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05 Nov 04 - gift cards; hotels; adapters; rats; job; gifts; diazinon; junk mail
** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM **
-- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition
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Forum archive: http://www.nwpcarchive.org
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The first three messages are in response to the recent postings about
possible options for reuse or recycling of plastic gift cards, such as those
used by many retailers. These gift cards, which are the modern version of
the gift certificate, are the size of credit cards.
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Excerpted from a message from Kinley Deller, King County Solid Waste
Division, Seattle, WA:
Below is some interesting information I ran across regarding gift cards and
other plastic cards. It is all from the website of the International Card
Manufacturers Association (ICMA). In some cases they quote other sources.
I also tried contacting a couple of manufacturers about recycling options
for their cards, but they were unresponsive. A list of card manufacturers
belonging to the ICMA can be found at
http://www.icma.com/members/listnlinks.htm
(in case anyone else would
like to contact some of them regarding recycling options for their cards).
Also, based on information in the ICMA's "Card Industry Glossary," the two
materials most plastic cards appear to be made from are PVC and ABS. It
describes Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) as "the most widely used plastic
material for ID cards" and describes Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
as a "plastic material formed through injection molding, used for some smart
cards."
Here are some of the other statistics on the ICMA website:
- "The ICMA serves the global plastic card industry, which manufactures an
estimated six billion plastic cards annually. That is about one card for
every man, woman and child on earth. In 2001, plastic card volume reached
9.7 million cards annually."
- "U.S. gift cards grew by 50 percent from 2002 to 2003, to $45 billion in
sales, and that is expected to double to $90 billion by 2007." Sources:
CardWorld April 2004, Tower Group Report
- U.S. gift card statistics:
- For the 2003 holiday season, sales were $17.2 billion.
- The average recipient spends 20 percent more than face value.
- The week after Christmas, gift cards represent 11.8 percent of all
sales.
- 80 percent of national retailers offer gift cards.
- 90 percent of gift cards are sold around Christmas
Source: National Retail Federation
The above information is on this page:
http://www.icma.com/info/quick-facts.htm
E-mail: kinley [ D O T ] deller [ A T ] metrokc [ D O T ] gov
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From Susan Kinsella, Conservatree, San Francisco, CA:
Re: What to do with plastic gift cards. Why can't the magnetic strip just be
reloaded with a new amount of value? A customer could hand their card to the
cashier, pay them $10 or $20, and the cashier could re-code their card to
reflect the new credit, or add it on to the current value on the card the
same way that they can debit the card. I think that the Jamba Juice stores
in my area can do that. That's what I thought was the advantage of the
plastic cards over the paper coupons we used to get as scrip at my son's
school - the cards can be reused over and over.
E-mail: paper [AT] conservatree [DOT] org
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From John Halenar, environmental writer and consultant, Ridgewood, NJ:
Regarding the Starbucks gift card issue, perhaps I'm missing something or
taking a too simplistic approach, but why can't the used cards simply be
reprogrammed and reused? I've been spending a lot of time lately at the
Foundation Center in New York City doing grant research, and they use this
kind of plastic card for their copiers. Visitors put a dollar bill or a
five dollar bill in a machine that spits out one of the cards. You put it
in a slot in the copier and make your copies and when the card is empty, you
can either refill it at the machine or return it to the front desk and
they're eventually reloaded into the dispensing machines for reuse. It
would seem that they're sturdy enough to be used almost indefinitely.
E-mail: johnhalenar (A T) yahoo (D O T) com
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From Tom Rhodes, North Carolina Division of Pollution Prevention &
Environmental Assistance (DPPEA), Raleigh, NC:
I enjoy this great newsletter. Thanks for creating a tool by which
environmentalists can share information. I am interested in seeing what
other local governments and environmental organizations have available on
the Web promoting "Green Hotels and Motels." I would particularly like to
hear about awards programs and incentives that promote environmentally
friendly lodging. Here is the North Carolina DPPEA green hotel Web site:
http://www.p2pays.org/hospitality
E-mail: tom ( DOT ) rhodes ( AT ) ncmail ( DOT ) net
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From Terry Foecke, Materials Productivity, Richfield, MN, responding to the
recent postings about the AC power adapters that come with electronic
devices:
Take a look at the website for Power Integrations (http://www.powerint.com
). Not only have they been building energy
efficiency into power converters for a few years, they also have a solution
for reducing "vampire power", that trickle of electricity that is always
being used by any device that has a display or an "instant-on" function.
(Full disclosure: I am an investor in this company). I know from working
with Power Integrations that it can take a very long time to get all the
approvals needed to use these new converters, but once in, they have the
added advantage of being very small, light, and cooler (in both meanings of
the term), so consumers actually like them better - even without the energy
efficiency pitch.
Help is on the way, then, on that front, but long-term reuse options are
going to be limited for a while. The only thing I know of is the
"AdaptAPlug" sold by Radio Shack (and probably others) that at least lets
you solve the problem of the connectors if you get other ratings to match
up.
