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09 Jan 06 - seats; babies; subscribers; appliances; home stores; buying used
** 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 Jean Ponzi, EarthWays Center, Missouri
Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO:
Missouri Botanical Garden, my employer, is replacing 380 seat cushions and
backs on the seats in our auditorium. I have been asked to root around and
see if I can come up with anything we can do to recycle or reuse them. They
are a composite of materials:
- Seat: Synthetic-weave upholstery over foam-rubber cushion, held in place
by 5 steel zig-zags and 18 non-screwing clips that hold the foam assembly to
a steel frame.
- Back: Same upholstery over lighter foam padding on fiber-board backing,
attached to hard-plastic seat back, all of which unscrews from a steel
frame.
They are being stored six to a cardboard box, reusing boxes that the new
backs and cushions were shipped to us in. Each box is about 3 feet long by
20 inches by 20 inches. Remembering how the 12,000 cast-aluminum seats that
were replaced by the St. Louis Muny Opera a few years ago languished beside
our recycling-prone Peerless construction and demolition waste landfill,
lacking any interested labor to dismantle them for material recovery, until
they were finally, reluctantly buried - I am not overly optimistic, but will
pursue any lead, suggestion, etc.
Thanks for your responses. The Garden's audio-visual and housekeeping
staffs are laboriously unscrewing and replacing these seat components,
hoping to be done by Jan. 14. We might be able to store the boxes of
decommissioned seat parts for a while, if any hope of reuse or recycling is
on the horizon.
E-mail: jean (DOT) ponzi (AT) mobot (DOT) org
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Excerpted from an article and item by Hillary Chura in the 1/8/06 New York
Times:
WHAT PARENTS WITH NEW BABIES DON'T NEED
Pediatricians and veteran parents suggest that first-time expectant couples
figure out what they really need before they give friends their wish lists.
Often, the requirements in baby gear are more modest than the expectations.
Some purchases cannot be avoided: diapers, car seat, stroller, diaper bag,
blankets, bottles, bedding and a handful of outfits. But most other needs
vary from child to child.
Many parents agree that gift cards are perhaps the most beneficial present
that generous friends and relatives can bestow. An unscientific survey of
moms suggests that items like these may be best left at the store:
- Bottle sterilizer. Dishwashers can do the job.
- Bassinet. A crib will usually do, unless baby shares a room with an older
sibling.
- Four-ounce bottles. Eventually a child's appetite will grow beyond them.
- Food grinders. Blenders can suffice unless a child has a problem
swallowing.
- Nursing-specific pillow. Regular pillows generally work fine.
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From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the
National Waste Prevention Coalition:
In our year-end tradition (I'm a little late this year), I'd like to say
THANKS to all of you for being a part of the Waste Prevention Forum. As we
do once a year, we're running the list (below) of the names of all the
current subscribers to the Forum. It's interesting to see who is on the
list. And a lot more people than this end up reading the Forum, because
many people forward it to others. If you know of anyone else who would like
to join the Forum, just have them e-mail me.
The Waste Prevention Forum started in June, 1996, so this year we are
celebrating our 10th birthday! I have really enjoyed moderating it over the
years, and honestly I feel lucky and privileged to do it. I would also like
to give a huge thank you to my bosses here at King County Solid Waste
Division for allowing me to do it as part of my job. I do feel that getting
all this great info from all of you, and passing it along, does help me
enormously in my job at the local level.
Hope you all had a wonderful holiday season, and have a terrific new year!
