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05 Jul 05 - courts; garage sales; reusables; camera; refurbs
** 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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From David Allaway, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Solid Waste
Policy & Program Development, Portland, OR:
Here's a link to a recently-published case study I worked on, about office
paper waste prevention in three State of Oregon courts. The case study
documents a variety of different office practices, including reformatting
documents, streamlining document distribution, and of course, the
ever-popular recommendation of double-sided copying and printing.
Collectively, these practices reduce paper use at the three courts by more
than 200 cases/year, with annual savings in paper, printing, copying,
mailing, and labor of $35,000. Although the case study documents changes
that were made several years ago (1998 - 2000), it was only just published.
We had some delays in finalizing the case study, although this means we were
able to observe the longer-term, sustained changes resulting from the
original recommendations (as opposed to reporting on the immediate but
not-necessarily longer-lasting changes). The case study, which also
includes an employee survey and sample e-mail messages used by Court staff
to promote waste prevention to co-workers, is at:
http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=14533
E-mail: Allaway [DOT] David [AT] deq [DOT] state [DOT] or [DOT] us
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Link to a list of suggested prices for garage sale items, from the North
American Van Lines "New American Garage Sale Kit":
http://www.navlgaragesale.com/HouseHold/Ed/GarageSale/PricingGuide.aspx
Suggested price ranges are listed for 45 different common garage sale items.
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Excerpted from several articles in June, 2005, in the Wellesley Townsman
newspaper, Wellesley, Massachusetts:
CITIZENS PROTEST CLOSING OF TOWN'S REUSABLES EXCHANGE AREA
In the town of Wellesley, a suburb of Boston with about 30,000 residents, a
number of citizens have protested the town's decision to close its reusables
exchange area. The town says the closure is the result of budget cuts that
have occurred because voters did not approve (by 17 votes) a measure to
override a state tax limit.
The reusables area for household items closed permanently on June 30. Known
to residents as the "Take and Leave," the reusables area was located at the
town's disposal and recycling facility. At the same time, the town also
significantly reduced the hours at the disposal and recycling facility and
cut back on several other city programs.
In explaining the closure of the reusables area, David Donohue, chairman of
the town's Board of Public Works, wrote to the newspaper with these
comments: "Department of Public Works management looked at all options when
considering which activities could no longer be maintained if staffing was
reduced. Although the reusables area is extremely popular, it is not
required by the state and is not as critical to the required operations of
the recycling and disposal facility..... As much as 90 percent of all the
items left at the reusables area are not taken away for reuse and instead
are disposed of by city personnel. By eliminating the need to maintain and
clean the reusables area three times per week and closing early to the
public three afternoons each week, it is our intent that the core activities
of the recycling and disposal facility can be maintained even with the
decrease in staffing. In an effort to provide an alternative to the
reusables area, the city is planning to locate a 'swap board' at the
facility. This will allow residents to advertise items on the swap board
that another resident could use. Residents can then browse the swap board
and contact the owner of the item to make arrangements for delivery."
According to town officials, closure of the reusables area will save the
town $35,000 a year in labor costs.
The explanations by officials did not appease many town residents.
Supporters of the reusables exchange area have written letters to the editor
of the local newspaper, circulated flyers and "packed a Board of Public
Works meeting" in late June to protest the closure, according to the
newspaper.
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Excerpted from a 6/25/05 article by Steve Alexander in the Minneapolis Star
Tribune:
SINGLE-USE VIDEO CAMERA INTRODUCED
Can there be a "disposable" video camera? A $400 digital camcorder is hardly
something you'd throw away, but a $29.99 simplified digital camcorder
debuted at CVS drugstores in June. In an attempt to appeal to a mass market
of people who already buy disposable film cameras, Rhode Island-based CVS
hopes consumers will flock to this "one-time-use video camcorder" that you
buy, use to film a 20-minute movie and then return to the store. CVS charges
an additional $12.99 to put your movie on a DVD that can be viewed on a TV,
a computer or the Internet. The video quality is said to be similar to VHS
videotape.
After the camcorder is returned, CVS sells it to someone else, which makes
the camcorder essentially a rental. But if the camcorder can't be returned,
because you lost it or broke it, there is no security deposit for you to
lose and no penalty to pay. You're out only your $30 purchase cost. That
makes it a disposable camera in at least one sense.
To prevent anyone from keeping such an inexpensive camcorder, its
manufacturer, Pure Digital Technologies of San Francisco, has severely
limited its capabilities. The recorded video is encrypted on a flash memory
chip inside the camcorder, and the only way to retrieve the movie is to dock
the camcorder with a CVS computer server. CVS is offering the camcorders at
4,500 stores nationwide.
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Excerpted from a 6/30/05 article by Marcia Biederman in the New York Times:
MARKET BOOMING FOR REFURBISHED ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS
Once hidden in the back of electronics stores, "refurbs," as refurbished
electronic products are sometimes called, are everywhere on the Web. Eager
to recoup their losses on returned goods, manufacturers like Dell, Apple,
Hewlett-Packard and Kodak sell refurbs on sections of their Web sites or
through online factory outlets. And refurbs are proliferating on eBay.
"Laptops are probably the king of them," said Karl Wiley, eBay's director of
computers and consumer electronics, followed by audio receivers, laser
printers, car electronics and MP3 players. Most sellers of refurbs on eBay
are independent dealers, but big names like the Sharper Image and Harman
Kardon also offer them at their eBay stores, either through auctions or at a
"buy it now" fixed price. Because sellers use various terms, like "factory
reconditioned" or "remanufactured," to describe such goods, Wiley recommends
searching for a product by price. Refurbs typically fall in a price tier
just below those described as new.
Many consumers remain wary of refurbs, despite manufacturers' assurances
that they have been carefully repaired and rigorously tested, or better yet,
that they are "open box" items, returned by people who unsealed the package
but never used the product. In offering refurbs to resellers, manufacturers
typically describe them as "NTF," for no trouble found, and "B stock," for
those requiring repair. There are no federal laws about the labeling of
refurbished electronic goods other than general rules prohibiting false or
deceptive claims, said Janice Podoll Frankle, a lawyer for the Bureau of
Consumer Protection in the Federal Trade Commission.
Internet chat boards abound with complaints about refurbs, but, according to
Randy Guttery of Meridian, Miss., this is "whining by people who haven't
done their homework." Guttery said he was satisfied with the refurbished
computers he bought from Hewlett-Packard and Dell. For the software company
he owns with his wife, he has bought a number of heavy-duty Epson printers
from an online reseller, the RefurbDepot, at a savings of about $1,000 each
on items typically costing $2,500, and he has encouraged others to do the
same. Guttery advises checking the manufacturer's warranty for reconditioned
items in advance, even when buying through a reseller. A number of
manufacturers, including Olympus and Pioneer, make their warranties for
reconditioned products available on the Web. In many cases, the warranty
applies only to goods sold through authorized resellers. Refurb customers
can often buy extended warranties.
Consumers who swear they would never buy a refurb may already own one.
Warranties on consumer electronics often allow companies to replace a
product with a comparable one - often a refurb - rather than repair it. This
is true whether the item has been purchased new or refurbished. Cellphone
insurance policies typically contain similar language.
Although there are environmental advantages when people purchase refurbished
products rather than new ones, environmental laws do not always afford
special consideration to refurbs. Under the Electronic Waste Recycling Act
in California, consumers who buy refurbished computers and televisions must
pay a fee to cover the state's cost of electronic waste management, just as
purchasers of new products do.
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