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02 Mar 04 - materials use; phones; Heinz Kerry; Brillo; paper; disposables; Free Geek ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- From David Allaway, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Solid Waste Policy and Program Development, Portland, OR: I have heard on several occasions a statistic that says something like "the average food eaten in the U.S. travels 1,200 miles (or some number like that) from the field to your plate". Does anyone know who developed this estimate and, better yet, the methodology and data sources used to derive that estimate? Along a similar vein, is anyone familiar with similar statistics for other products consumed in the United States, such as clothing, toys, furniture, etc.? This is for an analysis of the greenhouse gas impacts of materials use that is being developed in support of Oregon's Governor's Advisory Group on Global Warming, which is part of the West Coast Governors' Global Warming Initiative. As materials travel greater and greater distances (due to global production, etc.), then the greenhouse gas burdens of the materials lifecycle are increasing as well (all other things being equal). Conversely, as the greenhouse gas "impact" or "footprint" of consumption increases, the greenhouse gas benefit of waste prevention (upstream of the consumer, by reducing manufacturing- and freight-related emissions) is becoming relatively larger. Any information or assistance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. E-mail: Allaway ( D O T ) David ( A T ) deq ( D O T ) state ( D O T ) or ( D O T ) us --------------------- From Susan Salterberg, Center for Energy & Environmental Education, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA: Has anyone worked with EcoPhones cell phone recycling? Their website is at: http://www.EcoPhones.com They evidently try to get schools to collect cell phones as a fundraiser, and I don't want to pass their name on without knowing more about them. Thanks for any help you can provide. E-mail: salterberg [ AT ] uni [ DOT ] edu --------------------- From Betsy Rosenberg, environmental journalist and activist, San Francisco, CA, responding to the article posted 2/24/04 about the environmental interests of Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of presidential candidate John Kerry: Funny, when I read the posting about Teresa Heinz Kerry, I had just returned to the office after hearing her speak to women in San Francisco. I got to tell her about our Don't Be Fueled! campaign inspired by her husband. What a difference THEY would make, starting with our environment...! E-mail: betsy (AT) ecotalk (DOT) net Note: The website for the "Don't Be Fueled! Mothers For Clean and Safe Vehicles" campaign (which has previously been featured in this Forum), is at: http://www.dontbefueled.org ---------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: PRODUCT ALERT Here's an interesting new marketing approach. "Brillo Scrub 'n' Toss" multipurpose cleaning pads, a new product from the Church & Dwight Co., is being marketed as both reusable AND disposable. "Reusable" is right there on the front of the package in big letters, but wait, there's "Disposable" right below it. The packaging for this product is also an interesting mix of good and bad. Ten pads are sold in a hard plastic container, which seems like overkill, since plastic wrap would easily do the job. But, this container does perhaps make it a little easier to reuse the pads. The Brillo website touts the "attractive resealable container," adding that it's "Great for counter-top storage. Lid serves as pad drying rack!" For more about this schizophrenic new product, see the Brillo website at: http://www.brillo.com/news/whatsnew.asp ---------------------- Excerpted from a business column by Bill Virgin in the 2/26/04 Seattle Post-Intelligencer (forwarded by Jeff Gaisford): IT'S A BRAVE E-WORLD, BUT PAPER IS STILL KING "The paperless office concept goes back to the early '80s. Not a lot of progress has been made," says Michael Jackson, vice president of fine-paper businesses at Weyerhaeuser Co. But it's not quite business as usual for the paper industry, because there are trends and forces that promise to reshape the industry. What's tricky is separating the influence of short-term trends (specifically the recession) from long-term trends (the effects of technology and e-commerce) to increase or decrease paper consumption. Consider cut-sheet (a part of what's known as uncoated free sheet). That's the stuff you'd feed into a desk-top printer. That also seems like a prime business for e-commerce to take a bite out of. In fact, Jackson says, North American consumption rates rose about 5 percent a year until 2001, then flattened. A consequence of technology, or the slump in employment? Technology certainly allows people to access far more information electronically than they could in paper form. But as Jackson notes, once they find what they want, "People like to print that and take it on the plane." Further encouraging