Thank you all for everything you do to make the world a better place. -
Tom
E-mail: tom [ D O T ] watson [ A T ] metrokc [ D O T ] gov
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Current subscribers to the Waste Prevention Forum:
Abell, Nancy; Abrams, Heather; Aguiar, Victor; Aldridge, Mahlon; Alekel,
Dale; Alexander, Gemma; Allaway, David; Ambrose, Frances; Amicucci,
Michelle; Anthony, Richard; Antonakos, Jetta; Apotheker, Steve; Ariella,
Raya; Arner, Rob; Artley, Tracy; Assmann, David; Atkins, Katie; Auld, Mary;
Baasch, Gail; Badger, Pamela; Bailey, Ryan; Baker, Tanya; Bakke, Rory;
Balsley, Rachel; Barto, Debra; Beal, Deron; Becker, Charlotte; Becker,
Steve; Bell, Carole; Berger, David; Bernson, Nicole; Bernthal, Tim;
Betz-Zall, Jonathan; Biddle, David; Bing, Jason; Bircher, Maria; Bird,
English; Bisson, Connie Leach; Bistritz, Bill; Bitansky, Anna Traktoueva;
Blais, Lorilee; Blakely, Val; Blickstein, Dena; Blue, Dan; Blythe, Sue;
Boeshans, Angela; Bogar, Janine; Boisson, Edward; Bowles, Bruno; Brawer,
Wendy; Brewer, Gretchen; Brunhart-Wiggins, Susanne; Bugbee, Beth; Bushnell,
Vicki; Cahillane, Jamie; Capek, Sonya; Carveth, Deanna; Case, Melanie;
Cassidy, Colin; Cecil, Rika; Cera, David; Chaimowitz, Lynne; Chidsey, Molly;
Christiansen, Pete; Christmann, Holly; Clarke, Marjorie; Clayton, Mark;
Cloak, Connie; Cohen, Steve; Cole, Michelle; Cosgrove, Darin; Coville,
Gerty; Crisley, John; Crockett, Judy; Culver, Alicia; Cuyler, Alex.
Daniel, Julie; Danovitch, Alex; Daoust, Ruth; Daudon, Marc; Davidson,
Cathie; Davis, Gina; Davis, Michele; Deardorff, Julie; DeBell, Jack;
deForest, Russell; deGrassi, Dan; Delaney, Shannon; Deller, Kinley; Deryckx,
Kseniya; Deschambault, Lynda; Desmond, Roberta; Devine, Paul; Diangson,
Ticiang; DiCarlo, Yvette; Diccicco-Craft, Dee Dee; Dolph, Jan; Domres,
Patrick; Donahue, Anne; Donnaway, Jay; Donnette, Rachel; Dorn, Betsy;
Downing, Tommy; Dubois, Peter; Dunn, Judi; Dunn, Paul; Durham, Karyn;
Dutton, Lea; Eade, Teresa; Eckl, Beth; Elko, Kristin; Erzen, Alex; Eskridge,
Anne; Estes, Tom; Etienne, MaryEllen; Ewing, Bill; Ferris, R. C.; Fiedler,
Karen; Fife-Ferris, Susan; Fikejs, Matt; Fine, Polagaya; Fisher, Sally;
Fisher, Steve; Flite, Sondra; Foecke, Terry; Frahm, Annette; Freilich,
Helen; Friedman, Eric; Friend, Gil; Friend, Lisa; Frierson, Barbara; Frost,
Crystal; Fuller, Brian; Fultz, Dixie; Gable, Cate; Gaisford, Jeff; Gaither,
Michelle; Gard, Judi; Gardam, Marybeth; Gardener, Christine; Gavin, Megan;
Giernet, Jeanne; Glaser, Lise; Goldsmith, Leslie Bullock; Goldstein, Steve;
Gondringer, Linda; Goodwin, David; Goring, Rick; Graves, Beth; Green,
Deborah; Green, Michael; Gregg, Jennifer; Grimm, Sarah; Grodeska, Lawrence;
Grodinsky, Carolyn; Grose, Bretnie; Grossberg, Rebecca; Gruder, Sherrie;
Guiao, Christine; Gunderson, Sandy; Gustafson, Laurie; Guttentag, Roger;
Gwyn, Wright.
