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25 Jul 07 - phone books; climate; packaging; toxics; jobs; bags; electronics; papers ** 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 (NWPC): I just wanted to give an update on the Unwanted Telephone Book Reduction Project. As many of you know, the NWPC began this effort several years ago. Then last year, the NWPC, King County and other local governments decided that faster progress could be made if governments funded the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) to work with us and the phone book industry on this issue. This project has been going very well (info is on the PSI website at http://www.productstewardship.us). On June 28, PSI coordinated the first major meeting between industry and government officials, in North Carolina. (That state has been a leader in phone book reduction efforts; a bill to require opt-out for phone books was introduced in the North Carolina legislature last spring.) The two trade associations for the phone book industry are taking this project very seriously; the top officials with those groups attended the North Carolina meeting. In October, a follow-up meeting will be held in Seattle. A number of local and state governments, plus two Environmental Protection Agency regional offices, have contributed funding for this project, mostly in small amounts. However, more funding is needed. Even $2,000 to $5,000 from your agency would help. Please consider joining this effort, or increasing your current funding in 2007 or 2008. A conference call will be held this Thursday, July 26, at 2 p.m. Eastern time to discuss the project. If you represent a government agency and would like to participate in the call, please contact Carolyn Starrett of PSI at carolyn [AT] productstewardship [DOT] us or 617-236-4866. Or contact her for more info even if you can't make the call. Thanks! --------------------- Link to the Climate Counts scorecard, which rates companies on their efforts to reduce global warming: http://www.climatecounts.org/scorecard.php Scroll down and click on a product sector. Climate Counts is a non-profit funded by the organic yogurt company Stonyfield Farm. --------------------- Link to the website for Use Reusables, a new reusable transport packaging campaign in Alameda County, California: http://www.usereusables.com This is a joint project of the StopWaste Partnership (coordinated by the Alameda County Waste Management Authority) and the Reusable Pallet & Container Coalition, a non-profit trade group. --------------------- Link to a June 2007 report on heavy metals in packaging, from the Toxics in Packaging Clearinghouse (first seen in the Resource Recycling newsletter): http://www.toxicsinpackaging.org The clearinghouse is a cooperative effort of a number of states, coordinated through the Northeast Recycling Council. --------------------- Link to a July 2007 report, "Household Hazards: Potential Hazards of Home Cleaning Products," from Women's Voices for the Earth (WVE): http://womenandenvironment.org WVE is a non-profit based in Missoula, MT. ---------------------- Link to a job listing for a recycling assistant with the San Francisco Department of the Environment: http://www.jobaps.com/sf/sup/BulPreview.asp?R1=TPV&R2=5638&R3=053895 The salary range is $52,988 to $64,428 a year. The application deadline is Aug. 1, 2007. This job includes a significant waste reduction component. ---------------------- Link to a job listing for a manager for the Office of Sustainability for the City of San Jose, CA: https://jobs.quickhire.com/scripts/qhsanjose.exe/runjobInfoApply?aOrg=1& aJob=2688&ORGIMG=&INTERNAL=0 This job posting is bundled with postings for two other management jobs in the city's Integrated Waste Management Division. The salary range for these three jobs is $93,751 to $117,489 a year. The application deadline is July 29, 2007. -------------------- Link to info about the "I'm not a plastic bag" durable tote bag: http://www.anyahindmarch.com/about_us/news_detail.aspx?newsid=66 This bag, from British accessory designer Anya Hindmarch, has sold out worldwide. In London this bag has been a media sensation, and people have stood in line for them. More info is at http://www.anyahindmarch.com/division/environmental_bags.aspx and http://www.anyahindmarch.com/division/environmental_bags_faq.aspx#a --------------------- Link to info about a software product that allows up to 10 people to work from one computer (forwarded by Lisa Sepanski): http://www.userful.com/greenpc The Userful Corporation, which makes this software, says it could reduce electronics waste and carbon dioxide emissions. -------------------- Link to the new edition of Greenpeace's Green Guide to Electronics (first seen in the WasteCap Wisconsin newsletter): http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/green-guide-to-ele ctro-4 -------------------- Excerpted from a 7/11/07 article from the Environmental Data Interactive Exchange, United Kingdom (forwarded by David Stitzhal): UK LOCAL GOVERNMENT FIGHTS FREE-NEWSPAPER WASTE Westminster City Council in London has become the first local authority in the United Kingdom to use powers to force distributors of free newspapers to share responsibility for the waste they produce. For several months, the council has been negotiating with the publishers of The London Paper and London Lite, who distribute over a million copies of the papers each week day, in the hopes of persuading them to sponsor recycling bins and a vehicle to empty them. The discussions have failed so far, so on July 9 the council voted to give the publishers one month to find a solution. If they fail to do so, the council will ban unregulated distribution of free papers on its streets, and force papers to apply for a permit which will, in effect, be a contract outlining how many papers can be handed out and what the producer will do to ensure proper disposal. Around 20 tonnes of free papers end up as street waste every week in Westminster, and it costs the council 111,000 pounds ($229,000 U.S.) a year to deal with the deluge. Around a quarter of the street waste in parts of the West End is discarded free newspaper, but since it is strewn on the ground or mixed with other waste, it is not recycled due to contamination. -------------------- Excerpted from an article by Sue Epstein in the 6/17/07 Newark (NJ) Star-Ledger (forwarded by Sondra Flite): FED-UP TOWNS AIMING TO STOP DELIVERY OF FLIERS First there was the "do not call" list to thwart telemarketers. Then came the "do not knock" list to stop people from coming to the front door. Now several towns around New Jersey are considering a "do not drop" list to cut back on unsolicited menus, fliers and free publications showing up on driveways and lawns. Plainfield Councilman Rashid Burney drafted an ordinance targeting the material in his Union County city, but abandoned the proposal after an attorney for one publication threatened legal action based on First Amendment rights. However, that hasn't stopped towns such as Highland Park and Woodbridge in Middlesex County and Boonton in Morris County from proposing or passing local rules to restrict the free publications or creating address registries similar to "do not call" lists aimed at telemarketers. William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said the number of complaints about unsolicited material has increased in the past five years. "There are more ordinances and regulations being considered and adopted," Dressel said. "It's not just on residential property, but also in business establishments and free flyers placed in stands on corners, where they become sight hazards to drivers." He said the league has worked with the New Jersey Press Association when newspapers have been the culprit, and they have been cooperative. "It's the free handbills, menus and other throwaways that are the problem," Dressel said. "They throw it on the driveway, and it gets blown into the street. When it rains, the paper ends up in sewers and blocks them, and that creates all kinds of headaches for residents and the towns who have to pay to clean the sewers." The litter problem was the main reason Highland Park passed an ordinance in April regulating where unsolicited material may be placed on private property, said Mayor Meryl Frank. Door steps or porches are fine, but lawns and driveways are off-limits. Violators will be fined $100. In Woodbridge, Mayor John McCormac has proposed a "do not drop" ordinance that would create a registry where residents could sign up to stop delivery of unsolicited material. "The number one complaint the mayor's office receives - the number one complaint I hear when I meet with residents - is that no one wants the unsolicited newspaper supplements and other advertising circulars," McCormac said. Distributors would have to refer to the "do not drop" registry before leaving papers on lawns, driveways and sidewalks, he said. Violators would be fined $50 to $100 under the proposal. Boonton officials have introduced a similar ordinance for a "do not deliver" list, said Mayor Cyril Wekilsky. Town officials received numerous complaints from residents about unwanted deliveries, he said. "Our director of public works also complained because residents leave the papers on the street and they end up in the gutters or sewers, clogging our drains," Wekilsky said. - end -