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29 Dec 04 - diapers; ad; Office Depot; produce containers; grants; card; regifting
** 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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Excerpted from a message from Susan McDonald, King County Water & Land
Resources Division. hazardous waste education, Seattle, WA:
I recently attended a childbirth class filled with fleece-and-Goretex-clad,
hip Seattle-ites - and it turned out I was the only one who planned to use
cloth diapers. It's amazing how the trend has changed on this issue.
It seems like there are great resources are out there (especially on the
Internet) for parents who are interested in cloth diapers, and the latest
diaper innovations (velcro covers, etc.) have only made it simpler. What's
missing is the motivation and social pressure that used to drive parents
back when cloth was trendier than it is now. Perhaps we need cloth diapers
with Disney characters on them?
Here are a few ideas for how government agencies could promote the use of
cloth diapers, as a way of reducing household solid waste:
1) Advertise a true cost comparison of disposables versus cloth. Baby Diaper
Service in Seattle currently charges $15.95/week plus tax for 70 diapers,
including the pail, (about $.25/diaper) while the cost of disposables is
estimated at $ .35/each, which doesn't include the fancy diaper genie or
trips to the store. Over the course of a couple years, you spend at least
$700 more on disposables. You also spend more on garbage pickup because you
need a bigger can. I found that many daycare centers use cloth (with the
cost included in tuition) and you can obtain a discount on home diaper
service if you use the same company.
2) Offer a subsidy to families to use cloth, similar to the coupon programs
in Germany and Austria, based on savings in municipal waste costs.
Manufacturers and retailers continually offer coupons for disposables, so a
subsidy for cloth is just a way to level the playing field.
3) Get the "cloth" message out to childbirth educators and facilitators of
PEPS (Program for Early Parent Support) groups or similar groups. The nurse
who taught my childbirth class seemed in favor of cloth, but might have made
a more effective argument with some data, a handout or coupons. She was
already giving away a lot of sales literature, including free disposables.
4) Use an expert or celebrity spokesparent.
Oh wait, one more idea: cool Goretex diaper covers!
E-mail: susan [D O T] mcdonald [A T] metrokc [D O T] gov
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From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the
National Waste Prevention Coalition:
Has anyone seen the new TV commercial for the Honda Accord Hybrid car? It's
a 30-second ad that shows everyday images of wasteful behavior: a faucet
running while a man brushes his teeth, a refrigerator door left open, a
garden hose left running, office buildings at night with all their lights
left on, someone grabbing a whole bunch of paper napkins in a restaurant.
Then it gives the tag line "Maybe we could all use a little less" as it
shows the hybrid car.
In November, AdWeek magazine named this ad as one of the best new ads of the
month, saying, "'Maybe we could all use a little less' is an effective
sales pitch for the Accord Hybrid." The commercial, which is called
"Waste," was produced by the ad agency RPA (Rubin Postaer & Associates) of
Santa Monica, CA.
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Excerpted from a 12/21/04 press release from Office Depot:
OFFICE DEPOT LAUNCHES FREE COLLECTION PROGRAM
FOR CELL PHONES AND RECHARGEABLE BATTERIES
Partnering with the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC),
Office Depot is now collecting used cell phones and rechargeable batteries
at all 960 Office Depot locations in the U.S. and Canada.
Office Depot will collect, at no charge, all old cell phones and all used
rechargeable batteries weighing less than two pounds. These batteries are
found in cell phones and also commonly found in other portable electronics
products including cordless phones, laptop computers, personal digital
assistants and digital cameras. While rechargeable batteries reduce waste by
being reused again and again - replacing between 50 to 300 single-use
disposal batteries - they contain potentially harmful substances and should
be recycled rather than placed in the garbage.
The collected cell phones will be refurbished and resold when possible, or
recycled. A portion of the proceeds received from the resale will benefit
selected charities, such as Boys and Girls Clubs of America.
All rechargeable batteries collected in partnership with RBRC are recycled
in a state-of-the-art metals reclamation facility in Ellwood City,
Pennsylvania, with no by-products being sent to a landfill. Nickel and iron
recovered from batteries are used in the production of stainless steel;
cadmium is purified and used in Ni-Cd rechargeable batteries.
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Link to the executive summary of a new study, "Life Cycle Inventory of
Reusable Plastic Containers and Display-Ready Corrugated Containers Used for
Fresh Produce Applications" (first seen in a Waste News article forwarded by
Carl Hursh):
http://www.rpcc.us/userimages/LCI%20Preface%20&%20Executive%20Summary.pdf
This November 2004 study, commissioned by the Reusable Pallet & Container
Coalition, was conducted by Franklin and Associates. The study showed that,
on average, across 10 produce applications, reusable plastic containers
required 39 percent less total energy, produced 95 percent less total solid
waste, and generated 29 percent less total greenhouse gas emissions than did
display-ready corrugated containers, for corresponding produce applications.
