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29 Jan 04 - headphones; consumption; NYC; jobs; policy; LEED ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- From David Assmann, San Francisco Department of the Environment, San Francisco, CA: On an Air Canada flight last week I was appalled to find out that the airline now routinely hands out "disposable" headphones. At the end of each flight, the flight attendants collect the headsets and throw them away. The flight attendants weren't happy about throwing them away, but said they had been instructed to do so. E-mail: David [ DOT ] Assmann [ AT ] sfgov [ DOT ] org --------------------- From Gina Hawkins, City of Gainesville, recycling program, Gainesville, FL: On January 5th, 2004, Janet Bodnar of Kiplinger's Personal Finance answered a question about holiday commercialism in her newspaper column as follows: "As far as the big-picture economy is concerned, whatever we buy, whether cards or cars, helps the rest of the world become more prosperous, too." I guess what you think it means to prosper makes a difference in whether you agree with Ms. Bodnar or not. E-mail: hawkinsrm [AT] ci [DOT] gainesville [DOT] fl [DOT] us --------------------- Links to press releases from the Worldwatch Institute about the new edition of its annual report, "State of the World 2004," which focuses on consumption: - http://www.worldwatch.org/press/news/2004/01/08 - http://www.worldwatch.org/press/news/2004/01/07 These releases include statistics and other information related to consumption issues. --------------------- Link to New York City's newly-revised waste prevention website (forwarded by Andriana Kontovrakis): http://www.nycwasteless.org/home.html This site is operated by the New York City Department of Sanitation's Bureau of Waste Prevention, Reuse and Recycling. It includes extensive sections for individuals, businesses and government agencies. --------------------- Link to a job listing for executive director of Sustainable Seattle, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability and sustainable development (forwarded by Alexandra Scott): http://www.sustainableseattle.org/EDjob_1-9-04.htm Salary is "commensurate with experience." The deadline for applications is Feb. 2, 2004. --------------------- Link to a job listing for a waste reduction specialist for the City of Port Angeles, Washington (first seen in Jim Schrock's "Delete This Newsletter"): http://www.ci.port-angeles.wa.us/menus/jobs_.htm Click on "View Listing of Available Jobs," then click on "Waste Reduction Specialist." Salary for this job is $3,232 - $3,860/month. The deadline for applications is Feb. 27, 2004. Port Angeles is a city of 18,000 on the Olympic Peninsula, about a three-hour drive and ferry ride from Seattle. --------------------- Link to the website for the Product Policy Project, a new non-profit research and communication organization: http://www.productpolicy.org The Product Policy Project addresses sustainable consumption and production issues, from a policy perspective. --------------------- Excerpted from a 1/27/04 article by Derek Reiber for Tidepool, an environmental news service: LEED-ING THE WAY When the U.S. Green Building Council introduced the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System five years ago, it understood the cultural importance of reputation and competition. By establishing a framework for assessing building performance and meeting sustainability goals - and more importantly, handing out coveted Silver, Gold and Platinum awards to those who achieve high rankings - the Council capitalized on our culture's affinity for competition, reputation and reward. That strategy has helped turn what was once the small niche of "green building" into a nationwide movement that is poised to break into and transform the mainstream building market. Rob Watson, Natural Resources Defense Council senior scientist and a chair of the LEED program, told the Los Angeles Times that work is now ongoing on hundreds of LEED projects worldwide, with a total cost of more than $30 billion. One of those projects is the renovation of ground zero at the World Trade Center in Manhattan. While much of the site's design focus has centered on paying respects to those who lost their lives on Sept. 11, efforts are quietly underway to create "an environmentally sensitive city within a city that is attuned to nature as well as the real estate market," reports the New York Times. New guidelines for construction at the site, including provisions on managing energy consumption and minimizing environmental impacts, have set new standards for New York. And the scope of the project is unprecedented. While individual buildings in New York have been built to high environmental standards such as LEED, green goals have never been applied to anything as large as the World Trade Center site, which when completed will contain about as much commercial space as the city of Indianapolis, reports the Times. "We're talking about building an environmentally sensitive city. That's never been done before," said Daniel Tishman, chairman of the company overseeing construction of the first building at ground zero, the new 7 World Trade Center, as well as the Freedom Tower. Such high-profile projects certainly give the impression that LEED and green building are booming. After all, there are more than 5,000 LEED-accredited professionals working in the construction and architecture field, and more than 10,000 people have attended LEED workshops. Yet despite the appearances, green building still has a long ways before it goes mainstream. Only 5 percent of U.S. commercial buildings have begun to integrate clean technology and green principles, with about 60 commercial projects certified under the LEED system so far. In the institutional market, green building is faring better at about 10 percent. A new study may help debunk the notion that the cost of green building presents an insurmountable roadblock. Performed by the Capital E group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a number of California state agencies, the study analyzed national data for 100 green buildings and reviewed hundreds of previous studies. The report concluded that the financial benefits of green design are between $50 and $70 per square foot in a LEED building, more than 10 times the additional cost associated with building green. Across the country, state and local governments are instituting policies to support green building. In New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, city governments are requiring new municipal buildings to be LEED certified. On a state level, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, among others, have introduced green-building incentives and requirements. - end - "We're talking about building an environmentally sensitive city. That's never been done before," said Daniel Tishman, chairman of the company overseeing construction of the first building at ground zero, the new 7 World Trade Center, as well as the Freedom Tower. Such high-profile projects certainly give the impression that LEED and green building are booming. After all, there are more than 5,000 LEED-accredited professionals working in the construction and architecture field, and more than 10,000 people have attended LEED workshops. Yet despite the appearances, green building still has a long ways before it goes mainstream. Only 5 percent of U.S. commercial buildings have begun to integrate clean technology and green principles, with about 60 commercial projects certified under the LEED system so far. In the institutional market, green building is faring better at about 10 percent. A new study may help debunk the notion that the cost of green building presents an insurmountable roadblock. Performed by the Capital E group, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and a number of California state agencies, the study analyzed national data for 100 green buildings and reviewed hundreds of previous studies. The report concluded that the financial benefits of green design are between $50 and $70 per square foot in a LEED building, more than 10 times the additional cost associated with building green. Across the country, state and local governments are instituting policies to support green building. In New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, city governments are requiring new municipal buildings to be LEED certified. On a state level, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, among others, have introduced green-building incentives and requirements. - end -