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21 Feb 06 - GarbageScout; iPod; EPR; Windex; abstaining; garages; plastics
** 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 a 2/15/06 item in the Society of Environmental Journalists TipSheet
about the GarbageScout project in New York City (forwarded by Jim Lynch):
http://notes.sej.org/sej/tipsheet.nsf/0/0a1e5d7f54bdde848625711600510f4e?Ope
nDocument
GarbageScout is an interactive online map for locating and posting free
stuff lying around the city in need of a new home. The GarbageScout website
is at http://www.garbagescout.com
GarbageScout was created by Jim Nachlin. According to the website, the
project works this way: "New York City's streets are full of interesting
and potentially useful things that have been thrown out. If you see
something good, snap a picture of it with your camera phone, and e-mail it
to GarbageScout. It will go up on the home page and others can go and get
it. This will reduce landfill, save people money, and clean up the
streets."
The website gives these criteria for items that should be photographed for
submission to GarbageScout: "It should be on the street. It should have
some feasible use to someone. It should look like it doesn't belong to
anyone. It should look like it's free. It should not, to your knowledge,
be covered with a disgusting substance."
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From John Halenar, environmental writer and consultant, Ridgewood, NJ,
responding to the New York Times column posted 2/10/06 assailing Apple for
its iPod repair policies and customer service:
While I generally agree that an iPod probably isn't designed to be handed
down from generation to generation like a fine Swiss watch, I don't think
their customer service is as horrible as stated. When we bought my daughter
her $300 iPod, we spent another $60 and got a two-year extended warranty -
primarily because of the battery problem, which I did know about and feel
that anyone who ever read a newspaper or magazine probably also knew about.
My daughter is currently on her third iPod, all provided free of charge
under the extended warranty. Ironically, the battery has not been one of
the problems that resulted in replacement.
The printed material that accompanied the warranty and the replacement iPods
also indicates that there is no guarantee that you will get a new device.
If your iPod can be fixed, it will be. Or you might receive a refurbished
device back. So, Apple is at least making some effort to repair and reuse,
rather than simply replace. My daughter also tells me that it's no big deal
to restore the music once you get your iPod back. Most people store their
music files on their laptop or computer desktop and it's a fairly simple
process to transfer the music to the iPod. My daughter's only complaint has
been that the iPods that you get back from Apple are set up to work with
Apple computers. If you have a PC, you have to reformat the iPod before you
load it. Despite that minor problem, my daughter is a very happy iPod owner
and Apple customer.
E-mail: johnhalenar (AT) yahoo (DOT) com
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Excerpted from a message from Bill Sheehan, Product Policy Institute,
Athens, GA:
SAN FRANCISCO PASSES EXTENDED PRODUCER RESPONSIBILITY (EPR) RESOLUTION
More encouraging news from California - the San Francisco Board of
Supervisors voted unanimously on Feb. 14 to pass a resolution that supports
statewide legislation and local initiatives requiring manufacturers to take
responsibility for collecting and recycling their products at the end of
their useful life. This is the strongest statement yet from a local
government in the United States. The resolution signals a fundamental shift
in thinking among local governments, which have borne responsibility for
collecting and disposing refuse since a century ago.
Product Policy Institute has been assisting San Francisco and other
California communities in developing policies and programs that conserve
resources and reduce local taxes by transferring responsibility for product
discard management back to the makers of products and their customers. The
resolution and related documents are posted under "Local Government EPR" at:
http://www.productpolicy.org/resources/index.html
E-mail: bill ( A T ) productpolicy ( D O T ) org
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From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the
National Waste Prevention Coalition:
PRODUCT NEWS
S.C. Johnson & Son, maker of Windex, has a new product - "Windex Clean &
Shine" dry microfiber cloths. They're promoting this product to use with a
cleaner (such as Windex), in place of paper towels. An ad in the coupon
insert in the 2/19/06 Sunday newspaper promoted this product as "Durable &
Reusable" and also stated, "One cloth does the work of up to 14 paper
towels." There was an asterisk after that, and at the bottom of the ad, the
note with the asterisk said, "When rinsed, dried and re-used 4 times. Based
on tests on glass against the leading store-brand paper towel."
I'm still a little skeptical - I feel that in general, old rags work best
for window cleaning and other cleaning - but this product may at least have
the potential to reduce some waste. It is expensive though - about $3.50
for a 12-pack of cloths.
Speaking of Windex - I recently learned, while researching an article about
household toxics, that S.C. Johnson now sells two types of Windex liquid
cleaners that do not contain ammonia: "Windex Multi Task with Vinegar" and
"Windex Multi Task Glistening Citrus Orange."
E-mail: tom (DOT) watson (AT) metrokc (DOT) gov
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Excerpted from a 2/13/06 article by Carolyn Jones in the San Francisco
Chronicle (forwarded by Marcia Rutan):
OPTING OUT OF THE RETAIL RAT RACE
While many people will spend countless hours this year lining up at Wal-Mart
and maxing out their credit cards at Nordstrom, a small San Francisco Bay
Area group has declared it will do just the opposite. About 50 teachers,
engineers, executives and other professionals have made a vow to not buy
anything new in 2006 - except food, health and safety items, and underwear.
