Today's Topics:
Agricultural Plastics
CRRA Conference, MONTEREY, CA, JUNE 1
dry cell battery recycling
GRRN FORUM, MONTEREY, CA, JUNE 1
Is any market a good market? (2 msgs)
Linguistic Source Reduction
Next GRRN Forum/Committees
Overconsumption & Advertising
Recycling is buying postconsumer recycled materials
Tropicana takes the cake!
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Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 11:13:21 -0700
From: nec@orbis.net (Neighborhood Energy Consortium)
Subject: Agricultural Plastics
Hello! I am looking for any information available about agricultural,
biodegradable, bio-plastics, or any other alternative plastics made from
non-petroleum materials. I want to know their benefits, drawbacks and
availability. If anyone has info, or knows where I can get more
information, please reply. I will be doing a story in a local newsletter
which goes out to a large mailing list in Saint Paul, MN.
Thank you!
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Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 19:29:51 -0400
From: Myra Nissen <MyraCycle@compuserve.com>
Subject: CRRA Conference, MONTEREY, CA, JUNE 1
There will be the Taste of Monerey Welcome Reception for the CRRA
Conference; "The Business Recycling Conference" from 7:30 to 9:30 PM at the
Double Tree Hotel.
Please come for a little snack and wine tasting. Enjoy theatre costumes
made from reused materials on display at the welcome event. The costumes
are made from reclaimed materials such as flower pots, promotional sun
visors, and old wedding dresses. Costumes are on loan from Western Stage
in Residence, Hartnell College, Salinas, CA. Keri Fitch, the head designer
will be there to answer any questions about the costumes.
Join the fun!
Taste of Monerey Welcome Reception
Sunday, June 1, 1997
7:30 to 9:30 PM
Double Tree Hotel, Monterey, CA
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 08:57:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: bplatt@igc.apc.org (Brenda Platt)
Subject: dry cell battery recycling
I'm forwarding the following request for information from a small 501(c)3
in Orange County, New York. Please send responses to my email address (in
addition to the list serves) and I'll forward them on. Thanx.
Brenda
For the last three years, we have conducted a battery recycling program
averaging 2 to 3 tons of DRY cell batteries per year. However, the
batteries largely go to landfills. Is it possible to find a recycler(s)
for the batteries?
=====================================
Brenda A. Platt
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
2425 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
(202) 232-4108 fax (202) 332-4108
e-mail: bplatt@ilsr.org
ILSR web page http://www.ilsr.org
=====================================
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 11:07:52 -0400 (EDT)
From: RicAnthony@aol.com
Subject: GRRN FORUM, MONTEREY, CA, JUNE 1
SUNDAY JUNE 1,
GRASSROOTS RECYCLING NETWORKING DAY,
MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA
DOUBLETREE HOTEL
We live in a world with an exponentially increasing population and are using
our resources at an even faster rate. Sooner or later this will come to an
end. Just as nature uses resources in cycles, we humans being must
eventually learn to do the same. American understand this, which is why more
people recycle than vote. Unfortunately we are not doing enough.
Current 25-50% recycling goals are not really reducing the amount of garbage
being hermetically sealed in landfills in significant ways. The ways of
business and consumerism is not changing in any visible manner. And current
recycling goals are under attack by those who want to do less, not more.
It is time to agree upon the ultimate goal we need to eventually achieve:
Zero Waste. It is time to begin thinking about how we will survive on this
small planet of ours for the long run.
It is time to begin. Please come join us and be a part of this process.
The annual CRRA conference is in Monterey, CA, June 1-4,1997. Our theme
this year is "Zero Waste: The Challenge for the Next Millenium" We've got a
activists program Sunday culminating with a "hearing" which will be presented
by prominent people from all over the world and attended by the state and
federally elected officials from our part of the state.
We mean to change the world. Come join us.
