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24 Mar 05 - lawns; spring; job; wipes; deconstruction; consuming; NYC; fashion
** 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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Link to websites from the Center for a New American Dream, on green lawn
care and green spring cleaning:
Green lawn care: http://www.newdream.org/consumer/lawn_care.php
According to this new
website, "Every year, Americans apply 70 million pounds of pesticides to
home lawns, trees and shrubs, roughly 10 times more per acre than is used on
farms."
Green spring cleaning: http://www.newdream.org/consumer/springcleaning.php
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Link to a job posting for a Household Hazardous Waste Reduction Planner for
the Massachusetts Department Of Environmental Protection (forwarded by Steve
Long:
http://ceo.hrd.state.ma.us/ceo.nsf
Search for "4221" (the job posting ID number) and click on Go.
The salary for this full-time position, which is based in Boston, is listed
at $32,295 to $65,605. This is a contract position with no benefits (salary
includes in-lieu payment). The deadline for applications is Tuesday, March
29, 2005.
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Excerpted from a 3/22/05 press release from the Freedonia Group:
WIPES DEMAND IN THE U.S. TO REACH $1.9 BILLION IN 2009
U.S. demand for wipes, both consumer and industrial, is forecast to increase
nearly six percent per year to $1.9 billion in 2009, propelled by further
segmentation of the market and a continual spate of new product
introductions. The number and variety of wipes on the market continue to
multiply dramatically, with companies rapidly competing to introduce new
products that open or create entirely new market sectors ahead of their
competitors. Wipes that do not provide the cost and convenience benefits
demanded by consumers are expected to drop out of the market just as
quickly. These and other trends are presented in "Wipes," a new study from
The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based market research firm.
Convenience and innovation will remain driving forces in the relatively new
consumer market, with household cleaning, hand and body, and a number of
other small-volume consumer wipes projected to register the strongest
growth. Though baby wipes will remain the top-selling type of wipe, demand
for these products will continue to suffer due to market maturity and
continued replacement by newer, task-specific wipes in non-diaper
applications, where baby wipes once enjoyed considerable popularity.
However, makers of baby wipes are increasingly offering products with
advanced formulas targeting specific needs and demographics, which will
boost value gains in this lagging sector of the market.
Following the lead of the consumer market, new product innovations and
expanding applications will drive demand for wipes in the industrial market.
Manufacturing and health care will remain the largest segments of this
market, with special purpose products such as "clean room" and surface
preparation wipes projected to see the fastest growth.
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Excerpted from a call for presentations for the 2005 "Building Materials
Reuse and Recycling: Decon '05" conference (forwarded by Julie Rhodes):
"Building Materials Reuse and Recycling: Decon '05" will be held Nov. 7-8,
2005, in Atlanta, GA. It is sponsored by the Building Materials Reuse
Association (BMRA) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 4. (BMRA
is the new name for the Used Building Materials Association.) The
conference is seeking innovative and previously unpresented information
related to deconstruction and building materials reuse, and construction,
renovation and demolition debris recycling. The deadline for proposals is
May 1, 2005.
Contact Brad Guy at guy_brad ( AT ) yahoo ( DOT ) com or call (352) 514-7502 with any
questions, or to receive an electronic copy of the full-length call for
presentations.
This Decon '05 conference will be held in Atlanta the same week as the U.S.
Green Building Council's Greenbuild conference Nov. 9-11
(http://www.greenbuildexpo.org ).
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Excerpted from an interview with Ernest Callenbach in the 3/23/05 Seattle
Weekly:
"The dominant idea behind consumer society is that you will be happier if
you have more. Now we know for a fact that's not true.... A lot of other
things - your relationships, your community, and so on - those are the
things that really make people happy.... So this has to get through our
thick skulls somehow, that what makes for a good life is not goods. We have
to learn what is enough for us. If enough of us can do that, it will change
the nature of our society. And our prospects for survival will greatly
improve."
- Ernest Callenbach is the author of "Ecotopia," the groundbreaking 1975
novel about a future ecologically-sustainable society.
