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01 Jun 06 - phone books; printers; P2; job; innovators; bags; light greens ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.nwpcarchive.org --------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: Phone books have proliferated, and some people get three or four different books left on their porch every year. In most cases, the publishers have no system for residents or businesses to "opt out" of receiving these directories. As many of you may recall, the National Waste Prevention Coalition (the informal network that sponsors this forum) has been working on unwanted phone book reduction for several years (http://www.metrokc.gov/dnrp/swd/nwpc/phonebks.htm). Now we are trying to move things a little faster by working with the Boston-based Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) on this. PSI (http://www.productstewardship.us) has a strong track record on this type of project. We want to raise at least $20,000 so PSI can start work on this project. We're asking for contributions of $1,000 - $5,000, in either 2006 or 2007 (King County has pledged $10,000, to get the effort started). So far we have a total of $13,000 pledged, from local and state government agencies in Washington state, Nebraska and North Carolina. PSI's role, working with participating governments, will be to engage the telephone directory publishing industry in helping to reduce unwanted phone books. This is a waste prevention project, and will deal only peripherally with recycling. Phone book reduction is an exciting new frontier for waste prevention. Like junk mail reduction, it has strong support from the public. Please consider contributing to this project. I would be happy to e-mail you a one-page prospectus that provides more info. Thanks! E-mail: tom [ D O T ] watson [ A T ] metrokc [ D O T ] gov Phone: 206-296-4481 ---------------------- Excerpted from a message from Anne McLaughlin, City of Portland, Office of Sustainable Development, Solid Waste & Recycling Program, Portland, OR, responding to a 5/11/06 posting asking what printer manufacturers say about using paper that has already been printed on one side: My contact in the City of Portland purchasing department said this: We checked into this, and received a response from Hewlett-Packard about this in January 2003. Basically, the general manufacturer opinion seems to be, for most papers, it really shouldn't be a problem (or we don't really anticipate a problem), but we will not cover service in a warranty if we can justify blaming the use of draft paper. I know so many places using draft paper, and it seems that as long as you are using normal, quality paper, it shouldn't be a problem. E-mail: amclaughlin ( AT ) ci ( DOT ) portland ( DOT ) or ( DOT ) us ---------------------- Link to information on the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable's annual awards for pollution prevention (P2) projects and programs: http://www.p2.org/p2week/Guidelines.cfm The deadline for applying for this year's awards is Friday, June 16, 2006. The awards are open to all businesses, government agencies and non-profits. ---------------------- Link to a job posting for a program manager for green building for StopWaste.Org in San Leandro, CA: http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=34&recordid=21 StopWaste.Org is the name for the Alameda County Waste Management Authority and the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board, operating as one public agency. The salary range for this position is $5,506 - $7,341 per month. The deadline for applications is Monday, June 12. ---------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Solid Waste Division, Seattle, WA, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: I recently heard about two companies that have incorporated waste prevention into their business in ways that I have not seen before. I have not used these companies' services, but I like their approaches. They are: - Rentacrate. This company provides reusable plastic totes for office moving, as an alternative to one-time-use cardboard boxes (http://www.rentacrate.com/rentacrate_environmental.php). They are located in 12 major cities around the country (http://www.rentacrate.com/locations.php). - Sage Green Cleaning. This is an "all natural" house-cleaning service in Seattle. As part of their house cleaning, they offer a "complimentary recycling and reuse service" (http://sagebug.com/greencleaning/compservice.html). Clients can leave out batteries, CDs, videos, cell phones, printer cartridges, books, clothing, toys and packing peanuts, and the house-cleaner from Sage will take them to the proper places for reuse or recycling. ----------------------- Link to a Californians Against Waste web page with information on proposed legislation in California regarding plastic grocery bag recycling and waste reduction: http://www.cawrecycles.org/issues/current_legislation/ab2449_06 The bill, AB 2449, would require all California grocery stores to create an in-store recycling program for the collection and recycling of plastic bags, and also make reusable bags available to customers, for purchase. ------------------------ Excerpted from an article by Alex Williams in the 5/14/06 New York Times: A NEW KIND OF GREEN CONSUMER Conservation is becoming a subject of recrimination and debate inside many American homes, perhaps to the greatest extent since the 1970's. Whether prompted (or shamed) by rising gas prices, a dependence on foreign oil or dire warnings about global warning, some Americans who have never allied themselves with the environmental movement are taking it upon themselves to drive less, consume less and recycle more, environmental organizers said. Over the last two years, environmentalists say, they have been fielding more inquiries from people seeking practical solutions to combat global warming. Carl Pope, the executive director of the Sierra Club, said that if the buzzword for traditional environmentalists is conservation, for the newest converts - the light greens - it's efficiency. "It's about getting better results from the same behavior," Pope said. So while these newly minted environmentalists are not overhauling their lives, many are trying to edit them. Pope said it is time for environmental groups to spread not just anxiety, but useful information about how consumers should set priorities for their environmental efforts. He said, for example, that the Sierra Club continues to receive many inquiries from people who are confused about debates over issues like diaper services versus disposable diapers, or paper grocery bags versus plastic. These issues are less important than those involving "big-ticket" energy-consuming items, he said, like the size of the house you live in, and how well it is insulated, or the type of car you drive. - end -