Haas-Wajdowicz, Julie; Hagston, Bart; Hakenkamp, Carrie; Hakim, Lena;
Halenar, John; Hallett, Mckenna; Hamilton, Jill; Hamilton, Karen; Hamlin,
Brian; Hammer, Steve; Hamner, Burton; Hanlon, Gene; Hanna, Christine;
Hanson, Debbie; Harder, Greg; Hardison, Jeanette; Harris, Rachel; Harrison,
Ellen; Havens, Jennifer; Havstad, Cynthia; Hawkins, Gina; Hayes, Priscilla;
Haygood, Jill; Haynes, Jim; Healey, M.L.; Hefty, Nichole; Helbach-Olds,
Heather; Henderson, Mary; Hetzel, Colleen; Higgins, Karen; Hill, Jim; Hill,
Marc; Hlavka, Rick; Hlavka, Sharon; Hollan, Nadia; Hood, Timonie; Hopkinson,
Tim; Horan, Wendy; Houser, Rhonda; Hughes, Wilson; Hunt, Susan; Hursh, Carl;
Hurst, Andrew; Hyland, Sarah; Isaacs, Colin; Jaber, David; Jarvis, Ellon;
Jensen, Katie; John, Jodi; Johnston, Carlyle; Jones, Falaah; Jones, Linda;
Kaufman, Albert; Kaufman, Pat; Kinsella, Susan; Kinzer, Paula; Kitchell,
Margaret; Kiwala, Kathy; Knorek, Martha; Kochan, Leslie; Koenenn, Connie;
Kontovrakis, Andriana; Kriegerfox, Melissa; Kroeger, Christy; Kroening,
Paul; Kunz, David; Kurzyna, Diane; Lange, Robert; Larson, Betsy; Larson,
Betsy A.; Laufle, Jeff; Lawrence, Bill; Lee, Eugene; Lenz, KaDeena; Leopold,
Lynn; Lhotka, Susan; Lien, Doug; Lindner, Michael; Linsin, Monica; Lobin,
Peter; Long, Stacey; Long, Stephen; Longfellow, John; Lono, Maile; Lowy,
Joan; Lucke, Jan; Luxton, Janet; Lyman, Francesca; Lynch, Jim; Lynch, Meg.
MacCauley, Catherine; Machuca, Desmond; Maddox, Lauren; Marr, Andrew;
Marschalek, Courtney; Mastny, Lisa; Matsch, Marti; Matter-Rinehart,
Christine; Maxwell, Leslie; May, Ginger; May, Karen; McCabe, John; McCabe,
Michael; McClure, Shelly; McConaghy, Rich; McCoy, Christine; McDade, Keith;
McDonald, Kevin; McEntee, Ken; McLaughlin, Anne; McReynolds-Pellinen, Mary;
Mele, Suellen; Mellem, Suzy; Mercer, Dwight; Meyer, Glenn; Meyer, Leanne;
Miller, Judie; Miller, Kivi Leroux; Miller, Lori; Minas, Ed; Mingo, Jerry;
Minion-Pierce, Colleen; Minstrell, Michelle; Mojo, Steven; Mooney, Susan;
Morris, Jeff; Mosley, Ferial; Moxley, Chuck; Muir, Rodney; Muldoon, Bob;
Mullen, Angelique; Murphy, Ann; Murray, Katherine; Myers, Chris; Myers,
Diana; Nader, Jeanne; Nagalski, Beth; Neely, James; Nelson, Eric; Nelson,
Tiffany; Nesheim, Barb; Newenhouse, Sonya; Newman, Edward; Newman, Gretchen;
Nock, Mary Ann; Nordman, Bruce; Nussbaum, Sandra Thorp; Ogg, Brian; O'Hagan,
Erin; Okun, John; O'Neal, Bob; Orloff, Alan; Orman, Spencer; O'Sullivan,
Babe; Oswald, Fatima; Packard, Ben; Palmer, Tom; Parks, Carla; Patton,
Betty; Perkins, Ronald; Peterson, Thor; Phillips, Becky; Pitcher, Eugene;
Plagenz, Joel; Plunkett, Nancy; Pogue, Kyle; Pollack, Sasha; Pollard,
Stephan; Pollock, Blair; Ponzi, Jean; Portman, Michelle; Powell, Jerry;
Pratt, Wendy; Price, Karen; Pulse, Karen.
