[GreenYes] More from the CBS Early Show

["Steen, Terri - Contractor" <Terri_Steen@belvoir.army.mil>]

I keep searching the CBS Early Show web site trying to find Bryant Gumbel's
comment - or his apology.  Instead I found this from yesterday's show:
http://www.cbsnews.com/earlyshow/living/home/20011204hibreport_disposable.sh
tml
The opening: While the environmentalists try to get everyone to conserve and
recycle, some manufacturers seem to be working in the opposite direction. It
started off innocently enough. Just a few disposable items - things you use
every day and would like to have at the ready. But these days, disposable
products have saturated the marketplace, and you might be surprised what you
find on the garbage heap.

There's a video link - it's more detailed and the lack of any alternatives
is more obvious.  Laurie Hibbert appears to be encouraging people to throw
away plastic ware, cell phones, and anything else they want to.  In fact,
one of her interviewees says "single-use products are designed for
recycling."  I think he's from Consumer Reports.

HUH??  Who's sponsoring this?  Now I'm definitely writing to the producers!!


Terri Steen

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Victor Aguiar [mailto:vaguiar@ecoact.org] 
Sent:	Tuesday, December 04, 2001 4:26 PM
To:	GreenYes
Subject:	[GreenYes] Bryant Gumbel/Early Show Address

Sorry folks. Several people have let me know that I forgot to include the
address for Gumbel and the Early Show. I only have email, which is
earlyshow@cbs.com. -- Victor

 -----Original Message-----
From:     Victor Aguiar [mailto:vaguiar@ecoact.org]
Sent:    Tuesday, December 04, 2001 1:56 PM
To:    GreenYes
Subject:    [GreenYes] Bryant Gumbel and Christmas lights

Dear Colleagues:

Below is a message I sent to Early Show producers at CBS. Should be
self-explanatory, and I encourage everyone to respond.

-- Victor

Dear Early Show Producers:

We heard with dismay on Monday 12/3 as Bryant Gumbel suggested to viewers
that the low price of Christmas lights justifies throwing them away with the
tree and buying news ones next year. This is an unconscionable statement,
especially from the lips of one of our most prominent media spokesmen. He is
encouraging people to waste both the lights and the trees.

While improvements in productivity over the years tend to bring prices down
for consumers, manufacturing still consumes resources and creates
environmental impacts. Christmas tree lights will typically function for
more than one year. If people begin to regard them as disposable,
manufacturing will be ramped up to meet the demand in subsequent years --
that means more resource consumption and environmental impact.

This is to say nothing of the trees themselves. Mr. Gumbel's comments ignore
the fact that for years, all across the country, communities have been
collecting Christmas trees for recycling. Turning them into mulch or fuel
are far better uses for the discarded trees than eternal burial in a
landfill.

Reducing, reusing, and recycling have caught on in this country, with good
reason. Mr. Gumbel and Early Show producers should consider statements made
on the show, and ensure that they encourage conservation and discourage
waste.

We at Ecology Action believe that an appropriate response to this message
would be a public retraction of Mr. Gumbel's statement, and airing a new
statement urging Americans to find out how Christmas trees can be recycled
in their communities. Promoting good citizenship is part of media
responsibility. Please take the necessary steps to demonstrate that you take
this responsibility seriously.

Thank you,


Victor R. Aguiar
0 Waste Project Director
Ecology Action
P.O. Box 1188
Santa Cruz, CA 95061-1188
831-426-5925, Extension 13
vaguiar@ecoact.org
http://www.ecoact.org

There is no such thing as garbage.

******************************************
To post to the greenyes list,
email to: greenyes@grrn.org

Subscription information for
this list is available here:
http://www.grrn.org/general/greenyes.html
******************************************