"We're people for whom recycling is no longer enough," said one of the
members of the fledgling movement, John Perry, who works in marketing at a
high-tech company. "We're trying to get off the first-market consumerism
grid, because consumer culture is destroying the world."
They call themselves the Compact. They have a blog
(http://sfcompact.blogspot.com ), a Yahoo
group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thecompact
) and monthly meetings to
reaffirm their commitment to the rule, which is to never buy anything new.
Compacters can get as much as they want from thrift shops, Craigslist,
freecycle.org, eBay and flea markets, as long as the items are secondhand.
And when they're in doubt, they turn to their fellow Compacters for
guidance. "We had a little crisis when Matt and Sarah had to replace their
shower curtain liner and we said no," said Perry. "But we put the word out
and someone found one for them. It's like the Amish - we help each other
out."
The Compact started two years ago when Perry and a group of his friends, who
were tired of spending so much of their time and money on items they don't
need, vowed to go six months without buying anything new. American
consumerism, they say, has led to global environmental and socioeconomic
crises, and the only way to reverse it is to stop buying into it. The
Compact - named after the revolutionary credo of the Mayflower pilgrims -
proved immensely popular and quickly increased its membership. Then one
couple remodeled their house and couldn't find used drywall. After that, "it
all started to unravel," Perry said. But after a breather, the group decided
to recommit and try to expand its membership.
Kate Boyd, a high school drama teacher in San Francisco, said she enjoys the
extra time, money and perspective that a consumer-free life brings. "It's
just a relief to get away from the pressure to always have new clothes,
gadgets and other things we don't need," she said. "And I find that I have
more money to spend on the dried cherries for my Manhattans."
The Compact is part of the larger trend of consumers beginning to "tread
gently on our planet," said Peter Sealey, adjunct professor of marketing at
the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. "It
sounds marvelous. It's a wonderful example for all of us," said Sealey, a
former chief of marketing at Coca-Cola and Columbia Pictures. "It's a
crystal-clear statement about what can be done to get us away from being a
disposable society." The boom in green building, Oakland's recent crackdown
on fast-food litter and the surge in biofuel-powered cars are all part of
the movement toward more responsible consumerism, he said. Northern
California is often at the forefront of environmental and social trends, and
the Compact is likely to garner a devoted following, he added. "Will the
Compact ever become mainstream? I don't think so, but it's an excellent way
to bring attention to the reality that we need to be more gentle with our
resources."
One especially appealing aspect of the Compact is its social component,
members say. Fellow Compacters offer advice, moral support, help in locating
needed items, and partners for thrift-store runs. One couple, Matt Eddy and
Sarah Pelmas, met through the Compact and got married six months ago. But
the main advantage of being in a group is "you can brag to someone," said
Boyd. Perry agreed. "After a while you get this bravado. You want to brag
more and more," he said. "I found a Razor scooter for $15 at Thrift Town.
That was great, but it doesn't top the free sewing machine I got on
Craigslist. The stakes just keep getting higher." Perry, who said he loves
to shop, went into withdrawal the first few weeks of entering the Compact.
For many people, shopping is a recreational and social activity that almost
transcends consumerism. Boyd described it as an urge to "line the nest."
"But after a few weeks the buzzing in your head subsides," Perry said.
"Although if I continue to shop crazily at thrift stores, is that any
better?" He thought about it for a moment. "I think it is."
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Excerpted from an article by David Kocieniewski in the 2/20/06 New York
Times:
AMERICAN GARAGES BULGE WITH STUFF
Suburban homeowners are so full of angst, guilt, despair and frustration
over their bulging garages that they spent $800 million on garage organizing
products last year, double the amount spent in 2000, according to the market
research firm Packaged Facts. The National Association of Professional
Organizers estimates that more than 500 organizing businesses specialize in
garages, twice as many as in 2000. And for those who want to tackle the job
themselves, there is an assortment of new storage systems that make your
grandfather's pegboard seem absolutely Paleolithic.
In some ways, its odd that suburban homeowners would be turning to garage
feng shui just now. According to the National Association of Homebuilders,
the size of the average new house built in the United States increased more
than 50 percent between 1970 and 2004, even as the size of the average
family grew smaller. Even garages themselves have grown: 83 percent of all
new homes built in 2004 had two- or three-car garages, double the number in
1970. Internet sites like eBay were supposed to help homeowners turn their
clutter into cash by feeding the habits of pack rats across the globe.
But the surge in online retailing and a flood of inexpensive imported goods
has made it all too easy for recreational shoppers to overfill their
McMansions. So the landscape of countless American subdivisions now features
a peculiar anomaly: three-car garages so crammed with junk that the three
cars are parked in the driveway.
