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12 Mar 10 - water; school parties; textbooks; Facebook; job; bags; consumption; clothes; eBay ** WASTE PREVENTION FORUM ** -- A project of the National Waste Prevention Coalition -------- Forum archive: http://www.nwpcarchive.org --------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Recycling and Environmental Services, Seattle, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: Hi everyone. Sorry for the long delay since the last edition of the Forum. Note that some of these submissions were sent in awhile ago. -------------------- From David Allaway, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Solid Waste Policy & Program Development, Portland, OR: Here's some information about the environmental benefits of prevention relative to recycling and disposal, using drinking water as an example. When I talk with "regular" people ("regular" = non environmental professionals) around Oregon, I often hear a common theme: "As long as I recycle (and buy recyclable product/packaging), it doesn't matter so much what I buy, right?" This perception - often expressed by individuals and business leaders who sincerely desire to protect the environment - is often informed by a belief that recycling is primarily a landfill avoidance strategy. Since both recycling and prevention are equally effective at keeping wastes out of landfills, the "logical" conclusion is that there's no reason to prefer one over the other. In my work on prevention, I often find that this perception is a significant barrier to engaging people in waste prevention (and reuse). Or as one businessperson told me: "I recycle, isn't that what you wanted me to do?" Oregon DEQ recently published a study that sheds some environmental light on this dynamic. The study is a life cycle analysis of 48 different methods of delivering drinking water to consumers (tap, 5-gallon reusables, single-serve bottles). Among the options, it compares tap water in a variety of reusable bottles, single-serve bottles recycled, and single-serve bottles disposed of. One of the key findings: Recycling single-use PET water bottles, compared to disposing of them, offers moderate reductions in energy consumption (~26% savings) and greenhouse gas emissions (~16% savings). Recycling does not offer meaningful benefits in other impact categories (cancer potential, acidification potential, etc.). In contrast, drinking water from the tap, even with frequent washing of a reusable bottle in an unusually water- (and energy-) intensive home dishwasher, reduces life cycle energy consumption by ~85% and greenhouse gas emissions by ~79%. Reductions on the order of 72% to 96% are observed in all other impact categories. Another comparison: comparing a "best case" single-use bottle (recycled 100% of the time) against a "best case" tap water scenario, the best case single-use bottle (recycled) has lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions about 46 times higher than the best case tap water scenario. So the study/example shows unequivocally that while recycling is better than disposal, the benefits of recycling are moderate at best, and pale in comparison against the benefits of prevention. Here's a link to our press release: http://www.deq.state.or.us/news/prDisplay.asp?docID=3149 From there, you can access the project web page and reports, including the full life cycle analysis and a supplemental report that compares prevention, recycling, and disposal. Our hope is that this kind of information will be used to help engage some of the public in a more informed discussion and understanding of prevention and recycling. I'd be interested in hearing from Listserve participants if they think this kind of information is useful. Thanks! E-mail: Allaway [DOT] David [AT] deq [DOT] state [DOT] or [DOT] us -------------------- From Kristin Pierskalla, Hennepin County Environmental Services, Minneapolis, MN: I am a room coordinator (aka room Mom) for my son's first grade class. I was looking up information to assist the other volunteers and the PTA on how to set up a "green" school party, carnival/event and classroom party to reduce waste produced. I am really having a hard time finding anything, and what I do find is mostly recycled craft project ideas or businesses selling green gifts. I am wondering if anyone has any resources out there for this type of waste reduction. Anything on reducing waste with cheap prizes is also very welcome! E-mail: kristin (D O T) pierskalla (A T) co (D O T) hennepin (D O T) mn (D O T) us -------------------- From Jay Donnaway, resource conservation, Auburn School District, Auburn, WA, in response to a 10/5/09 posting: Glad to see that greater efficiency seems to be coming to the college book biz. However, I think that the contributor's misplaced concern for the publishers overlooked the cozy relationship between publishers and professors. I saw several instances in college where a professor required a new text for a course with no apparent reason other than being a co-author on the latest edition. Often times, a text was only in use for one or two semesters before a new edition came out or a new professor started teaching the course, and of course, required a different text. When the edition is new, EVERYBODY has to buy new books. At least now UPS will shift those books between looniversities as tastes change. When I was in college only a short decade ago, the bookstore wouldn't even accept previous editions or out-of-favor texts for free.. If you see something similar for the K-12 schools, I'd love to find it. I was disappointed upon my arrival at Auburn School District to find that our used books go out at near-zero revenue, usually back to the book wholesaler. Thrift Books and other bottom feeders/book