Raine, Woody; Ramey, Penny; Reed, Bill; Reed, Michael; Refkin, David;
Reilly, Mike; Rhodes, Julie; Rhodes, Tom; Richardson, Alison; Rifer, Wayne;
Rinaldi, Steven; Rios, Antonio; Rodgers, Jo; Roe, Elizabeth; Rogers,
Heather; Rogers, John; Roloff, Dan; Rosenberg, Betsy; Ruby, Mike; Rutan,
Marcia; Salterberg, Susan; Sandlin, Erv; Sarafides, Athena; Schaefer, Tanya;
Schmid, Dave; Schneider, Ann; Schneider, Robin; Schrock, Jim; Searing,
Betsey; Seeger, Bernard; Sepanski, Lisa; Seto, Patricia; Severson, Kent;
Sheehan, Bill; Sheffer, Samanthe; Shelby, Rebecca; Shelton, Christy;
Shepard, Jay; Sherf, Barbara; Shimada, Shirley; Siegelbaum, Heidi; Sihler,
Ann; Simmons, Alan; Skony, Wendy; Smedberg, Jeffrey; Smirin, Dana; Smishek,
Mark; Smith, Bill; Smith, Carolyn; Smith, Rita; Snow, Chris; Spataro, Katie;
Spencer, Lindsay; Spendelow, Peter; Spille, Tom; Stack, E. Gifford; Stapp,
Eileen; Stein, Kathy; Stein, Megan; Stirnkorb, Holly; Stitzhal, David;
Stoerkel, Laurie; Stole, Lori; Stone, Nancy; Stone, Shannon; Storz, Lynne;
Straus, Gary; Strauss, Nancy; Stuart, Deb; Stutzman, Crispin; Sullivan,
Meribeth; Sutton, Todd; Taitt, Jodi; Talbot, Jim; Tanzi, Carol; Tatham,
Cindy; Temple-Rhodes, Gina; Thompson, Alexandra; Tijerina, Tony; Timmons,
Angie; Tkach, Mary; Tolar, Christopher; Toney, Melissa; Trdan, Mike; Tresko,
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Van Dyke, Donald; Van Orsow, Rob; VanDuyne, Vikki; Varo, Chris; Vernon,
Gwen; Vigoren, Margie; Vinson-Peng, Thomas; Virostko, Cynthia; Vorhes,
Julie; Wainstock, Linda; Wallis, Angela; Warnberg, Larry; Warner, Kate;
Watson, Tom; Watts, Bob; Weatherbee, Julie; Webber, Bonnie Lane; Weimer,
Sarah; Weist, Barbara; Wells, Kate; White, Jeffrey; White, Jesse; White,
Tamar; Whitworth, Janis; Wilder, Sam; Williman, Muriel; Wilmot, Tiffany;
Wilson, Amy; Wilson, Monica; Wing, David; Woestwin, Carl; Wollner, David;
Wood, James; Woske, Dianne; Wozniak, Jessica; Wyss, Cassie; Yeckley, Jon;
York, Anne; Youdelman, Michael; Young, Susan; Zarfas, Rachel; Ziolko, Susan.
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From the March 2005 Consumer Reports magazine:
These four "good, independent" websites offer appliance parts, and in some
cases tips and repair manuals, to help you fix a broken appliance:
- http://www.partselect.com
- http://www.partstore.com
- http://www.pcappliancerepair.com
- http://www.repairclinic.com
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Excerpted from an article by Ernest Beck in the 1/5/06 New York Times
(forwarded by Karen Ozmun):
EARTH-FRIENDLY MATERIALS GO MAINSTREAM
Your local home improvement store may never be the same again. In recent
years, an organic food revolution has filled supermarket shelves with
products like hormone-free milk. Now, growing consumer interest is
encouraging a new generation of green home improvement materials retailers.
These environmentally-conscious stores, which sell such items as eco-timber
and insulation made of recycled jeans, are poised to become a national
presence.