Peter Walsh, a psychologist who earned the job description of celebrity
organizer as host of the cable television program "Clean Sweep" for four
seasons, has expanded his focus from treating the symptoms of clutter to
pondering its causes. "There's an orgy of consumption going on in this
country," said Walsh, who later this year will release a book titled "It's
All Too Much" (Free Press), about the psychology of clutter. Walsh
acknowledges that he is a lonely voice calling for a new era of American
asceticism. "This is the Supersize-Me society," he said. "So it's going to
take a while."
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The next two postings are in response to the 2/10/06 query seeking
information on the link between petroleum processing and plastic packaging.
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From David Allaway, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Solid Waste
Policy & Program Development, Portland, OR:
In response to the question about the use of natural gas and petroleum in
the manufacture of plastics, first it is important to understand that
ethylene (used to make polyethylene used in bubble wrap, stretch wrap and
packaging film) is made using both natural gas as well as petroleum. The
same is true of styrene. For a quick overview of how petroleum and natural
gas are used to produce polyethylene and styrene, you might find it helpful
to take a look at the first 12 pages or so of Appendix C of the following
report that we recently published:
http://www.deq.state.or.us/wmc/solwaste/data/LifeCycleReport.htm
Specific to petroleum and its use in plastics manufacture, it is correct
that much more petroleum is used for gasoline and heating fuel than plastics
manufacturing. The Energy Information Administration (EIA) has some
statistics that might be useful, located here -
http://www.eia.doe.gov/neic/infosheets/petroleumproducts.htm
- and here -
http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/petroleum
_profile_1999/profile99v8.pdf
Page 2 (page 7 of the pdf) of the latter
document shows that 2.9 percent of petroleum refined in the U.S. went to
make alcohols, resins (plastics), ethers, fibers, medicines and cosmetics.
An additional 4.6 percent went to liquefied refinery gases, some of which
was directed to petrochemical feedstocks such as resins (plastics). In
contrast, 45.7 percent of petroleum went to gasoline, 10.3 percent to
kerosene-type jet fuel, and 22.5 percent went to home heating oil, diesel,
refinery fuel and industrial fuel.
I was not able to find comparable information for natural gas, although if
you search on the EIA website you might find it. Briefly, looking here
-http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/naturalgas_basics.html
- it appears that
industrial uses account for about one-third of natural gas use in the U.S.,
with electric power generation using about 23 percent and commercial and
residential heating, cooking, baking and other applications using another 37
percent. "Industrial uses" however includes major users of natural gas for
heat (including the cement, paper, steel, glass and other industries) as
well as uses of natural gas for feedstocks not only in plastics packaging
but also paint, fertilizer, and other products.
E-mail: Allaway (DOT) David (AT) deq (DOT) state (DOT) or (DOT) us
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From Sue Blythe, Alachua County Public Works, Office of Waste Alternatives,
public education, Gainesville, FL:
I sent this question to my father, who worked as a chemical engineer for a
large oil company for 35 years. His response:
"I am confused as to what the questioner in your e-mail is trying to
determine, but it seems to me she starts with the wrong premise. Plastics
are not derived from by-products of the petroleum industry, but by
deliberately further processing of naphtha or heavier distillates produced
in the initial distillation of crude oil. The naphtha, if not used for
petrochemicals (eventually plastics) would end up as gasoline (or partially
as jet fuel) and the heavier distillates would become diesel fuel or heating
oil for homes."
"The initial distillation of crude oil also produces relatively small
amounts of methane, ethane, propane and butane, which are straight chain
saturated hydrocarbons that are gaseous at room temperature and pressure.
Some of this is sold as Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), some is processed
further for petrochemicals, and the rest is used as refinery fuel to
supplement the piped-in natural gas for heating the refinery furnaces. The
first processing step deliberately installed for petrochemical production is
the steam cracker - so called not because it cracks steam, but because it
uses steam injected at high temperature and pressure to crack, or
transform, the straight chain distillate feed stocks mentioned above to
unsaturated ethylene, propylene and butylene - which can then be
polymerized in a second petrochemical unit to produce the plastics,
polyethylene, polypropylene and polybutylene. The steam cracking process
also produces aromatic compounds such as benzene, toluene and xylene, all of
which are extracted by special processes and either sold as solvents for
paints or dry cleaning, or further processed with other compounds to
plastics. The only products made using natural gas directly as feed stock
are methanol and ammonia, the latter being used to produce urea and other
fertilizers. Urea is also polymerized to make polyurethane."
"I can't estimate how much petroleum is now consumed as petrochemicals and
plastics, but when I was a chemical engineer it was certainly not more than
10 percent or so of the total. I don't see how you could ever determine how
much new plastic production could be avoided (and crude oil consumption
reduced) by maximizing recycling - if that's what the questioner is trying
to get at."
Sue's e-mail: sblythe (A T) alachua (D O T) fl (D O T) us
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