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Excerpted from a travel article by Barbara Brotman in the 3/18/05 Chicago
Tribune:
NEW YORK CITY'S UPPER EAST SIDE: RESALE STORE HEAVEN
Ah, New York, home to some of the nation's unique and magnificent sights:
The Statue of Liberty, Broadway - and the resale stores of the Upper East
Side.
What makes the Upper East Side stand out in the world of second-hand
shopping is the extraordinary concentration of stores in a very small, very
rich area. The lofty 10021 zip code includes the most deluxe parts of 5th,
Madison and Park Avenues. The average household income in 2002 was $222,365.
This was Jackie Onassis' neighborhood. When the locals aren't donating or
consigning their clothing, they are gazing down from their penthouses at
Central Park. You can imagine the kind of clothes these people get rid of.
More to the point, you can buy them. You can hit half a dozen stores within
a few blocks, with both women's and men's clothes. Some are consignment;
some benefit worthy causes. Several are on Madison and 3rd avenues, near
84th Street. On my last trip, I shopped for five hours straight, and didn't
have time for several stores.
This second-hand shopping Mecca flies beneath the radar of most tourists and
even many New Yorkers. One caveat: This is the land of the rich and thin.
Above size 10, the shopping gets more challenging. It's not impossible, and
there are enough shoes and purses to make a trip worthwhile regardless. But
keep that reality in mind.
If you must visit a museum while in New York, the Metropolitan and
Guggenheim are a few blocks away. Knock yourself out. But remember - you
can't take a Rembrandt home with you. Bruno Magli dress pumps for $25,
however, are another story.
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Excerpted from an article by Amy Cortese in the 3/20/05 New York Times:
ECO-FASHION ON THE RISE
The scene was like so many others in New York during Fashion Week last
month. Models sauntered down a catwalk to a pulsating soundtrack, showing
off the latest work of designers including Oscar de la Renta and Proenza
Shouler. Except for this: Every garment was made with fibers spun from
bamboo, corn, organic cotton and other materials that promoters said were
more eco-friendly than traditional materials. The show, called FutureFashion
and sponsored by Earth Pledge, a New York-based nonprofit group that
promotes environmental programs, challenged designers to create fashion
using only fabrics that were renewable, reusable or generated less pollution
than conventional material. The message was clear: Eco-style need not be an
oxymoron.
A gimmick? Sure. But even some fashion veterans said the idea could have
legs. "I was shocked," said Julie Gilhart, vice president and fashion
director for Barneys, the high-end retailer in New York. "It was as
interesting as anything we saw on the runways all week." Green, say some in
the fashion world, may become the new black. "We're taking the market from
hippie to hip," says Marci Zaroff, founder of Under The Canopy, a line of
clothing and home furnishings made from organic cotton and other natural
fabrics.
Eco-advocates and some apparel executives say they believe that goods made
with so-called environmentally friendly fabrics - including clothing and
home furnishings - could follow the path of organic food and beauty
products, which have crossed over from niche to mainstream to become a $15
billion business. Organic cotton, the largest category of eco-apparel,
accounted for just $85 million of retail sales in the United States in 2003,
the latest year for which statistics were available, according to the
Organic Trade Association. That was a very small fraction - about 0.05
percent - of the American apparel market that year. But some pieces are
falling into place: new and high-quality fabrics, designer interest, budding
consumer awareness and a developing supply network that makes it easier for
companies like Nordstrom and Timberland to take the plunge.
Shoppers will start to see more choices this spring. The designer Rogan
Gregory, whose $240 denim jeans are coveted by some shoppers, will introduce
organic cotton denim clothing under the Loomstate label in high-end stores
such as Barneys and Fred Segal this month. For the more cost-conscious
shopper, Sam's Club will start selling 100 percent organic cotton active
wear by Chaus at its 550 stores this month, with prices starting at $10.
Whole Foods, the organic food market chain, began selling organic cotton
clothes and linens from more than 10 companies at a new megastore in Austin,
Tex., early this month.