consumption of free-sheet is the proliferation of inexpensive printers. Books and the paper that goes into them were supposed to be another victim of technology. Electronic books may still someday supplant the paper version, but for now they're still a very small niche product. How about envelopes? Does anyone send letters any more, in a world of e-mail? Maybe individuals don't, but businesses - specifically direct-mail advertisers - sure do. And with the economy starting to show some life, Jackson says there have been some increases month-to-month in that business. ---------------------- Excerpted from a 2/19/04 Business Wire press release from the Freedonia Group: SALES OF FOODSERVICE INDUSTRY DISPOSABLES EXPECTED TO REACH $14.2 BILLION BY 2007 U.S. demand for foodservice industry disposables is projected to rise 4.3 percent per year to $14.2 billion in 2007, according to "Foodservice Disposables," a new study from The Freedonia Group, a Cleveland-based industrial market research firm. Growth will be fueled by rising levels of personal disposable income, leading to more consumer food expenditures, especially for food consumed away from home. Also important are the trends toward more sophisticated offerings in the limited-service restaurant segment, and the rising popularity of takeout food from full-service restaurants. The strongest opportunities for foodservice disposables are anticipated for packaging products, with lids and wraps expected to post the fastest gains. Foodservice packaging products will emphasize visual appeal and the abilities to insulate hot foods, prevent spills and enable later reheating in the same container. --------------------- Excerpted from an article by Michelle Cole in the 2/23/04 Portland Oregonian: OSO MARTIN AND FREE GEEK - MAKING AN IMPACT IN PORTLAND Oso Martin launched Free Geek in Portland, Oregon, on Earth Day 2000 with a stack of misspelled brochures and a web site describing an organization that was more virtual than real. No nonprofit had done exactly what Martin envisioned: Collect old computers, teach volunteers to fix them, give the good ones away to good causes and make sure the rest are responsibly recycled. Martin was willing to fail. He'd given up on the notion that success meant everything when he left California and the trappings of a corporate life. There were times, especially in the first year, when Free Geek almost didn't get off the ground. Finding people willing to donate old computers wasn't the problem. Paying for a place to store and refurbish them was. At one point, Free Geek owed $12,000 in back rent. Still, the landlord and others were enchanted by the ponytailed, 39-year-old Martin, who drives a beat-up truck fueled with 20 percent vegetable oil biodiesel and talks really fast when he's excited. Today, Free Geek not only is current on its rent, it has expanded its space twice. The organization occupies an old bakery building that stretches across a Portland city block. Last year, when Oregon employers were either laying people off or locked in a hiring freeze, Free Geek boosted its staff from six to 13 and added four paid internships. Free Geek now has 16,600 square feet of space in which to fix and store old computers and electronic equipment. And the machines keep coming. Even with its success, Free Geek continues to reflect Martin and now others' collective community values. Everything from furnishings to the toilet paper is donated. Everyone is equal. The core staff - 13 people, including Martin - earn the same pay. "The receptionist makes the same amount of money as me, and I think that's appropriate. Her job is just as hard as mine. It's just different," says Martin, who earns about $17,000 a year. A private donor gave Martin enough money to start Free Geek. But the organization won its big break when it received a $40,000 grant from the state Department of Environmental Quality and the city of Portland in 2001. Other public and private grant money has trickled in. Then, Free Geek received $159,000 in the summer from the Meyer Memorial Trust, a Portland-based foundation that supports a broad spectrum of nonprofit efforts in the region. The money is to be used to expand Free Geek's staff and operations and to help other nonprofits learn to use Open Source Software, freely available applications that are easily customized. Lately, Martin has been asked to help establish a Free Geek operation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Another guy e-mailed from South Bend, Indiana, asking whether he could use the Free Geek name for his computer recycling operation. Sure, Martin said. No charge. "Oso has this rare vision, and Free Geek is a magical organization," says Marie Deatherage, program and communications officer for the Meyer trust. In fact, Deatherage says, if the state of Oregon is looking for people to feature in its "We love dreamers" campaign, state marketers ought to put Oso Martin in the ad. "He's the guy they're talking about," she says. Note: For more information on Free Geek, see their website at: http://www.freegeek.org - end -