E-mail: tfoecke ( A T ) matprod ( D O T ) com
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The next two postings are in response to the 10/25/04 posting seeking ideas
on how to prevent rat problems with home compost bins.
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Excerpted from a message from Steve Apotheker, Metro Waste Reduction,
Planning & Outreach, Portland, OR:
In our Metro 2001 home composting survey, some people cited rats as one of
the reasons they stopped composting yard trimmings and food scraps.
Compost bins do attract rats, especially when food scraps are a feedstock
and proper cover is not provided. However, at least in the Northwest,
bigger attractors are bird feeders, the outside pet-food bowl and stacked
wood, which provide food and shelter.
E-mail: apothekers ( A T ) metro ( D O T ) dst ( D O T ) or ( D O T ) us
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From Larry Warnberg, oyster farmer, Nahcotta, WA:
I have also encountered questions about the wisdom of composting food
residuals for fear of rats. No doubt this can be a problem. If there are
rats in the neighborhood, they will likely be drawn to compost piles. A
variety of other animals may also be attracted: Possum, raccoons, birds of
many kinds, cats, dogs, coyotes, bears, and more.
For the past several years I have composted not only our family food scraps,
but also the residuals from a neighboring restaurant. I serve as a volunteer
on our Pacific County Solid Waste Advisory Committee, and developed a
decentralized small-scale low-tech approach called Adopt-A-Restaurant. The
restaurant staff collect kitchen, bakery and table scraps in 5-gallon
buckets, which I collect daily. The restaurant saves about $100 per month on
their garbage service, while I produce about 4 cubic yards of excellent
compost per year. So far, no other gardeners have adopted a restaurant, but
my demonstration project works well for me, and I'm eternally optimistic.
I also collect food scraps from a local supermarket, mainly fruits and
vegetables, which are mostly consumed by our laying hens. There are numerous
potential pest problems in my semi-rural neighborhood, including rodents. So
far I have not had any persistent problems, thanks to appropriate fencing
and containment of piles. Two cats who live near the piles also help. On
occasion I've used live traps to catch and remove rodents. In the compost
area (near the garden) I use an underlayment of old carpet or felt from a
paper mill, which discourages rodents from tunneling into a pile, while
allowing good drainage. The groundcover also makes it easier to keep
unwanted vegetation under control. There's nothing like a fertile compost
pile to feed a luxuriant crop of weeds. A layer of straw mulch hides the
carpet.
Another important part of the pest control process is to use sufficient
layering material to cover fresh deposits of food scraps. I use a lot of
grass clippings (brought to me free by local lawn mowing crews), leaves,
wood chips, straw, sawdust, etc. I make large piles, five feet in diameter,
using a simple fiberglass ring (about one foot high, recycled from a local
oyster hatchery scrap pile). The outside perimeter of the pile is built from
grass clippings, etc., pouring the fresh food in the center, then covering.
Diligent layering will avoid a lot of problems with flies, rats, and odors.
As the pile grows in height, the fiberglass ring is lifted to keep material
from spilling over. The ring is removed when the pile is about 4 feet high,
which is plenty high to lift a heavy bucket of food scraps. Piles are turned
at 6 months, and are ready for garden use in one year. At the turning I add
some lime and wood ashes. My goal is not only keeping food scraps out of the
wastestream, but also producing good quality compost with a balance of
nutrients.
Some West Coast cities are working on centralized organic composting
systems. But there remain many areas that will not be served by large
central systems for a long time, if ever. I think decentralized composting
can meet the need for a better way to keep organics out of the wastestream.
E-mail: warnberg (A T) pacifier (D O T) com
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Link to a job posting for a Sustainability Coordinator for Portland State
University, Portland, OR (first seen in the Washington State Recycling
Association bulletin):
http://www.hrc.pdx.edu/openings/unclassified/FAP002.htm
This job was
posted on 10/28/04. There is no closing date for applications.
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Link to information on alternative gift fairs, on the website of the Center
for a New American Dream (forwarded by Marcia Rutan):
http://www.newdream.org/holiday/altgift.php
The Center's "Guide to Organizing an Alternative Gift Fair" is at:
http://www.newdream.org/holiday/fair/altgiftfairguide.pdf
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Link to information on the upcoming ban on the sale of the insecticide
diazinon, on the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (first
seen in the Earth 911 newsletter):
http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/factsheets/chemicals/diazinon-factsheet.htm
As of Dec.31, 2004, it will be unlawful for U.S. retailers to sell diazinon
products for home, lawn or garden use.
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From the April, 2004, Credit Card Management magazine (as quoted on the
International Card Manufacturers Association website):
The average U.S. household receives 4 to 8 direct-mail credit card
solicitations every month. In 2003, there were 4.29 billion of these
direct-mail credit card solicitations in the U.S., down 12 percent from 4.89
billion in 2002. Ninety percent of these direct mail offers came from the
top 10 credit card issuers.
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