Why the fuss over the organic credentials of something people don't eat?
According to the Sustainable Cotton Project, a nonprofit group dedicated to
promoting the use of organic cotton, a third of a pound of pesticides and
other agricultural chemicals are used to produce the cotton for one simple
cotton T-shirt. Then ammonia, formaldehyde and other chemicals are used to
process and finish it. Many of these chemicals are known or suspected
carcinogens. The new ecologically friendly fabrics are made with materials
that their proponents say cause less harm to the environment, like cotton
and wool produced without synthetic chemicals or pesticides, or hardy,
fast-growing plants like bamboo and hemp that are produced with relatively
little pesticides or fertilizers.
Advances in materials science are leading to other new materials. These
include biopolymers made from corn and soy, including a corn-based fiber
called Ingeo by Cargill that is used by Versace and other designers.
Clothing makers are focusing first on cotton because it is the most widely
used fiber and, according to the Pesticide Action Network, an environmental
group, it accounts for 22 percent of all insecticides used - about $2.5
billion worth worldwide each year.
When Patagonia, the outdoor apparel maker based in Ventura, Calif.,
commissioned a study of the environmental impact of its raw materials in the
early 1990's, it assumed that oil-based synthetics like polyester and nylon
would cause the most harm to people and the environment. The company said it
was shocked to find that cotton was worse. In 1994, Patagonia decided to
convert its entire cotton line to organic - and did so in just 18 months. At
first, the company took a financial hit: finding a consistent, high-quality
supply of organic cotton was difficult, so Patagonia produced less
inventory, and higher costs cut into margins. But the company worked out the
kinks and restored its margins within a few years, said Jill Vlahos,
Patagonia's director of environmental analysis, who said that Patagonia also
uses recycled plastic in its fleece and in some polyester fabric, and now
offers organic wool clothes.
As Patagonia's experience illustrates, many obstacles thwart the wider
adoption of environmentally friendly apparel. Supply, for example, has been
vexing. In many cases, companies had to develop sources from scratch. Price
is another issue. Generally, organic cotton costs more to grow than
conventional cotton, but the economics differ depending on variables like
quality and location. Organic cotton from India, for example, where labor
costs are low and organic farms have been operating for more than a few
years, can be cost competitive with conventional cotton used to make
T-shirts, denim and medium-quality fabrics.
Many companies and growers are still leery of organic cotton, in part
because of past failures. In the mid-1990's, for example, companies
including Gap and Levi Strauss dabbled with organic cotton, but retreated
after finding it costly and consumers cool to the generally uninteresting
styles. The number of acres planted with organic cotton, most of it in the
United States, plunged as a result. Mark Messura, vice president for
strategic planning at Cotton Inc., an industry marketing and research
organization, said organic cotton was still a novelty in the notoriously
low-margin apparel industry, and added that "there is no evidence of
customer demand or willingness to pay more" for it. The amount of organic
cotton produced worldwide each year, 24 million pounds, is less than 1
percent of conventionally grown cotton.
Still, the number of brands using organic cotton is accelerating - to more
than 250 in the United States today from fewer than 100 in 2002, according
to the Organic Exchange, an industry-sponsored organization in Berkeley,
Calif., that acts as a clearinghouse for suppliers and manufacturers of
organic cotton. The most powerful nudge has been from big companies like
Nike, whose long-term commitments to organic cotton have given suppliers a
measure of comfort. Nike has set a goal of using organic fibers for at least
5 percent of its cotton-based garments by 2010. That means more than five
million pounds of organic cotton a year. Marks & Spencer, the British
retailer, has pledged to use 5 percent organic cotton in its private label
line by 2012.
Even the most ardent advocates acknowledge that consumers will not buy
organic clothing for its own sake. Style and price still rule. Marci Zaroff,
of Under The Canopy, says, "If you can give people fit and style and value,
and also appeal to their values, it's not 'Why would I buy it?' It's 'Why
wouldn't I buy it?'"
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