WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ARCHIVE   BACK TO ARCHIVE INDEX

19 Mar 04 - diaperless; hand dryers; jobs; Starbucks; Earth Day; books ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.reuses.com/nwpcarchive --------------------- Excerpted from a 2/12/04 column by Umbra Fisk in Grist Magazine (first seen in the WasteCap of Lincoln, Nebraska, e-newsletter): CLOTH DIAPERS? DISPOSABLES? HOW ABOUT NO DIAPERS? The disposable vs. reusable diaper fight is in a stalemate for the foreseeable future. But another option is: No diapers. People around the world who have no access to diapers manage to raise children, and a small group of parents in diaper-rich countries have decided to follow their lead. It's called "elimination communication" or "diaper-free." The concept is logical and simple: Infants give recognizable signs of imminent peeing and pooping; it's possible to learn your infant's signs; infant pee isn't frightening; and if you train your kid to ignore their outputs, you'll just have to go back and retrain them when traditional potty-training time arrives. Diaper-free parents and caregivers learn the telltale signs of elimination and give their own signals of recognition in return. My local experts Dana and Sarah noticed that their daughter squirmed in a particular way when pee was coming. They would say "pee-pee" and hold her over the toilet or sink - this was their go-ahead. The child learned as an infant to refrain from peeing or pooping until these signals had been exchanged. When she started sitting up, they would hold her on a potty; at about 15 months, she went to the toilet on her own. Yes, they missed some pee, but it's basically water, so they just washed her pants. They've never had a problem seeing a poop coming far ahead. (And they did occasionally use diapers while traveling.) I asked Dana about what kind of parents would be likeliest to succeed with this mind-blowingly logical technique. Her response: Parents and caregivers need to be able to pay close attention to the child, hold him or her most of the time, and - obviously - be comfortable being unusual. If you think you might fit the bill, one resource on the web for this retro cutting-edge environmentally-friendly scheme is: http://www.natural-wisdom.com/faq.htm Be the first in your neighborhood! --------------------- Excerpted from a message from Kinley Deller, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, following up on past postings debating the merits of electric hand dryers vs. paper towels: A nurse recently posted this message on the Hospitals for A Healthy Environment listserv, and it raised some points I'd never really thought about before on this issue: "I work in surgery and time is EVERYTHING. We do not have time to stand while a blower dries our hands. The blower also forces dust particles around, into the air and our environment. This is bad for maintaining a clean/ sterile environment. Paper towels used at our facility are the brown, recycled variety. The friction that is used to dry our hands helps remove any surface matter. My vote is for the paper towels." --------------------- Link to notices for three green building consultant jobs with Paladino & Company, a green building consulting firm in Seattle: http://www.paladinoandco.com/home/jobs/index.html Scroll down. These jobs are for experienced professionals in the architectural engineering field. The senior green building consultant position has an annual salary in the low-sixties to mid-seventies, while two other green building consultant positions have an annual salary in the low-fifties to low-sixties. All three of the positions are "open until filled." They were posted on the national SustainableBusiness.com job listings on 3/15/04. --------------------- Excerpted from a 3/17/04 press release from Starbucks Coffee Co.: STARBUCKS ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGN FEATURES WASTE PREVENTION Starbucks is dedicating a month to promote environmental awareness in its stores throughout the United States and Canada, from now through Earth Day (April 22, 2004). This is the first time Starbucks has done this type of campaign. The campaign highlights environmental initiatives Starbucks has undertaken, and simple steps customers can take to reduce their environmental impact at their local Starbucks and in their everyday lives. Starbucks will promote its year-round commuter mug discount, where customers receive a 10-cent beverage discount when using a reusable mug or tumbler for their beverage. Starbucks also encourages its customers to take advantage of its Grounds for Your Garden program, offering spent coffee grounds at no charge to customers, parks, schools and nurseries for use in gardening. In March, Starbucks is giving every store partner (employee) in the United States and Canada a reusable tumbler to reduce the use of paper cups while on their shift. Other Starbucks waste reduction measures that are being highlighted include: Reducing the size of paper napkins and the thickness of plastic store garbage bags to eliminate more than 1.8 million pounds of solid waste in 2004; and installing energy-efficient lighting and water-efficient rinsers. Starbucks has more than 7,500 retail locations around the world. ---------------------- Link to listings for Earth Day events around the nation and other Earth Day information, on the Earth Day Network and EnviroLink Network websites: - http://www.earthday.net/g&e/searchNetwork.asp - http://earthday.envirolink.org/ Earth Day is Thursday, April 22. ---------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: Many companies are using disposability and convenience as marketing angles these days. So, when I see a company using waste prevention as a marketing angle, I like to point it out. One good example is Half Price Books. This Dallas-based bookstore chain, which sells new and used books, opened its first store in 1972 in a converted laundromat in Dallas and now has 81 stores in 12 states. Their advertising slogans include, "Waste not, Read a lot," and "Things we believe no one should waste: Paper. Knowledge. Trees. Words. Time. Money." Half Price Books buys used books from the public. In their advertising materials and on their website, they say, "We've recycled more than 15 million books, saving approximately 600,000 trees." They also note, "We donate our overstock inventory to nonprofit agencies around the world." A Half Price Books flyer I saw was printed on unbleached recycled paper and said, "Please recycle this recycled paper." Hats off to the thousands of used book stores in America that have always encouraged the reuse of books! And also hats off to Half Price Books for emphasizing the waste prevention aspect of used bookstores. - end - Starbucks has more than 7,500 retail locations around the world. ---------------------- Link to listings for Earth Day events around the nation and other Earth Day information, on the Earth Day Network and EnviroLink Network websites: - http://www.earthday.net/g&e/searchNetwork.asp - http://earthday.envirolink.org/ Earth Day is Thursday, April 22. ---------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: Many companies are using disposability and convenience as marketing angles these days. So, when I see a company using waste prevention as a marketing angle, I like to point it out. One good example is Half Price Books. This Dallas-based bookstore chain, which sells new and used books, opened its first store in 1972 in a converted laundromat in Dallas and now has 81 stores in 12 states. Their advertising slogans include, "Waste not, Read a lot," and "Things we believe no one should waste: Paper. Knowledge. Trees. Words. Time. Money." Half Price Books buys used books from the public. In their advertising materials and on their website, they say, "We've recycled more than 15 million books, saving approximately 600,000 trees." They also note, "We donate our overstock inventory to nonprofit agencies around the world." A Half Price Books flyer I saw was printed on unbleached recycled paper and said, "Please recycle this recycled paper." Hats off to the thousands of used book stores in America that have always encouraged the reuse of books! And also hats off to Half Price Books for emphasizing the waste prevention aspect of used bookstores. - end -