and disposal decisions: http://www.greenguardian.com This website, launched in 2003, is an innovative joint educational effort of six counties and two state agencies. --------------------- Excerpted from an 8/5/03 article from Just-food.com, a newsletter for the British food industry: WRITING ON THE WALL FOR PLASTIC BAGS IN AUSTRALIA State governments in Australia have backed a code drawn up by retailers that will phase out plastic bags in supermarkets by 25 percent per year over four years. Starting in 2004, retailers will work hard to convince shoppers to bring their own bags or buy reusable durable bags in stores. It had been suggested that shoppers might face a punitive plastic bag levy, but government officials have decided to keep that as a last resort if targets on reducing the use of plastic bags are not reached. Retailers are keen to take the initiative on reducing plastic bag use, rather than see a strict edict come down from above. For example, the Red Rooster fast food chain is replacing 70 percent of its plastic bags with paper ones, beginning in September, 2003. Meanwhile, a Woolworth's spokesman in the state of Tasmania said customers buying a few items in express lanes will not be offered bags. Australians reportedly use six billion plastic bags a year. --------------------- Link to industry definitions of reusable transport packaging products, from the Reusable Pallet & Container Coalition website: http://www.rpcc.us/index.php?section_id=21&main_section_id=5 ---------------------- From Renee Kimball, Enuf! (an "enviro-boogie" band), Portland, OR, following up on her 8/4/03 posting offering copies of worksheets to make musical instruments out of reusable items: Here's living proof people read EVERY word of these Waste Prevention Forum e-mails AND pass them on. I got about 25 responses to my offer of the Wastrument(TM) Worksheets! Hope I responded to everyone and didn't miss somebody. E-mail: rrrrenee [ A T ] aracnet [ D O T ] com --------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: I just wanted to let people know I'll be out of the office Aug. 11-14, so the Forum will be taking another short summertime break. Thanks! - end -