GreenYes Digest V96 #34

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Fri, 22 Jan 1999 16:12:08 -0500


GreenYes Digest Wed, 27 Nov 96 Volume 96 : Issue 34

Today's Topics:
Enuf faxes thanks
Fwd: BRAINSTORM FOR NO WASTE CONFERENCE
Revised Local Zero Waste Column #1
Sign petition to unseat Young/Murhowski

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Date: Tue, 26 Nov 96 20:24:00
From: jennie.alvernaz@sfsierra.sierraclub.org
Subject: Enuf faxes thanks

TO Grassroots Recycling Network Supporters
FROM Bill Sheehan 11-26-96

RE No more faxes or calls to Turner, please

Thanks for the response to a posting a while back containing a sample letter
from David Kirkpatrick to Turner. (Dave's letter was in support of GRN's
proposal to put on a national organizing conference in Atlanta in April.) They
have heard enough, and the docket has been sent to the board.

If you did send a fax or letter, please send a hard copy to me, as we are
collecting them for use on the next proposal.

Bill Sheehan
268 Janice Drive
Athens, Georgia 30606

[email: jennie.alvernaz@sierraclub.org]

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Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:02:14 -0500
From: CRRA@aol.com
Subject: Fwd: BRAINSTORM FOR NO WASTE CONFERENCE

---------------------
Forwarded message:
From: SCRUZA.DPW179@HW1.CAHWNET.GOV (Jeffrey Smedberg, Re)
To: crra@UCSD.EDU
Date: 96-11-25 17:31:56 EST

To: OAS --HW1SSW1 Internet Addressee

FROM: Jeffrey Smedberg, Recycling Programs Coordinator
dpw179 454-2373
SUBJECT: BRAINSTORM FOR NO WASTE CONFERENCE
BRAINSTORM FOR NO WASTE CONFERENCE

Zero Waste: Challenge for the Next Millenium is the theme of the
1997 CRRA conference. We plan to practice what we preach by
striving for no garbage from any aspect of the conference itself,
including workshops, food service, exhibits, tours, lodging,
transportation, and entertainment.

I have agreed to lead the Zero Waste Committee, which has the
task of making the vision concrete, demonstrating what is
possible at this conference, as a model for our workplaces and
our communities.

We are in the brainstorming phase. No concept is too far out to
be considered. What have you done in a similar situation? What
did you want to do? Send me your ideas. You are also invited to
join the committee.

Jeffrey Smedberg, Recycling Programs Coordinator
Santa Cruz County Public Works
701 Ocean Street
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Phone: 408/454-2373
Fax: 408/454-2385
E-mail: scruza.dpw179@hw1.cahwnet.gov

The annual conference will be held in Monterey June 1-3, 1997.
Attendance may be 1000.

>>>=========================================================<<<
Jeffrey Smedberg, County of Santa Cruz Public Works, CA USA
Internet: scruza.dpw179@hw1.cahwnet.gov
Voice (408)454-2373 Fax (408)454-2385

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Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 16:52:14 -0800 (PST)
From: "David A. Kirkpatrick" <dkirkwks@igc.apc.org>
Subject: Revised Local Zero Waste Column #1

GreenYes folks --

Copied below is the final version of the first zero waste column for our
local paper. Thanks to those who made suggested revisions. Columns 2 and 3
due in the next few weeks. Feel free to email me with suggestions for these
follow on pieces.

Dave Kirkpatrick
______________________

Zero Waste - Is it a Crazy or Reasonable Goal for Durham?

Column 1 of 3 for the Herald-Sun Newspaper 11/26/96

Durham=92s public officials are facing a dilemma similar to that faced by=
many
of us in the polling booth -- choosing the lesser of two evils. Do we build
a new landfill in Durham or do we construct a transfer station and ship our
waste to an out-of-county landfill? I propose we consider a third
alternative -- building the public and private infrastructure for near total
recycling of Durham=92s discarded materials and pursuing a zero waste goal=
for
the next century. By "total recycling" I mean waste prevention, recycling,
composting, repairing or reusing all discarded materials.

As a nation, we recently exceeded 25% recycling, a level many skeptics
called impossible a few years ago. Now, several cities are achieving nearly
50% diversion from landfills, including Seattle, San Jose, Minneapolis, ST.
Paul and Takoma Park in Maryland. Canberra, the capital of Australia, has
set a zero waste goal by 2010. Here in North Carolina, the state
legislature has established a goal of 40 % per capita waste reduction by
June 30, 2001. By working with big industrial generators, some rural
counties have already exceeded the goal, including Northampton (54 % per
capita waste reduction) , Richmond (51 %) and Stokes (49 %). Alamance
County, including Burlington, reports 35 % waste reduction, achieved in part
by a landfill ban on a wide range of recyclable commodities, in conjunction
with a comprehensive recycling program.

Durham has also made much progress -- achieving 11 % per capita waste
reduction from 1988 to 1995 -- the best record of NC=92s six most populous
counties, according to the state=92s solid waste management report. We have
achieved this through some of the state=92s first recycling and composting
programs, instituted around 1990, combined with higher landfill tipping
fees. However, with the right investments, public policy, and civic and
business leadership, we could move towards 100% reduction of our mixed waste
disposal in the next few years.

