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05 Oct 05 - carpet sweepers; pesticides; job; exchange; World Cup; clothes; packaging
** 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 Woody Raine, Texas Department of Transportation recycling program,
Austin, TX, responding to the 9/28/05 posting about Procter & Gamble's new
Swiffer CarpetFlick product, a carpet-sweeping device that uses disposable
sticky cards:
Fuller Brush sells carpet sweepers for about $60. More info is at:
http://www.fuller.com/products_detail.asp?cat=1&subcat=3&id=185
Unfortunately, someone can buy and dispose of several CarpetFlicks and
refills never knowing about Fuller's sweepers that can last generations,
like mine.
E-mail: wraine ( AT ) dot ( DOT ) state ( DOT ) tx ( DOT ) us
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Link to information about two projects of the National Coalition for
Pesticide-Free Lawns, Washington, DC:
- Letter-writing campaign to Home Depot, asking them to start selling a full
range of natural, non-toxic lawn and garden products.
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/actions
As of late
September, this campaign had generated 5,300 letters nationwide, according
to the Coalition.
- National Declaration on the Use of Toxic Lawn Pesticides.
http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticidefreelawns/declaration
As of
late September, 465 people had signed this declaration, according to the
Coalition.
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Link to a job opening for an Education and Outreach Specialist for the
Thurston County Department of Water and Waste Management, Olympia, WA (seen
in Jim Schrock's "Delete This Newsletter"):
http://www.co.thurston.wa.us/cm/hr/o-positions.asp#461
The salary range
for this position is $3,922 - $5,366 per month. The deadline for
applications is Friday, Oct. 7, 2005. Job duties include management of
waste reduction and recycling projects.
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From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the
National Waste Prevention Coalition:
I would like to thank everyone who responded to my 9/28/05 posting, seeking
ideas for how to deal with problems at a reusables exchange area at a
transfer station in Washington state. I received 10 responses, from all
over the U.S. I forwarded them to my friend who is trying to help them deal
with this problem (of people "camping out" at the reusables area and taking
all the good items as soon as they come in). Thanks again - your ideas were
very helpful!
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Link to a petition supporting a Zero Waste strategy at the 2010 Soccer World
Cup, which will be held in South Africa:
http://www.no-burn.org/action/zwworldcup.html
By endorsing this
petition (which is on the website of the Global Alliance for Incinerator
Alternatives), international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) can go on
record supporting a Zero Waste World Cup in 2010 in South Africa.
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Excerpted from an article by Martha Moore in the 9/22/05 USA Today
(forwarded by Heather Abrams):
Note from Heather: Anyone out there have ideas on clothing-waste
prevention?
USED CLOTHES DONATIONS - THE SECOND DISASTER
So many truckloads of clothes have poured into Baton Rouge since Hurricane
Katrina that volunteers from the St. Vincent de Paul Society gave away
100,000 pieces of clothing in 10 days, says Mike Acaldo, director of the
Baton Rouge chapter. The group's 20,000-square-foot warehouse is still
"packed," he says. In Gulfport, Miss., the county emergency management
director has begged kind-hearted donors to stop. Without enough volunteers
to distribute them, clothes ended up piled by the roadside and strewn across
parking lots.
Relief agencies dread the influx of clothes that inevitably follows a
disaster. It takes time and volunteers to sort the items and dispose of
things that are unwearable. The Red Cross doesn't accept donated clothes; it
wants cash so those in need can buy new. "It's empowerment, it's their own
recovery, and it's a boost to the local economy," spokeswoman Sarah O'Brien
says.
In New Iberia, La., agencies are looking for a second warehouse to hold
unneeded clothes. "The people who are giving used clothes are wanting to
help," says Joe Watts of Adventist Community Services. "We appreciate it,
but ... it can be the second disaster." After the Loma Prieta earthquake in
California in 1989, warehouses filled up with unneeded items, including mink
teddy bears, says Brenda Phillips, a disaster recovery expert at Oklahoma
State University. After Hurricane Andrew in 1992, donated clothing got wet
and moldy and had to be thrown away. "I have seen this happen in every
disaster I have studied during the last 23 years," Phillips says.