Steve Suess, Conference Director
GRRN Sunday Program
1:00 DR. NEIL SELDMAN
THE HISTORY OF RECYCLING IN CALIFORNIA AND THE UNITED STATES
1:30 GRASSROOTS RECYCLING FORUM
DAVE KIRKPATRICK
THE GRASSROOTS RECYCLING NETWORK (GRRN)
WHO ARE WE, WHAT IS OUR MESSAGE
DR. BILL SHEEHAN
GRRN ORGANIZIONAL HISTORY
BRENDA PLATT
GRRN PROGRAMS FOR 97/98
RICK ANTHONY
ZERO WASTE CONFERENCE ORGANIZING OPPORTUNITES
3:30 CALIFORNIA STATE LEGISLATIVE HEARING
" ZERO WASTE"
JOIN US
FOR INFORMATION ON THE CALIFORNIA RESOURCE RECOVERY ASSOCIATION ZERO WASTE
CONFERENCE JUNE 1- 4 AT THE DOUBLETREE HOTEL, MONTEREY CALIFORNIA
CRRA@AOL.COM
STEVESUESS@AOL.COM
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 07:33:32 EST
From: "MICHAEL SHORE" <Michael_Shore@owr.ehnr.state.nc.us>
Subject: Is any market a good market?
Surely, some markets are better than others. My biggest concern
with mixed waste processing facilities, however, is their low
recycling rates. Correct me if I am wrong, but from an article I
read a year ago, it is my understanding that the Chicago facility
achieves about a 7% recycling rate. In North Carolina, we have
had 5 mixed waste processing facilities. 4 of them achieved less
than a 2% recycling rate, and these have all closed down. The one
that is still operating achieves about a 6% recovery rate from the
mixed waste. These recovery rates aren't much to write home about.
I'd like to hear both mixed waste processing success stories and
failures especially in terms of recovery rates.
+++++++++++++++++++++
Michael Shore
ph: 919-715-6521
fx: 919-715-6794
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 14:03 -0800 (PST)
From: "Lacaze, Skip" <Skip.Lacaze@ci.sj.ca.us>
Subject: Is any market a good market?
Landfill capacity has never been the best argument for materials
conservation or, more specifically, for recycling. Resource and
energy conservation are more important reasons. Reduction in
the pollution associated with extraction and processing of virgin
resources is a more important reason. So is local economic
development and creation of jobs for underskilled workers.
I suggest you look at the publications of the Institute for Local
Self-Reliance or their site at http://grn.com/grn/org/ilsr.htm.
----------
From: Mehrdad Azemun
To: Skip; GreenYes@ucsd.edu; recycle@envirolink.org
Subject: Is any market a good market?
Date: Thursday, May 15, 1997 12:45PM
All--
I've got a market development question for you, and I'm curious to see
everyone's response. I imagine that most of you are familiar with
Chicago's Blue Bag recycling program--the nation's largest mixed waste
processing program, which employs "Dirty MRF's" to pull recyclables both
from Blue Bags and the raw trash stream itself. Our nonprofit, the
Chicago Recycling Coalition, has been the program's most ardent critic.
We had a discussion on Chicago public radio the other day about the blue
bag program, with myself, City Hall's recycling coordinator, a WMX
spokesperson, and Lynn Scarlett of the Reason Foundation. While I
blasted away at the low quality of the recyclables that mixed waste
processing pumps out, Scarlett disagreed mildly by stating that any
market is a good market--as long as this stuff is staying out of
landfills, then everything's OK. In other words, as long as WMX can
find buyers of tons of broken glass and contaminated mixed paper, why
should we worry? [And by the way, neither WMX or City Hall have
provided us with any specific markets information.]
What do you think? And in addition, how do we present this technical
and complicated issue to Chicago's general public? Thanks--Mehrdad
Azemun, Chicago Recycling Coalition
--
Chicago Recycling Coalition
2125 West North Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60647
tel 773.862.2370
fax 773.278.3840
email crc@cnt.org
web http://www.cnt.org/crc/
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 97 23:14:24 PST
From: jennie.alvernaz@sfsierra.sierraclub.org
Subject: Linguistic Source Reduction
Here's one fresh off ze wire...
The European Union commissioners have announced that agreement has
been reached to adopt English as the preferred language for European
communications, rather than German, which was the other possibility.
As part of the negotiations, Her Majesty's Government conceded that
English spelling had some room for improvement and has accepted a
five-year phased plan for what will be known as EuroEnglish (Euro for
short).
In the first year, "s" will be used instead of the soft "c". Sertainly, sivil
servants will resieve this news with joy. Also, the hard "c" will
be replaced with "k". Not only will this klear up konfusion, but
typewriters kan have one less letter.
