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01 Dec 05 - printing; seeds; strategy; bedbugs; job; toys
** 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 Lisa Friend, RE Sources, Bellingham, WA:
Here's a comment we received at RE Sources from a local printer regarding
the use of soy inks vs. toner. Does anyone have experience with making this
choice? What's the "right thing" to do?
The printer was asked to use soy inks for a print job, for environmental
reasons, and this was their response: "Can this job only be printed with
soy inks? Is it possible to run this job digitally? (i.e.. toner-based?)
With this small of a quantity, the price and the environmental impact should
be lower with toner-based output. No plate chemistry, no wash-up, no
bluelines, etc..."
Lisa's e-mail: recycle ( A T ) re-sources ( D O T ) org
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From Albert Kaufman, Portland, OR, responding to the 11/2/05 posting seeking
purchasing guidelines for environmentally-friendly promotional give-away
items:
How about packets of seeds, or starts? Always a nice gift, something that
offers something to someone where they'll learn something, and have to take
an action to use the thing you're giving out. Sunflower starts with the
name of your organization are a good idea.
E-mail: albertkaufman [AT] gmail [DOT] com
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From David Allaway, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Solid Waste
Policy & Program Development, Portland, OR:
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is developing a 10-year
strategy that will direct the Solid Waste Program's efforts on waste
prevention and reuse and help us work toward achieving the statewide waste
generation goals established by the 2001 Oregon Legislature.
We have prepared a draft project outline that describes the scope and
process for developing the strategy. Our proposed scope includes an effort
to identify successful and replicable waste prevention and reuse efforts
outside of Oregon. Along those lines, if members of this list serve -
regardless of location - have suggestions on how DEQ should proceed with
this strategy development, we'd appreciate hearing them.
This link will take you directly to the draft outline.
http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/wpstrategy.html
. We're asking
for comments and suggestions regarding this draft project outline by
December 5, 2005. You can send them to me at allaway [DOT] david [AT] deq [DOT] state [DOT] or [DOT] us
or give me a call at 503-229-5479. If you are located in Oregon and would
be interested in being a part of the larger stakeholder group to provide
input as the strategy is developed, please let us know that, as well.
Thanks.
E-mail: Allaway [DOT] David [AT] deq [DOT] state [DOT] or [DOT] us
(Note from Tom: The short time for responses on this is not David's fault;
he submitted this to me on Nov. 21.)
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Excerpted from an article by Andrew Jacobs in the 11/27/05 New York Times:
REUSED MATTRESSES AND SOFAS LINKED TO BEDBUG RESURGENCE IN NEW YORK CITY
Bedbugs are back and spreading through New York City like a swarm of locusts
on a lush field of wheat. Infestations have been reported sporadically
across the United States over the past few years. But in New York, bedbugs
have gained a foothold all across the city.
"It's becoming an epidemic," said Jeffrey Eisenberg, the owner of Pest Away
Exterminating, an Upper West Side business that receives about 125 bedbug
calls a week, compared with just a handful five years ago. Last year the
City of New York logged 377 bedbug violations, up from just 2 in 2002 and 16
in 2003. Since July, there have been 449. "It's definitely a fast-emerging
problem," said Carol Abrams, spokeswoman for the city housing agency.
In the bedbug resurgence, entomologists and exterminators blame increased
immigration from the developing world, the advent of cheap international
travel and the recent banning of powerful pesticides. Other culprits include
the recycled mattress industry and those thrifty New Yorkers who revel in
the discovery of a free sofa on the sidewalk. And that new mattress
delivered from a reputable department store, which kindly hauled away your
old one? It may have spent all day in a truck wedged against an old mattress
collected from a customer with a bedbug problem.
Once introduced into a home, bedbugs can crawl into adjoining apartments or
hitch a ride to another part of town in the cuff of a pant leg. "Anyone who
stays in a hotel, rich or poor, can bring them home in a suitcase," said
Richard Kourbage, whose company, Kingsway Exterminating in Brooklyn, does
about a dozen bedbug jobs a day. "Some of the best hotels in New York have
them."
Exterminators recommend bagging and washing every bit of clothing and fabric
in the room and taking apart bureau drawers and bed frames in preparation
for the application of four kinds of chemicals. The process often needs to
be repeated.
Worst of all, bedbug sufferers say, is the stigma of living with an insect
that feeds on blood - though it does not transmit disease - and leaves
behind a trail of red bumps that many dermatologists mistakenly identify as
hives or scabies. "People come in here and cry on my shoulder," said Andy
Linares, the owner of Bug Off Pest Control, in Washington Heights. "They
feel ashamed, even traumatized, to have these invisible vampires living in
their home. Rats, even V.D., is more socially acceptable than bedbugs."
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Link to a job opening for a Natural Gardening/Toxics Reduction Specialist
with Portland Metro (forwarded by David Allaway and Karen Hamilton):
http://www.metro.dst.or.us/article.cfm?articleid=16481
The pay range is
$46,300 - $62,000 annually. The deadline for applications is Dec. 9, 2005.
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Excerpted from an 11/8/05 article by Howard Ludwig in the Daily Southtown, a
Chicago area newspaper:
MOM LAUNCHES TOY SWAP WEBSITE
Michelle Maxia, of Orland Park, in the Chicago area, has launched
Toyswap.com (http://www.toyswap.com ). The Web site
allows parents to trade unused toys. Toyswap.com also allows parents to sell
unused toys or donate playthings to specific charities.
It started with a toy swap she arranged for her son in in her chiropractor's
office waiting room. "I thought if I could do that in a doctor's office,
what would happen if I had 1,000 moms who would swap?" Maxia said.
Parents log onto the site and list toys up for trade, placing a dollar value
on the items. They also list sought-after toys. The Web site then seeks a
match. If a match cannot be found, browsers can search for toys in several
categories ranging from "action figures" to "dolls/Barbies." If the desired
toys aren't available through trade, parents can pay cash or check back
later for a match.
Maxia makes $1 from each trading party. The traders pay for shipping
separately. Items deemed too expensive to ship can be placed under the
"local pickup only" category. To guarantee each party follows through, Maxia
has used PayPal, an Internet payment processor frequently associated with
eBay. Anyone participating in Toyswap.com must have a PayPal account.
Toyswap.com is easy to use and should fill a niche, according to David
Koehler, a professor of retail and marketing at the University of Illinois
at Chicago. "Toys are just so expensive. Plus, kids grow out of toys faster
than clothes," said Koehler. He believes children's toys are often trendy,
and when the trend hits, everyone jumps aboard. After the wave, parents are
left with piles of unpopular toys. Koehler said Maxia's concept offers an
alternative to garage sales and trips to Goodwill to unload old toys.
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