recyclers don't seem to be in the school textbook game at all. E-mail: jdonnaway [AT] auburn [DOT] wednet [DOT] edu -------------------- The next three messages are in response to a 10/5/09 posting asking about the usefulness of Facebook for public outreach. -------------------- From Lynne Chaimowitz, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI: I think that keeping a Facebook is definitely worth it if you are going to syndicate content. I would download software called "Tweetdeck" so you can simultaneously update social media at once, so there's no need to even decide if you are going to participate in all of them or not because they are all there. E-mail: lynneac ( AT ) gmail ( DOT ) com -------------------- From Kristin Pierskalla, Hennepin County Environmental Services, Minneapolis, MN: To answer the question about success on Facebook, I personally think it is worth the time. Hennepin County has two Facebook pages, for our Choose to Reuse program and our Cool County Initiative. We have the backing of our public affairs department who oversees the pages for proper postings, use of logos, etc. We started the fan page this summer and as of October had 125+ fans, all by word of mouth or posting on profiles. I post about once per week, not only posting on reuse, but other waste reduction and recycling issues as well. I have a group of my personal friends that are fans, so I receive good feedback on what they want to know. I personally feel the time I put in, which is maybe an hour per week total, is worth the time. We have struggled with reaching the 18-30 year old residents in our county, and we felt we needed to go where they are. Our metro county solid waste coordinating board also has a Facebook page for their information at "Rethink Recycling." This web site covers information for both businesses and residents. Here is a good article that I was forwarded on social media: http://bit.ly/1buaqA Hope this is helpful! E-mail: kristin [ D O T ] pierskalla [ A T ] co [ D O T ] hennepin [ D O T ] mn [ D O T ] us -------------------- From Tom Watson, King County Recycling and Environmental Services, Seattle, and the National Waste Prevention Coalition: Just wanted to add that the obvious advantages of Twitter (which I use a lot - http://twitter.com/ecoconsumer) and Facebook (we expect to have a Facebook presence for our EcoConsumer program soon) are the timeliness. That's the problem with this Forum, especially if I do not find the time to send one out for several months. I do think there is room for both methods. This Forum, even though it is increasingly an anachronism, serves a purpose for people working in or interested in waste prevention, so I am going to try to keep it going. But for public outreach - and for additional links among colleagues - Twitter or Facebook (or whatever is next in the social media whirlwind) are the way to go. E-mail: tom [ DOT ] watson [ AT ] kingcounty [ DOT ] gov -------------------- Position opening for an associate in the San Francisco Bay area office of Cascadia Consulting: http://www.cascadiaconsulting.com/about/employment/10 This is an 80-100 percent-time position, with an expected starting salary range in the $50,000s, depending on experience. Deadline for applications is March 19, 2010. -------------------- From Jay Shepard, Washington state Department of Ecology, Olympia, WA: Our librarian wrote this article. I thought it would be of interest to the waste reduction folks: CONFERENCE BAG CONTEST ENCOURAGES REUSE, RECYCLING AND FUN - by Donna Seegmueller, Ecology librarian, Administrative Services, Lacey I attended a conference workshop recently about "copyright in the electronic age," sponsored by the Pacific Northwest Chapter/Medical Library Association (PNC/MLA). Copyright, as a legal concern, is based in a 1709 English law statute. It has become a hot, then hotter topic, with each advance in technology (from player pianos, to photocopy machines, to electronic media). Librarians are always interested in this topic, so it's not unusual to include copyright as part of a conference. What was unusual about this conference was the bag contest that was a part of it. PNC/MLA event planners chose not to distribute new conference bags this year. Instead, they came up with the idea of a bag contest. Attendees were asked to check the backs of our closets for old conference bags and bring them to the meeting. We could bring as many bags as we'd collected at other meetings and events. We were encouraged to re-use one of ours, or swap with a friend for one more appealing. And, we could donate bags to those folks who hadn't been around long enough to have a closet full of bags. Only canvas or fabric bags were eligible (no plastic shopping bags allowed). This event was held in Seattle, after all. Winners of the contest included the oldest bag - from a meeting held in Portland in 1987 - to one that traveled the furthest, from South Africa. So, if you need an idea for your next conference or workshop, try a bag contest. PNC/MLA conference planners saved money, encouraged recycling, and provided attendees with an educational and entertaining event. Jay's e-mail: jshe461 [AT] ECY [DOT] WA [DOT] GOV --------------------- Story by Damien Cave in the 1/2/10 New York Times (forwarded by David Allaway): IN RECESSION, AMERICANS DOING MORE, BUYING LESS http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/business/economy/03experience.html -------------------- ThredUp fee-based clothing exchange (forwarded by Jeff Gaisford): http://thredup.com --------------------- Story by Claire Cain Miller in the 3/7/10 New York Times (forwarded by Carl Hursh): EBAY HIGHLIGHTS CONSERVATION AS A BENEFIT OF BUYING USED http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/08/technology/08ebay.html - end -