It's hard to convince people that their donated clothes aren't needed
somewhere. "Donating clothes is a form of charity that every single person
can participate in," says Christine Nyirjesy Bragale of Goodwill Industries
International. Even in normal times, as much as half the clothing dropped
off at a Goodwill store ends up being sold to a "baler" who recycles what's
not in good enough shape to resell. About 2.5 billion pounds of clothes a
year end up with textile recyclers, according to Bernie Brill, executive
director of a textile recycling association. About 35 percent gets shipped
overseas and sold. The rest gets reprocessed into new fabric, sold as rags
or sent to a landfill.
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From a column by Chuck Warzyn in the 8/25/05 Fayette County Review,
Somerville, Tennessee (forwarded by Ray and Deanna Carveth):
UNCLE GRUMPY SPUTTERS ABOUT PACKAGING
It was a Sunday afternoon in August, the sort of still and sullen day that
has mockingbirds panting in trees and cows wading in ponds. I was sitting in
an oak tree's shade reading a Civil War mystery. A glass of iced tea sat on
the picnic table next to the lawn chair.
The still was broken by a dilapidated pickup truck chugging up our drive,
throwing a cloud of dust into the air. Uncle Grumpy had come visiting. I
sighed and put aside my book as he trotted down the hill while wiping his
forehead with a handkerchief. He plopped down on the picnic table bench,
drained half my glass of iced tea, smacked his lips, and started in.
"My, that tastes good on a day like this. Sure beats all that aggravatin'
fuss when yuh buy somethin' at the store yuh gotta open when yuh get home."
What do you mean, Uncle Grumpy? And thanks, by the way, for leaving me some
tea.
"Don't mention it. What I'm talkin' about is when yuh used to buy somethin',
it came wrapped real simple; a little ol' cardboard box o' salt, or a sack
o' flour, or pickles or bread in a bag. Nowadays, seems like they spend more
on the packagin' than they do on th' product."
For example?
"Well, now; yuh take that so-called 'shrink wrap' plastic stuff. They got a
way o' puttin' this thin plastic coatin' on somethin' like clothes pins or a
tractor air filter or bar soap or whatever, yuh gotta hack an' gouge at it
an' the blamed stuff just stays untorn 'til yuh finally get a little rip in
it an' then do some more hackin' and gougin' before yuh get it torn off an'
finally reach what it is yuh spent good money on."
I have to admit, Grumpy; I know exactly what you mean. A pocketknife to get
to a few bars of soap is ridiculous.
"Darned tootin'. An' I'll tell yuh somethin' else yuh need that there
pocketknife for. Even if they give yuh a simple little cardboard box o'
bakin' soda or dish soap or oyster crackers, yuh' still need that knife.
They have this little so-called serrated line that's supposed to be real
easy to push in with just your thumb. Hogwash! Yuh push on that line with
all your strength an' nothin' happens. So then yuh pull out your pocket
knife or maybe a kitchen knife an' slash at that dangburn line an' the next
thing yuh know, yuh've sliced off half the box an', if yuh be lucky, yuh
fingertips are still all there but soda or soap or crackers go flyin' all
over the floor while yuh standin' there cussin' an' swearin'. An' they's
real sneaky when it comes to inside packagin'."
What do you mean by 'inside packaging?'
"Well, I'll tell yuh. Yuh finally get that dadburn plastic wrap ring off a
top o' catsup or mustard or pickle relish, then yuh gotta give it a few
whaps on the countertop to loosen the lid. Yuh just about sprain yuh wrist
getting' the lid off an', lo an' behold, there's another wrapper. So then
yuh gotta get the knife back out an' gouge off that inner cover, getting'
catsup or mustard or whatever all over the tips o' yuh pinkies."
Uncle Grumpy, I have to say, you're describing a modern day frustration a
lot of us can identify with.
"An' it's not just openin' the darn packages. It's the sellin' that's
getting' out of hand."
What do you mean?
"Well now, when I was a kid an' went to the general store or 5&10 for a
candy bar, that candy bar come in a simple, little paper or plastic wrapper.
Nowadays, they gotta sell some darnfalutin' combination of candy and toy.
Yuh can't buy just the candy. It comes in some cornball plastic container
shaped like a cell phone or pinball machine or paint can or some such
nonsense."
Another example of packaging overkill.
"Yuh hit the nail on the head. Well, I gotta go. Got a jar o' toasted
peanuts I gotta open. Oughta take me into th' evenin' hours."
Grumpy trotted back up the hill to the pickup and I perused my glass of iced
tea. It was half gone but at least the pitcher of tea in the refrigerator
wouldn't need a crowbar to open.
- end -
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