[GreenYes] Re: [Greenyes Digest] V2 #219 Reply to campus recycling andrefillable bottles discussions.

["Blair Pollock" <bpollock@co.orange.nc.us>]

UNC CHapel Hill has experimented over the years w/ many of these techniques as well. 

The Student Environmental Action Coalition at one point c. 1992 recruited a bunch of downtown food businesses in the student district to offer a discount to those bringing their own specially printed mug w/ the names of the restaurants that gave the drink discount. SEAC then printed those mugs and sold them to students.

They also went thru the 'place the glasses out front v. take out cups in back'  routine at the student cafeteria ( I don't know the outcome of that if it reduced use of disposables or not)

I DO know that a few years ago UNC Hospitals switched from washables to styro because they said patients and their visitors were making off w/ the washable plates and utensils. One nurse told me she found a stash in a patient's bed sheets while on the bed!

Our local food waste composter (5,000 tpm) has told us they CAN take the paper cups used by most food services the film coating comes off and out during composting/screening process. To my knowledge none of our participating restaurants do the wet paper thing, tho we may try one this spring (maybe).


Date: Wed, 06 Mar 2002 13:04:40 -0800
From: Valerie Carey <vcarey@ecosfcc.org>
Subject: Re: [GreenYes] recycled paper and styrofoam cups

Just a few ideas of successful things that were done at my undergrad and
graduate schools to minimize styrofoam/plastic usage:
* giving out (or selling at a subsidized cost) personal to-go coffee mugs,
preferably with a handle and a caribiner/clip so that empty mugs are easily
attachable to a backpack (maybe include this in the overall meal plan
payment)
* set up a regular way of collecting cafeteria plates and utensils from
dormitories - a milk crate in the dorm kitchen worked well at my school,
students would deposit plates, mugs, etc. in the crate and a cafeteria staff
member would drive around once every week or two to collect them from the
dorms. Realistically, people won't stop taking stuff from the cafeteria.
* educate students, cafeteria staff, procurement, etc. on the environmental
impacts of disposable materials such as styrofoam. Create user-friendly
alternatives.


Mike-

The question for Prince Edward Island is not how PET compares against glass.
The real question is how PET, aluminum, and non-refillable glass containers
compare against refillable ones.  There have been numerous sophisticated
life cycle analyses that answer this question, dating back to the analysis
of nine beverage container alternatives published by the US Environmental
Protection Agency and conducted by Franklin Associates.  There was also a
well done study for NAPCOR - the association promoting PET beverage
containers.

In the studies I have seen, refillable glass bottles that are used 8-10
times or more have much less environmental impact than do any of the
non-refillable containers - even when the non-refillable containers are
recycled.  This holds true for all of the environmental parameters measured
- - energy, air emissions, water emissions, water use, and solid waste.  

There is also a refillable PET bottle that is/was(?) used in Euroope a few years ago (I have a sample in my office) in Netherlands the 1.5 liter size had a 1 guilder (~40cent US) deposit. It was est. at that time as a ten tripper. No idea if it's still around, might be a good alt. in this case. BP

__________________________________________________
Blair Pollock
Solid Waste Programs Manager
(919) 968-2788
fax: (919) 932-2900
PO Box 17177
Chapel Hill, NC 27516-7177

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