There will be growing publik emthusiasm in the sekond year, when the
troublesome "ph" will be replaced by "f". This will make words like
"fotograf" 20 per sent shorter.
In the third year, publik akseptanse of the new spelling kan be
expekted to reach the stage where more komplikated changes are possible.
Governments will enkorage the removal of double letters, which have
always ben a deterent to akurate speling. Also, al wil agre that the
horible mes of silent "e"s in the languag is disgrasful, and they would go.
By the fourth year, peopl wil be reseptiv to steps such as replasing
"th" by "z" and "w" by " v".
During ze fifz year, ze unesesary "o" kan be dropd from vords
kontaining "ou", and similar changes vud of kors be aplid to ozer
kombinations of leters.
After zis fifz yer, ve vil hav a reli sensibl riten styl. Zer vil be no
mor trubls or difikultis and evrivun vil find it ezi tu understand ech
ozer.
Ze drem vil finali kum tru.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 08:57:36 -0700 (PDT)
From: bplatt@igc.apc.org (Brenda Platt)
Subject: Next GRRN Forum/Committees
The next meeting of the Grassroots Recycling Network (GRRN) will be 1 to
3:30 PM, June 1st at the Doubletree Hotel in Monterey, California, held in
conjunction with CRRA's annual conference. All GRRN members are invited to
participate. For more information on the GRRN Forum/Meetings, contact Rick
Anthony (RicAnthony@aol.com); for information on the CRRA conference,
contact Gary Liss (crra@aol.com).
The GRRN remains a decentralized coalition of community-based activists
engaged in conserving our human and natural resources and giving voice to
the conservation ethic that more than 100 million Americans express daily
by recycling. Participation in GRRN is limited to individual activists,
organizers, and community-based non-profits and for-profits. If you
qualify and endorse our three messages (zero waste; create jobs not waste;
and end corporate welfare for wasting), please join GRRN and participate in
one of our committees. Send an email to Bill Sheehan, Chair, GRRN Steering
Committee <bill.sheehan@sierraclub.org> expressing your interest.
Participants at the GRRN conference in Georgia, April 5th through 7th,
approved of a 9-member GRRN Steering Committee and set up several working
committees.
Members of the GRRN Steering Committee (SC) are:
Rick Anthony
California Resource Recovery Association
San Diego, CA
(email: RicAnthony@AOL.COM)
Note: Rick Anthony represents a state recycling association and local
government and is also a longtime recycling practioner.
Rick Best
Californians Against Waste
Sacramento, CA
(email: rgbest@ix.netcom.com)
Note: Rick Best represents a statewide grassroots organization with
extensive legislative and campaign experience.
Resa Dimino
NRC's Nonprofit Recycling Council
Bronx, NY
(email: dimeanor@AOL.COM)
Note: Resa represents nonprofit recycling operations and has extensive
past experience in campaigns and grassroots networking/information
dissemination.
George Dreckmann
Recycling Coordinator
Madison, WI
(email: gdreckmann@ci.madison.wi.us)
Note: George represents local government and is a recycling practitioner.
David Kirkpatrick
Kirkworks
Durham, NC
(email: david@kirkworks.com)
Note: David represents the entrepreurial, business sector and has
extensive past experience running a nonprofit recycling operation.
Alicia Lyttle
environmental studies student, Tulane University
New Orleans, LA
(email: alyttle@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu)
Note: Alicia represents the student sector (and also brings some gender,
age, and racial diversity to the Steering Committee)
Brenda Platt
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
Washington, DC
(email: bplatt@ilsr.org)
Note: Brenda represents a nonprofit mission-driven research and technical
assistance organization promoting community economic development.
Maurice Sampson
National, State, and Local Board Member, Clean Water Action
President of Niche Recycling
Philadelphia, PA
(email: msampson@netreach.net)
Note: Maurice represents national and local grassroots environmental
organizations (he's a national board member of Clean Water Action as well
as a board member of the PA State and Phila local chapters of Clean Water
Action), runs a local recycling collection company, has extensive
experience running urban city recycling programs, and is active in
promoting youth environmental action and environmental justice (he also
brings some racial diversity to the Steering Committee).
