[GreenYes Archives] -
[Thread Index] -
[Date Index]
[Date Prev] - [Date Next] - [Thread Prev] - [Thread Next]
|
Dear Dana: There is a woman in Sonoma COunty that does this for a living: Here name is Mary Munat, and she has a website www.green-mary.com . Hope this helps! GreenYes group <noreply@no.address> wrote: From: GreenYes group <noreply@no.address> To: GreenYes digest subscribers <GreenYes@no.address> Subject: 4 new messages in 3 topics - digest Date: Fri, 07 Apr 2006 07:52:22 +0000 GreenYes http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes GreenYes@no.address Today's topics: * Public Event Recycling - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes/browse_thread/thread/8ac6c9ed766e9a0b * Interns WANTED!!! - 2 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes/browse_thread/thread/862d0c5ce7ebe4c0 * Are degradable plastics zero-waste? - 1 messages, 1 author http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes/browse_thread/thread/5f736d9b593824af ============================================================================== TOPIC: Public Event Recycling http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes/browse_thread/thread/8ac6c9ed766e9a0b ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Thurs, Apr 6 2006 7:05 am From: "Dana Coyle" Can anyone point me in the direction of some good resources for setting up recycling programs at outdoor events, estivals, concerts, fairs, et cetera? Thank you in advance! Dana C. Coyle Senior Environmental Specialist NJ Department of Environmental Protection Solid and Hazardous Waste Management Program ============================================================================== TOPIC: Interns WANTED!!! http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes/browse_thread/thread/862d0c5ce7ebe4c0 ============================================================================== == 1 of 2 == Date: Thurs, Apr 6 2006 9:46 am From: Sorry for cross-postings! Hello All - Please be advised that we are looking for summer interns - unpaid positions - but just think of the wealth of experience! ;) Here's the job description: The City of Alexandria, Virginia is seeking unpaid interns to assist with the City?s residential and commercial recycling programs. Interns will support the City?s Solid Waste Planner in recycling activities at public events, government facilities, and schools. Interns will also assist in business recycling workshop planning and coordination, website development, and writing fact sheets and press releases. Qualified applicants will be working on a bachelors or masters degree in environmental studies, geography, or communications with a specific interest in recycling and/or waste management. Experience with program development and implementation, technical writing, outreach education, and volunteer coordination is highly recommended. Also, our recycling specialist position has opened up and will be posted sometime in the near future. Interns would be eligible and encouraged to apply through the competitive application process if they meet the minium qualifications for the position. Thanks much, Christine McCoy == 2 of 2 == Date: Thurs, Apr 6 2006 10:05 am From: Sorry, I almost forgot...please email resumes to me for consideration at: christine.mccoy@no.address, or fax to my attention at: 703/751-5130! thanks much, Christine Christine McCoy/Alex 04/06/2006 12:46 PM To JTRnet, Green Yes, curc listserv, VRA Listserv, Brent Dieleman, Kivi Leroux Miller, Judy Dunbar, Kristian Ferguson, Kate Glass, Pamela Gratton, Janet Gregor, Deborah Hanlon, Patrick Horn, Mark Ingrao, Elizabeth Jones, Jennelle K, Peggy Kleysteuber, Linda Knapp, Gretchen Kornley, Steve Kullen, Conni Kunzler, Jim Langemeier, Walker Lunn, Scott McDonald, Fran McPoland, Sandra Mederos, Suzette Miller-Thomas, Chuck Miner, Buff Mundale, Styles Peabody, Douglas A. Pickford, Brenda Platt, Alan Pultyniewicz, Preston Read, Marlene RedDoor, Fracis Reed, Laura Rowell, Pat Sanborn, Kate Sicola, Eugene Suslowicz, Tim Stoner, Nina Tisara, Melanie Tymes, Joe Truini, Lois Walker, Eizabeth Wright, Todd Able, Wendy Albert, Rob Arner, Jill Bennis, Patty Brempell, Jim Butler, Linda A. Crumble, John Culbertson, Jenny Lynn Day, Jeannine Deem Purdy cc Pearline Walden/Alex@no.address Subject Interns WANTED!!! Sorry for cross-postings! Hello All - Please be advised that we are looking for summer interns - unpaid positions - but just think of the wealth of experience! ;) Here's the job description: The City of Alexandria, Virginia is seeking unpaid interns to assist with the City?s residential and commercial recycling programs. Interns will support the City?s Solid Waste Planner in recycling activities at public events, government facilities, and schools. Interns will also assist in business recycling workshop planning and coordination, website development, and