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11 Mar 04 - surplus; Heinz Kerry; phones; Starbucks; insurance; green business; computers ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- The first two postings are in response to the 3/5/04 query about government surplus programs. --------------------- From Julie Rhodes, independent contractor, Indianapolis, IN: Many state and local governments use surplus auctions as a means for getting rid of furniture, electronics and other items. Here is a link to information presented in a resent presentation that I did addressing Indiana's state surplus program: http://www.indianarecycling.org/ESAP%20Stkhldr%202_files/frame.htm Also, see the Indiana State Surplus website at: http://www.state.in.us/idoa/surplus The one caution that I'll share is that computers that are going to be auctioned as surplus property must be managed in a way as to secure any sensitive or confidential data which is contained. Cleaning of the hard-drive often does not occur, leaving confidential information unsecured (from Bureau of Motor Vehicles, to Human Health and Family Services and so on). In addition, it's worth noting that I believe that it is not really ethical to set up surplus programs whereby non-working monitors are batched with working electronics, leaving the person who "wins" the bid to deal with the hazardous nature of the material. This has been an on-going practice that seems to be changing a bit. E-mail: Jrhodes4 ( A T ) indy ( D O T ) rr ( D O T ) com --------------------- From Sondra Flite, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Trenton, NJ: Rutgers University trades its surplus within the State system, but unwanted items are sold to the public once a year. The furniture is moved by prisoners, and people have to cart the stuff themselves. It appears to work; the university must make a couple thousand dollars, and they then dispose of less. E-mail: Sondra [ DOT ] Flite [ AT ] dep [ DOT ] state [ DOT ] nj [ DOT ] us --------------------- From Don Van Dyke, California Integrated Waste Management Board, Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Reduction Section, Sacramento, CA, responding to the 3/5/04 posting from Ron Perkins, which took exception to previous postings extolling the environmental advocacy of Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of presidential candidate John Kerry: I don't see any relevance between waste prevention, and the stringing together of loosely-related anecdotal statements and innuendo about ketchup, the Heinz family, a dead senator, and his widow. I think we should let people stand on their own record, and not judge them by whom they used to be married to. If we are going to critique the life of Teresa Heinz Kerry, let's please do it with real evidence of fact. E-mail: DVanDyke ( A T ) CIWMB ( D O T ) ca ( D O T ) gov --------------------- From Julie Rhodes, independent contractor, Indianapolis, IN, responding to the 3/2/04 posting asking about EcoPhones, a company that offers cell phone recycling and fundraising: Recently the Indiana Recycling Coalition's E-Scrap Action Program evaluated different cell phone management programs. Our organization went with ReCellular (http://www.recellular.com) because it seemed to provide the greatest assurances of proper handling of materials, along with other benefits, such as educational materials, free shipping (after reaching quantity thresholds) and amounts paid for items. We evaluated about 8 or so companies. We did look at EcoPhones and ruled them out. They don't provide as large of a scope of product take-back as many of the other companies, and they do not pay as well for certain phones or as frequently as ReCellular. In addition, ReCellular was closer in proximity, located in Michigan, compared with EcoPhones in Texas. E-mail: Jrhodes4 ( AT ) indy ( DOT ) rr ( DOT ) com --------------------- Excerpted from a 3/7/04 opinion piece by Kevin Uhl in the Spectator, the student newspaper for Seattle University: TAKING A STAND AT STARBUCKS You see them everywhere: mermaids. Mermaids in people's hands, mermaids in the garbage and mermaids as litter on the ground. So many mermaids that I often wonder if there are more of them than people in Seattle. Of course these mermaids appear on paper cups bearing the name Starbucks. I recently scouted out the Starbucks near the Seattle University campus to see roughly how many cups were used in one hour. I counted cups, but also, I counted the number of plastic or ceramic mugs used. What did I find? The ratio was roughly 100 paper cups for every three mugs. Starbucks displays many signs. One reads, "Make it your drink," while another sign reads, "My drink is a superhero." Starbucks is very much into empowering the consumer through drink selection. Unfortunately, as much choice as Starbucks offers, they leave out one thing that would empower the consumer even more: "For here or to go." Now, the claim can be made that Starbucks cups include recycled material so they aren't so bad. This claim is true. Unfortunately, the cups are made of waxed cardboard; they can't be recycled. Reusable mugs help reduce the overall garbage. The claim can also be made that paper cups are cheaper than mugs. Well, that claim is false. Starbucks offers a discount if you bring your own reusable mug. The discount is small, but if a person purchases coffee every morning, the mug is paid for within two months, if not less. However, the trick is remembering the mug. I always have my mug clipped to my bag. And if you don't remember your mug, and you're going to drink your coffee at Starbucks, just say "For here" and use their durable cups. So, while waiting to order your "superhero" of a drink, remember to get out your own mug or ask for a "for here" cup. There will of course be times when you forget, but reducing waste is the goal. And while you're at it, order shade-grown, organic, fair trade coffee as well. This helps reduce unneeded waste in other parts of the world. Starbucks will respond to consumer demands. The consumer needs to understand what is truly living instead of truly creating a mess. I vote for less mess and more life. ------------------------ Excerpted from a message from Twiss Butler, Alexandria, VA, responding to the 12/14/03 posting about mileage-based car insurance (also known as "pay-as-you-drive"), which rewards motorists for driving less, thus reducing the environmental impacts of cars: I was pleased to find the article (an excerpt from an 11/3/03 article in Grist Magazine) about the pay-as-you-drive insurance concept in your Forum's archive. While it gave abundant information on possible environmental benefits to be gained from switching to insurance rates charged by the mile instead of the car year, it also passed along some old myths about rating factors and ways of measuring risk transfer that can be cleared up by going to this website: http://www.centspermilenow.org (this website is sponsored by the National Organization for Women). Efforts to pass effective legislation need to be based on an accurate understanding of what is wrong with the present system and the straightforward free market remedy that is needed to fix it. Regulatory elaboration, incentive payments to insurers, etc., are not only unnecessary but damaging to the workability of insurance rates charged by the mile. Good public information is essential to creating the consumer demand to which insurers will respond without give-away nudging. Since the basic analysis and development of this concept was and continues to be done by the Insurance Project of the National Organization for Women, I hope that any discussion of the cents-per-mile concept will refer readers to this website as well as to less accurate derivative sources. E-mail: pbutler2 ( A T ) verizon ( D O T ) net ------------------------ Link to "GreenBiz Essentials," a comprehensive sustainability guide for businesses, on the GreenBiz.com website: http://www.greenbiz.com/toolbox/essentials.cfm ------------------------- Excerpted from a 3/2/04 press release from the Cypak company, Stockholm, Sweden: THE DISPOSABLE COMPUTER Cypak, a Swedish technology company, has created the world's first disposable paperboard computer by integrating microelectronics and printable sensors into paperboard. The Cypak paperboard computer is not a PC, but it still matches the definition of a computer as it can collect, process and exchange several pages of encrypted data. The product is enabled by Cypak S2C technology, a new RFID (radio frequency identification) technology. This technology is based on a small chip-based electronic module and printable sensors that can be integrated into a vast range of materials and products, such as packaging, plastic cards, adhesive, etc., to monitor the objects and collect time-tagged data. Cypak has been focusing on integrating microelectronics and sensors into disposable materials, to ensure security when collecting, managing and transferring sensitive data. - end -