Bill Sheehan
National Solid Waste Committee, Sierra Club
Athens, GA
(email: bill.sheehan@sierraclub.org)
Note: Bill represents a national grassroots environmental organization,
the Sierra Club (he is also on the board of the National Recycling
Coalition).
The GRRN has six committees:
Steering Committee
Bill Sheehan, Chair <bill.sheehan@sierraclub.org>
Media and Communications Committee
Lance King, Campaign Manager <lmking96@aol.com>
Rick Anthony, SC Liaison
Legislation and Policy Committee
Roger Diedrich, Chair, <roger.diedrich@hq.doe.gov>
Resa Dimino, SC Liaison
Internet Committee
Eric Lombardi, Chair <elombard@ix.netcom.com>
David Kirkpatrick, SC Liaison
Research Committee
John Young, Co-Chair <youngje@well.com>
Ted Ward, Co-Chair <ncol0043@telis.org>
Brenda Platt, SC Liaison
Fundraising Committe
Bill Sheehan, Chair <bill.sheehan@sierraclub.org>
*********
=====================================
Brenda A. Platt
Institute for Local Self-Reliance
2425 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009
(202) 232-4108 fax (202) 332-4108
e-mail: bplatt@ilsr.org
ILSR web page http://www.ilsr.org
=====================================
------------------------------
Date: Thu, 15 May 97 23:08:59 PST
From: jennie.alvernaz@sfsierra.sierraclub.org
Subject: Overconsumption & Advertising
[Overheard in a discussion on overconsumption and sustainability.
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 09:03:00 -0500
From: "Susan K. Snow" <sksnow@1stnet.com>
Subject: Recycling is buying postconsumer recycled materials
Not all communities in the U.S. are doing voluntary recycling. While I
support mandatory, our elected officials in my area insist on voluntary
or no recycling. In some parts of the country, people have no choice
--sorting materials for recycling is required.
It is my understanding that actual recycling takes place not when
materials are sorted and placed in specific containers for recycling,
but when consumers buy post consumer recycled products. Until that
time, we are sorting.
If the manufacturer uses only post consumer materials and consumers only
want that product, no problem. The problem is that most creators of
potentially recyclable material are not purchasing post-consumer
materials to make their products. Recycling is a market driven
process. This process is upset when the federal govenment, through
legislation, drives down the cost of energy and virgin materials by
opening more public lands to drilling, mining, clear cutting and such.
I realize it's important for communities to get people to sort no longer
needed consumer products for recycling, but there is not enough emphasis
on the final process --you are not recycling until you buy post consumer
recycled materials!
Susan Snow
------------------------------
Date: Fri, 16 May 1997 21:46:53 -0500
From: "Susan K. Snow" <sksnow@1stnet.com>
Subject: Tropicana takes the cake!
Since manufacturers are thumbing their noses at recycling programs by
making their containers hard to recycle, perhaps we need a citizens
initiative (but I don't volunteer to do anyone's except my own).
I am sending companies back unwanted catalogues that they send me. What
if recyclers collect Tropicana containers and sent them all back to
Tropicana. I realize the freight what be expensive, but it may send a
message. Better still, get bumper stickers...preferable PVC-free saying
boycott Tropicana! and Coke for not recycling...Or something catchy.
Susan Snow
------------------------------
Date: (null)
From: (null)
Over $160 *Billion* is spent on advertising every year in the US
alone -- as much as the entire country spends on higher education.
This sum exceeds the GDP of all but 17 countries. For overconsumption
in general, we need to counter ADVERTISING power.
Overconsumption is no more an *individual* problem than is
cigarette smoking or the individual automobile. All these
are collective *social* problems that require *structural*
solutions (eg, instead of nicotine patches, we need civil/criminal
penalties for the Tobacco Lords plus restrictions on their advertising,
individual bicyclists need mass transit plus denser & mixed zoning, etc).
Of course we need to promote positive *alternative* visions/ideologies
of a good "quality of life" that does not require an immense (and enviro
damaging) "quantity of stuff". But doing only the latter -- in the absence
of efforts that directly address advertising power -- is nearly useless.
(The battle against tobacco in the US shifted because of curbs on TV ads,
imposition of sin taxes, and earmarked funds for counter-advertising.)
------------------------------
End of GreenYes Digest V97 #111
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