writing fact sheets and press releases. Qualified applicants will be working on a bachelors or masters degree in environmental studies, geography, or communications with a specific interest in recycling and/or waste management. Experience with program development and implementation, technical writing, outreach education, and volunteer coordination is highly recommended. Also, our recycling specialist position has opened up and will be posted sometime in the near future. Interns would be eligible and encouraged to apply through the competitive application process if they meet the minium qualifications for the position. Thanks much, Christine McCoy ============================================================================== TOPIC: Are degradable plastics zero-waste? http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes/browse_thread/thread/5f736d9b593824af ============================================================================== == 1 of 1 == Date: Thurs, Apr 6 2006 6:03 pm From: "Eric Lombardi" Peter, This is exactly the kind of debate the Zero Waste community needs to be having right now regarding biopolymers. I support them for many reasons, but that doesn't mean there aren't issues to be dealt with... and in my mind the primary one right now is the "recyclability" issue versus the "compostability" issues. I asked my resident composting expert about what you said and here was his answer: "I can't verify that PLA breaks down into CO2 and water, but it appears Peter has done some homework so I'll take his word for it. No compost facility manager will be seeking out a PLA feedstock for the value it gives to the compost - that's safe to say. But I think Peter's criticism should be with the marketing angle Cargill has taken, not the ZW movement. What he considers to be the "only" value of PLA is to me the key to ZW - that it makes the composting of other materials (food waste) easier. He's talking about a quarter of the waste stream - that's a pretty big "only"! For the purposes of the ZW programs that we have in place, PLA is the difference between success and failure. So, the PLA marketers want to sell to companies like Biota that would otherwise use recyclable containers - if Peter is right that PLA compares favorably to plastic in its recyclability, then we are absolutely on the right track in pressing Cargill to come up with a recycling solution for it. Zero Waste does not mean zero sum energy use to me. Everything we do takes energy that we don't get back...until we're powered by renewables!" So, at Eco-Cycle we have experienced first-hand the power of using biopolymers with food services at public events, and it is a powerful demonstration of how design and a little effort can get mixed organic waste out of the landfill, thus protecting groundwater and air quality. The public loves the idea, learns more about "composting" and it's values in five minutes than they've learned during their whole lives (why? Because they are so CURIOUS about the biopolymers that their minds open up and embrace the new information!) Anyway, I think your points are well considered and this sort of dialogue needs to keep happening so that Cargill and the rest of them LEARN FROM US what the key issues are as this industry grows. Eric Lombardi Executive Director/CEO Eco-Cycle Inc Boulder, CO. USA 303-444-6634 www.ecocycle.org -----Original Message----- From: GreenYes@no.address [mailto:GreenYes@no.address] On Behalf Of Doug Koplow Sent: Tuesday, April 04, 2006 7:41 AM To: SPENDELOW.Peter@no.address; greenyes@no.address Subject: [GreenYes] Re: Are degradable plastics zero-waste? I've seen some focus of these biobased products on markets for which litter is a problem -- for example, food service near national parks. In this type of a situation, rapid composting into water and CO2 would indeed be a benefit. _______________________________ Doug Koplow Earth Track, Inc. 2067 Massachusetts Avenue - 4th Floor Cambridge, MA 02140 www.earthtrack.net Tel: 617/661-4700 Fax: 617/354-0463 CONFIDENTIAL This message, and all attachments thereto, is for the designated recipient only and may contain privileged, proprietary, or otherwise private information. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the original. Any other use of the email by you is prohibited. >>> "SPENDELOW Peter H" 04/03/06 06:12PM >>> To the GreenYes list: The GreenYes List has a lot of zero-waste advocates as members, so I thought to an appropriate place to raise this issue. There is a conference in Minnesota this Thursday and Friday (April 6-7) that will look at bio-based plastics. Bio-based plastics are plastics made using feedstocks from renewable organic molecules such as starches and sugars. A prominent bio-based plastic is PLA (Polylactic Acid), which is formed by fermenting sugars from corn to form lactic acid, and then polymerizing the lactic acid into a plastic. I have been seeing discussion from some people indicating that use of bio-based degradable plastics is in keeping with zero waste principals, because when you are done with the items made from PLA, you can compost them back into carbon dioxide and water. I am hoping to spark some discussion on whether composting PLA is really zero waste. When I look at the web site of the Zero Waste Alliance (http://www.zerowaste.org/case.htm), I see that their Zero Waste goal lists "zero waste of resources" as its first goal, followed by zero waste to landfill and zero waste of other things (hazardous waste, emissions, etc). Composting PLA might meet the "zero waste to landfill" criteria if you don't look at the solid wastes created in the production of the PLA, but how well does it fare on "zero waste of resources" issue? As far as I can tell, it fares poorly. When you compost PLA, you get nothing useful out of it - only carbon dioxide and water. You don't get any significant amount of "compost". Compost is valuable product for restoring organic matter to soils, and consists mainly of complex organic molecules derived from partially-decomposed lignins from wood and other plant matter. When you compost leaves, grass, and wood, you get "compost". Put PLA in the compost pile though and my understanding is that the PLA will decompose almost completely into carbon dioxide and water, and not add anything appreciable to the compost. Thus, when you compost PLA, you get nothing of value out of it. All of the work and energy that went into growing the corn, milling and isolating the sugar and starches, fermenting them to produce lactic acid, and then polymerizing them to form PLA - all of that is lost. All of these inputs require fossil fuel - to produce the fertilizer, run the tractor, and do the chemistry to produce PLA. For that matter, based on Cargill-Dow's life cycle analysis, it currently takes almost as much fossil fuel to produce PLA as it does to produce common commodity-grade plastics, and it takes more fossil fuel energy that the amount of petroleum embodied in an equivalent amount of polyethylene plastic. Cargill-Dow is working to reduce this fossil fuel requirement, but they are not there yet. In contrast, recycling or reusing the PLA should save considerable resources. PLA is a thermoplastic, and it should take a lot less energy to make a PLA item out of recycled PLA than it does to make it out of corn sugars. Even burning PLA as a fuel should at least save the energy embodied in the plastic itself. PLA should burn very cleanly in a large industrial boiler. The only time I can see value in composting PLA is when PLA is used in a manner that makes the composting of other materials easier, or where no recycling or energy-recovery option is present. Examples include PLA bags used for collecting food waste or yard debris for composting, or possibly plates and utensils used in schools and institutions that compost their food waste. In contrast, making water bottles out of PLA and then composting those water bottles doesn't seem very "zero waste" to me. So - all you zero waste advocates out there - what do you think about how degradable plastics fit in with the Zero Waste vision? Peter Spendelow Oregon Department of Environmental Quality 503-229-5253 ============================================================================== You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GreenYes" group. To post to this group, send email to GreenYes@no.address or visit http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes To unsubscribe from this group, send email to GreenYes-unsubscribe@no.address To change the way you get mail from this group, visit: http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes/subscribe To report abuse, send email explaining the problem to abuse@no.address ============================================================================== Google Groups: http://groups.google.com "People think other things are more important than prayer, but they are mistaken." --Thomas Yellowtail, CROW Salaam! Scott Kender 331 Benton Street Santa Rosa, CA 95401 Sonoma County 707-280-9932 (cell) scott_kender@no.address humor- He had a photographic memory that was never developed. --------------------------------- Love cheap thrills? Enjoy PC-to-Phone calls to 30+ countries for just 2¢/min with Yahoo! Messenger with Voice. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GreenYes" group. To post to this group, send email to GreenYes@no.address To unsubscribe from this group, send email to GreenYes-unsubscribe@no.address For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/GreenYes -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~--- |
[GreenYes Archives] -
[Date Index] -
[Thread Index]
[Date Prev] - [Date Next] - [Thread Prev] - [Thread Next]