"The time is ripe, the market is ready, and the products are mature," said
Greg Snowden, the chief executive of Green Fusion Design Center, in San
Anselmo, Calif., which opened in 2004. He says he expects sales at Green
Fusion, which is described on the company's Web site as "a unique retail
store, gallery and education center," to double, to $2 million this year,
compared with 2005.
Just a few years ago, green-minded homeowners were relegated to buying
supplies in small stores with a limited selection of merchandise, most of it
imported. But today the idea of green home improvement is becoming more
mainstream. "There's no question where this is going; it's hot," said
Timothy N. Taylor, chief executive of the Environmental Home Center, a large
green building supplier in Seattle. He said his company has grown from an
800-square-foot storefront in 1992 to a multimillion dollar business today
with a 30,000-square-foot facility. Across the country, there are several
other established green retailers, like Environmental Building Supplies, in
Portland, Ore., and Environmental Construction Outfitters in the Bronx, both
of which have been around for more than a decade. Newcomers include a. k a.
Green, in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Greenmaker, in Chicago, which opened last
year.
Not to be outdone, Home Depot is testing a green theme in all of its
Canadian stores. EcoOptions, as it is called, is part of a marketing effort
that promotes environmentally friendly products, including natural
fertilizer and mold-resistant drywall. If Canadians respond, "we could
imagine rolling it out in the U.S.," said Ron Jarvis, a merchandising vice
president at the Home Depot in Atlanta.
Unfortunately for consumers, there is no all-encompassing regulatory system
or governmental body that oversees or establishes green standards for the
entire industry. So for the most part, green retailers select products based
on their own criteria, often with the help of consultants. While most people
endorse the benefits of going green, it is unclear how many are willing to
pay extra for it. Green products generally command a higher price than their
conventional counterparts: organic paint from Livos, a German company, for
example, costs $79.15 for 1.3 gallons compared with $17 a gallon for
ordinary Benjamin Moore latex. Still, it is a premium homeowners may be
willing to pay to improve their own health and the planet's, according to
Willem Maas, publisher of the GreenHomeGuide (http://www.GreenHomeGuide.com
).
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Excerpted from a 12/3/05 column by Damon Darlin in the New York Times
BUYING USED COULD BE THE NEXT BIG THING
In a host of categories, from books to compact discs to cars, it doesn't
make sense to buy new anymore. Now, there are robust marketplaces for used
products, which are just as good and significantly cheaper. New technologies
make it easier for shoppers to compare prices from a large number of
sellers.
Certainly we can thank eBay for helping us to redistribute the contents of
our attics and garages and make money doing it. But the movement of used
products, once sold through a daily newspaper's classified ads, to the Web
allows the buyer to obtain better prices because the choices are more
extensive. Think how Alibris.com or Amazon.com have radically changed the
buying and selling of used books. While there are some categories you never
want to buy used - pillows or toothbrushes - there are enough these days
that you won't feel pathetic doing so.
- Books. The Internet has created a marketplace for any title, popular or
obscure. Amazon has jumped into the business in the belief that an active
market for used books can stimulate the sale of new books. Services like
Alibris.com allow you to search for the unusual book and link you with a
buyer or seller.
- CDs, DVDs and video games. Before downloading music from the Internet
became the norm, the best way to buy music CDs was in the used CDs bin. You
will probably never even play any of the CDs you buy these days. You take
them home, rip (copy) the contents onto your PC, and then take them back to
the store to get most of your money back. And someone else can buy it and
rip it and still pay less than they would downloading the songs from iTunes
at 99 cents a pop.
Watch this happen to DVD movies. Since the discs take a considerable amount
of abuse, grabbing used DVDs that sell for less than half the price of new
movies makes a lot of sense. "The Incredibles" costs $19.49 new on Amazon,
but less than $12 used, also through Amazon. If you type in the phrase "used
DVD" on Google, you'll get scores of online merchants specializing in used
goods.
As a rule of thumb, whenever there is a vibrant rental market, as there is
with DVDs, you are probably going to find a strong market for used goods.