Many companies are already striving for and have nearly achieved zero
emissions and zero waste, such as Hewlett Packard in CA, Interface Carpets
in GA, Wellmark Corp. in Asheboro, and Main Street Caf=E9 in Durham. These
companies are working to achieve higher profitability by eliminating
environmental liabilities and often generating new scrap product revenues.

Why pursue zero waste? Because disposal of mixed solid waste is inherently
dangerous to the environment and public health -- whether handled in
landfills, incinerators, pyrolysis plants, mixed waste composting or other
"black box" garbage processing facilities. When we mix our refuse together,
we unfortunately sometimes include batteries, waste oil, pesticides,
chemicals, and other toxics that will eventually contaminate groundwater,
the air, or the soil. By providing opportunities to separate and recycle all
of our discarded materials, hazardous materials will have "nowhere to hide"
in mixed garbage containers and will have to be reduced at the source,
recycled, or treated separately.

Beyond public health and environmental concerns, we are losing economic
opportunities by burying our discarded material. A waste stream analysis
generated by the state estimates that the paper, glass, aluminum and steel
cans and #1 PETE and #2 HDPE bottles in Durham County=92s "trash" would be
worth about $3.9 million dollars if all were recovered and sold to recycling
processors =96 yet we are currently recovering only about one-fifth of these
commodities. If we attracted or started manufacturing businesses that not
only processed our scrap materials but made new products -- such as glass
tiles, molded fiber packaging, cellulose insulation, or plastic containers
-- the local sales revenues and job creation would be that much greater. The
Institute for Local Self-Reliance estimates that processing recyclable
materials generates ten times more jobs on a per ton basis than landfilling,
while recycling-based paper mills and plastics manufacturers employ 60 times
more workers than do landfills. Especially with upcoming welfare reform and
the recent loss of two manufacturing employers in downtown Durham, these
manufacturing jobs could offer new employment to citizens of our inner city
neighborhoods.

"Zero waste!" Is this a crazy goal or a prudent strategy for the future?
If I have persuaded you that a zero waste goal could make sense as an
environmental and economic development strategy for Durham, your next
question might be "How can we do it?" and "Is it affordable?" In my next
column, I will note that if we can separate our discarded materials into a
few reusable, recyclable, and compostable streams, there are companies
interested in profitably recovering nearly all of our materials. In the
third and final column, I will suggest some immediate next steps to move
Durham towards total recycling and away from reliance on either local or
out-of-town landfills.

David Kirkpatrick
----------------------
KirkWorks
Post Office Box 15062
Durham, NC 27704-0062

919/220-8065 (Voice)
919/220-9720 (Fax)
Dkirkwks@igc.apc.org=20

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Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 18:21:52 -0700
From: cdchase@qualcomm.com (Carolyn Chase)
Subject: Sign petition to unseat Young/Murhowski

The folks over at the Wilderness Society and at Republicans for
Environmental Protection are circulating a petition to unseat Rep. Don
Young (R-AK) as Chair of the House Resources Committee and Senator
Murhowski (R-AK) as Chair of the Senate Energy & Natural Resources
Committee. Your help is needed to circulate this petition and make sure
the Republican leadership knows that Young and Mrukowski are seriously
"Out of step" with reality.

You can sign the petition below by sending an e-mail to copypetition@tws.org, by
calling us toll free at 1-888-737-4TWS, or by visiting our web site
at www.wilderness.org/wild_alaska

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CITIZEN PETITION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP

As chairmen of the House Resources Committee and Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee, Alaska's Representative Don Young and
Senator Frank Murkowski held tremendous control over the nation's
environmental and natural resources policy in the last Congress. In
these key leadership positions, Chairman Young and Chairman Murkowski
ignored the American public's broad support for the environment and
engineered a coordinated effort to roll back twenty-five years of
environmental progress.

The Wilderness Society and Republicans for Environmental Protection
have launched a petition drive to the Republican leadership in
Congress to Replace Rep. Young and Sen. Murkowski with members of
Congress who support strong environmental protection.

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Dear Mr. House Speaker and Senate Majority Leader:

As Chairman of the House and Senate Natural Resources Committee, Rep.
Don Young and Sen. Frank Murkowski have led a concerted effort to roll
back twenty-five years of bipartisan environmental progress. Their
positions on national lands and wildlife issues are completely out of
the mainstream of American opinion. I urge you to replace Rep. Young
and Sen. Murkowski with legislators who will be strong stewards of our
national lands and wildlife, and who support strong environmental
protection.

Sincerely,

____________________________________
name

____________________________________
address

____________________________________
city, state zip

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The stakes are too high to allow Rep. Young and Sen. Murkowski to chair
the key environmental committees for two more years!

They led the effort to open the magnificent Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge to oil and gas drilling, threatening the destruction of
American's most spectacular wilderness and a ten thousand year old
native culture.

They led the successful effort to increase clear cut logging on our
national forests.

They led the effort to roll back protection for America's fish and
wildlife by gutting the Endangered Species Act and National Forest
Management Act.

Lets send a message that this is an unacceptable record to lead the
environmental committees!
=======================================================
Jess Morton
Audubon YES! (Youth Environmental Service) Program
787 West 4th Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
310 832-5601

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End of GreenYes Digest V96 #34
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