A fact sheet about the study and its findings is at:
http://www.rpcc.us/userimages/Fact%20Sheet-LCI%20Study.pdf
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Link to information on U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grants
(forwarded by Jim Neely):
http://www.epa.gov/swerrims/iwg/announcement.htm
EPA anticipates at
least $500,000 will be available to fund innovative projects dealing with
waste minimization, energy recovery, recycling and other specified topics.
Proposals are due by Jan. 14, 2005.
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Excerpted from a 12/22/04 Associated Press item (forwarded by Kyle Pogue):
(Note from Kyle: I thought this was a great idea.)
BROTHERS KEEP EXCHANGING RECYCLED CARD
Hastings, Nebraska - When Earl Marian sends birthday wishes to his brother,
he can count on getting the same exact birthday wishes from Floyd Marian the
next month
It's a card-swapping tradition that started in 1975, when Floyd first
received the birthday card from his brother. In the card, Linus of the
Peanuts comic strip tells the reader, "This is the age of ecology! Don't
throw this card away. Recycle it to a friend." Floyd took the advice and
sent it back to Earl. Earl followed suit the following year. And so on and
so on.
For 29 years the brothers have kept their same-card exchange going,
freshening the card up with one-line messages that now have taken up most of
the card's open space. Floyd, 80, receives the card each year around his
Dec. 10 birthday, then kicks it back to Earl, 85, in time to acknowledge his
birthday on Jan. 31. "It's getting worn out a little bit," Floyd said.
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Excerpted from a 12/25/04 article by Stephanie Earls, from the Albany (NY)
Times Union:
THE LID'S OFF REGIFTING: IT CAN BE ACCEPTABLE
Regiving unwanted presents - heartless as it can sound - isn't something
that people necessarily balk at. According to a recent survey conducted on
behalf of the express delivery company DHL, nearly a third of Americans
between the ages of 35 and 44 admit to regifting.
"Regifting appears to be most prevalent among members of the 'Seinfeld
generation,' " said Ojas Naik, with Ogilvy Public Relations, which handles
public relations for DHL. The survey also found that "overall, a third of
American women and 19 percent of men have recycled presents they received
and didn't want," and that "regifting appears to cut across people of all
income levels." Another survey by the Internet shopping company Ebates found
more than half of those surveyed would consider regifting as a last resort.
However, 36 percent decried it as "never an option."
But etiquette maven Peggy Post says there is a place in today's overjunked
world for "regifting," a term that's entered the pop lexicon in recent
years. "Is this just another indication that something that was once
unacceptable is now standard practice? Not really," writes Post in Emily
Post's Etiquette: 17th Edition. "It's a symptom of the surplus of 'stuff'
many people find themselves with, and their desire to be practical and give
away things they know they will never use."
Of course, for every story of successful regifting, stands a cautionary
tale: A gift mistakenly regifted to the original giver, or the regifting
outed when the giver recognizes the item on someone else's mantel. Such
uncomfortable situations can be avoided, says Post, if you follow a few
rules:
- Recycle gifts only rarely (in other words, don't become known as "the
friend who regifts").
- Make sure the gift is brand-new (and that you've removed all previous gift
tags).
- Be certain it's not a gift that the original giver would be heartbroken to
learn you'd passed along (for example, if the gift was handmade or carefully
chosen just for you).
Simply put, you need to make sure you don't hurt feelings - the original
giver's or the recipient's. And if in doubt, says Post, don't do it.
She poses this ideal scenario: "Your sister's coffeemaker just stopped
working, and her birthday is days away. You, who are on a budget, have been
given a coffeemaker that's a duplicate of the one you already have," Post
writes. "Your sister has always liked yours. Instead of stashing the extra
coffeemaker in your closet, you wrap it in its original box and present it
to your sister."
But regifting doesn't necessarily have to be on the down-low, something to
be gotten away with, says Renee Wersted. Twelve years ago, the practice of
gift recycling took on a new meaning when Wersted's grandmother gave her
sister a "really bad penguin lotion dispenser." She who laughed loudest - in
that case, Wersted's cousin - found the penguin wrapped and regifted to her
the following year. And so it goes, with each year the penguin passing to a
different family member. "What was a bad gift became a family tradition,"
Wersted said. "I haven't had it yet. Maybe this will be my year."
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