That's certainly true of video games. The price of newly-released video game
discs is now pushing $60. Thanks to the short attention span of many gamers,
stores like EB Games will quickly stock preplayed versions of the latest
games. You may have to wait a week to get the hottest game, but you'll have
$20 more in your pocket.
- Electronics. As with cars, there is a high risk of getting a lemon. With a
car you can always pay a mechanic to check it out before you buy it. But you
can't really hire an electronic engineer to check the quality of the
cellphone or digital voice recorder. But the fear of an electronic device
breaking down is largely misplaced. Think about the last time you tossed
away an electronic product. Was it because it didn't work or because the
technology was superseded by something faster or better?
If the thought of carrying around anything less than an iPod Nano is just
too unsettling, there is another category of used goods to consider - the
refurbished. Manufacturers discount these products because they have been
returned by an unsatisfied customer and they can't sell an unsealed box as
new. (That usually means the customer found the product cheaper someplace
else and got his money back, not that it didn't work.) You'll find deals on
refurbished products on almost every manufacturer's Web site. For example,
Apple was recently selling a 40-gigabyte iPod for $269 compared with the
original price of $499. Sorry, no iPod Nanos were being offered.
- Exercise equipment. You know that Lifecycle in the bedroom? The one you
use as a clothes hanger? Think how many people are doing the same thing.
Used exercise equipment is typically lightly used. The problem is that
because machines are heavy and bulky, they aren't something one sells on
eBay with the greatest of ease. Prices for used equipment can vary widely,
so if you are shopping through classified ads or on Craigslist.org, it pays
to study the market until you get a sense of the average price.
- Using eBay. This online auction house, of course, is an obvious way to buy
used electronics, or anything used for that matter, including cars. Here are
a few things to think about. Shady dealers do use eBay, so pay close
attention to their ratings. You ought to be wary of anyone, particularly a
high-volume "power seller," with a rating of less than 99 percent. Another
problem for an eBay buyer is the time it takes to learn what is a good price
for a given product. You could very well watch auctions for several days or
weeks before you get a sound idea. EBay has a solution in a new product
called Marketplace Research, which harvests the site's immense database of
transactions. EBay designed the product for sellers, who can use it to
figure out the best time to offer a product and whether putting a listing in
bold type increases the average price enough to justify the added cost.
Buyers can use Marketplace Research, too. It costs $25 a month, but the
company offers a "fast pass" two-day subscription for $3 and a 30-day pass
for $10. (You can find it at http://www.ebay.com/marketplace-research
.) You type in the name of the
product and it will show you the average selling price over time as well as
the number of products being sold. You can massage the data various ways
(there's a tutorial on the site if you get confused) to tell you what the
average price is, whether the price is moving up or down, and whether the
price improves on certain days. If your time is valuable or the price of the
product you want justifies the added cost, it could be worth using.
- Cars. Technology has radically changed the way we buy a car. If you walk
into a dealership without first downloading the invoice price information on
a new car from a site like Consumer Reports, you are acting foolishly. The
availability of information about how much a dealer is paying for a car has
made the experience more enjoyable. That's not going to be the case when
buying a used car. It's still perilous. Almost everyone has heard that a new
car loses an average of 12 percent of its value the moment it is driven off
the dealer's lot. Economists tell us this happens not because the new car is
losing a premium, but rather that the used car carries a "risk discount."
That's because it is hard for a buyer of a used car to trust a seller, who
could very well be passing off a lemon he just bought new. So used cars are
more heavily discounted for the risk.
Getting a good price boils down to whether you have better information than
the seller. One way to even the odds is to check a service like Carfax to
trace a car's history. You should also consider buying "certified" used cars
and working with a dealer who also sells new cars, who may have more of a
reputation to protect. A used luxury car may actually be a better bet than a
used economy car. Drivers of luxury cars tend to be a bit more fashion
conscious, so they will unload a car for the next new thing long before the
car has hit that critical point of things starting to go wrong.
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