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11 Feb 08 - Austin; prunes; Wash. state; phones; diapers; jobs; swaps; bags; Wal-Mart ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.nwpcarchive.org --------------------- Zero-waste plan for the City of Austin, TX: http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/sws/zerowaste.htm This includes info on the goals of the plan and the city's hiring of California-based zero-waste consultant Gary Liss. Public hearings on the plan are scheduled this week. --------------------- From Kristin Pierskalla, Hennepin County Waste Reduction & Recycling Programs, Minneapolis, MN: Has anyone seen the commercials for Sunsweet "Ones"? They are - get this - individually wrapped prunes! It's a 7-ounce container for $2.50 - would that be about 10 prunes? http://www.sunsweet.com/products/info.asp?product=ones I couldn't believe it when I saw it - talk about overpackaging. You can e-mail them at sunsweet [A T] casupport [D O T] com to give them your comments! Kristin's e-mail: kristin (DOT) pierskalla (AT) co (DOT) hennepin (DOT) mn (DOT) us -------------------- Five waste-prevention related bills that are currently being considered by the Washington state legislature: Plastic grocery bag ban - http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2424 Ban on single-use plastic water bottles - http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2422 Unwanted phone book opt-out requirement - http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=3326 Junk mail "Do not mail" list - http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1205 Ban of certain toxics in children's products - http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2647 --------------------- "The Afterlife of Cellphones," an article by Jon Mooallem in the 1/13/08 New York Times Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/13/magazine/13Cellphone-t.html (Note from Tom - Great article - Lots of compelling stats and new info.) -------------------- "The Secret Life of Cell Phones" online video project, from Inform, a New York City-based non-profit: http://www.secret-life.org This is the first in an Inform series about the "secret life" of everyday products. The series features online videos and supplementary online materials. The next installment will be "The Secret Life of Paper." --------------------- "Breaking the Habit of Disposable Diapers," an interview by Claudia Deutsch in the 1/12/08 New York Times (forwarded by Lisa Friend): http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/12/business/12interview.html -------------------- Job opening for a Waste Prevention Specialist for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Solid Waste Section, Portland, OR (forwarded by David Allaway): http://www.deq.state.or.us/msd/hr/jobs/le080031.htm The annual salary range for this job is $46,176 to $67,572. The deadline for applications is Monday, Feb. 18, 2008. Note from David: This job will lead the "green building" component of DEQ's Waste Prevention Strategy. It will focus strongly on prevention and reuse in design, construction, remodeling and demolition. Evaluating issues involved in material selection will likely be a significant component of this person's work. The job will also provide analytical support to other projects in the Waste Prevention Strategy. (David can be contacted at: Allaway ( D O T ) David ( A T ) deq ( D O T ) state ( D O T ) or ( D O T ) us) ------------------- Job opening for an Executive Director for the Washington Toxics Coalition: http://www.watoxics.org/about/employment/executive-director-job-announce ment The annual salary range for this job is "in the mid-70s." No deadline for applications is listed, but "consideration of resumes will begin Monday, Feb. 11." --------------------- Several job openings for project managers and associates at GreenBlue, a non-profit institute based in Charlottesville, VA (forwarded by David Allaway): http://www.greenblue.org/get.html#careers For one of the positions listed, Project Manager for the Sustainable Packaging Coalition, the annual salary range is $40,000-$65,000. No deadlines for applications are listed for these jobs. --------------------- Job opening for a Recycling and Resource Recovery Coordinator for San Benito County, Hollister, CA (first seen in the Resource Recycling electronic newsletter): http://www.san-benito.ca.us/employment/RRR%20Coord%20PAMP.pdf San Benito County is about 100 miles south of San Francisco, 300 miles north of Los Angeles and 50 miles inland. The monthly salary range is $4,512 - $5,670. The deadline for applications is Friday, Feb. 15, 2008. ---------------------- Job opening for a Senior Public Affairs Specialist for Metro, a regional government agency in Portland, OR (first seen on the Association of Oregon Recyclers listserv): http://www.metro-region.org/index.cfm/go/by.web/id/26412 This person will initiate, develop and oversee promotional, communications, social marketing, advertising and community involvement activities for Metro's Solid Waste and Recycling Department. The annual salary range is $53,996 to $72,290. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, Feb. 19, 2008. --------------------- Article by Rachel Kaufman in the Feb. 2008 Seattle Conscious Choice magazine about swap websites (forwarded by Desmond Machuca): http://seattle.consciouschoice.com/2008/02/oor_swapsites0802.html --------------------- Article by Elisabeth Rosenthal in the 2/2/08 New York Times about Ireland's plastic bag tax, passed in 2002: MOTIVATED BY A TAX, IRISH SPURN PLASTIC BAGS http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/02/world/europe/02bags.html --------------------- Excerpted from a 2/7/08 Reuters news service article by Nichola Groom: WAL-MART TO PAY MORE FOR GREENER GOODS Wal-Mart Stores Inc is willing to pay more for products that last longer and hurt the environment less, the company's director of sustainability said Feb. 7, adding it might not necessarily have to raise retail prices as a result. "Bad quality products create waste, and so having tighter standards on the social side, on the environmental side and on the quality side will reduce waste," Matt Kistler, Wal-Mart's senior vice president of sustainability, said in an interview. "We are even willing to pay more for products that have that." But that does not have to mean higher prices for customers. "I don't know if we have to pass on the higher costs," Kistler said. "We are looking at a very small amount of dollars, and the savings in the supply chain that we are finding because of sustainability in some cases will more than offset the incremental costs of what we are paying for a better quality item." Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, has set a goal of one day using only renewable energy and creating zero waste. As part of that effort, the company has pushed its suppliers to cut back on the amount of packaging they use by five percent by 2013. To meet that goal, it has developed a "packaging scorecard" that will rate its 60,000 suppliers on their ability to cut waste and conserve resources. Wal-Mart's suppliers had a February 1 deadline to comply with the "packaging scorecard" initiative, but many of the company's smaller vendors - which represent roughly 20 percent of the goods the company buys - have yet to do so, Kistler said. "We do not have all suppliers 100 percent compliant today, which is a disappointment because we did give them a year," he said. "The smaller companies that we may not buy consistently from or the same product from, those are the ones that either have not (complied) or it simply doesn't make sense for them." But Kistler added the scorecard had already produced a lot of change in the packages of its most popular products. "The scorecard is really more geared toward the products we buy year after year," he added. - end -