Contest! Prizes! Send in your clever reuse/upcycling ideas by April 2, 2012

So, for the last couple years, I've been bothered by the tremendous resource waste represented by the packaging on dental floss -- a few cents of waxed string delivered in a very highly engineered and complex package made from petrochemicals and (overwhelmingly) discarded after a short period of use.

Reading about the TerraCycle folks made me think again about this, and decide to ask folks if they could come up with a creative reuse or "upcycling" method for using these empty containers for a good purpose. SO if you're a creative type, or just have been around enough to know of a clever reuse or way to repurpose these containers, send me your idea.

If I get any ideas that seem really exciting and plausible, I'll work on getting them tested and implemented. I'll rate the ideas on the following criteria (in a totally subjective way):

• 1) Ease of implementation -- the less work needed to do the repurposing, the better.
  
  
• 2) Size of potential market -- if only a few people in the world would value the repurposed container in its new incarnation, then even if your idea is clever and easy to implement, it's not going to result in getting many of these things out of the landfill.
  
  
• 3) Lack of special tools needed -- this is related to ease of implementation, but not identical. A great idea for a big market would make it sensible for a business to buy or make special tools to accomplish the transformation of the object from waste into a new, valuable thing. But if the tooling would be costly or hard, then that counts against the idea.
  
  
• 4) Repurposed product durability -- the best idea is one that will keep these things out of the waste stream as long as possible, if not indefinitely, while accomplishing a useful goal. If your upcycled use will cause the product to fail quickly, then the idea might still be ok, but it's definitely better if your idea accounts for durability.

Send me your ideas by April 2, 2012 (preferably in a drawing or by arranging for us to meet and you can show it to me). As I say, it's going to be my subjective opinion solely as to the best idea received, but it might turn into a business opportunity for us down the road (or for Garten or some other worthy nonprofit). If I get any great ideas, I'll pick the best and arrange for you and a friend to have two tickets for a show at Salem Cinema, and run through all the ideas on this website on Earth Day. (In other words, if you send me your ideas, they will or may be shared with others -- don't send me anything you want to remain a secret.)

Good luck and creative thinking everyone!

Print and Post Widely (but only where postings welcome)

Help stop the senseless waste of water, wood, and the world's diminishing reserves energy -- turn off junk mail and littervertising! Catalogchoice.org can help!

Fwd: How to file a junk mail complaint

Now that the Christmas machine is winding down and ready to be put away for another year or two, here's a good post-Christmas task: turn off the junk-mail deluge.

Add Team@catalogchoice.org to your address book to make sure our email updates land in your inbox Member Tip: How to File a Complaint   Hi   Chief Justice Berger's majority opinion in Rowan v. Post Office states "a mailer's right to communicate must stop at the mailbox of an unreceptive addressee." While most companies heed Berger's advice and honor your first opt-out choice, some need to be told twice. We aim to make the process as easy as possible. Here is a quick reminder how to file a formal complaint through your Catalog Choice account if you are still receiving unwanted mail. Already submitted an opt-out to that company? The best place to start is on Your Choices page where we list all of your past requests. On this page, do a quick search to see if you've made an opt-out choice to the company for the same name and address. If your request was made more than 90 days ago, click on the Details button and then File a Complaint. If it is less than 90 days old or it is a new name or address, select New Request. Getting unwanted mail from a new company? Select Find Companies from the red navigation bar, do a quick search for the company and submit your opt-out. If the company is not listed in our service, suggest it and our staff will do the research to add it. Reward companies that respect your choice. When you are scanning Your Choices, take a note of the brands that no longer send you mail, but you still like their products. Let's show them that respecting your opt-out choice is good for their brand by visiting their website to see what is new. We provide a link to the company website on the Details page. Thanks for your ongoing participation and support. Together we are making a difference. Best, Catalog Choice Catalog Choice 1845 Berkeley Way, Berkeley, CA 94703 Privacy Policy

Tell Council to Stop Junk Littervertising! Weak proposed ban that would only make it harder to stop Junk Littervertising

The Salem City Council is being seriously misled on the effort to stop junk littervertising, the means by which local businesses grab private advertising profits but shove higher costs onto city taxpayers by making us pay to pick up and dispose of their littervertising.

The city staff has refused to recommend that the city create an opt-out directory that would let you put your address on a "Don't Littervertise Here" list (or, even better, an opt-in list where they would only be allowed to littervertise to people who specifically request it). Rather, the lame-o ordinance currently being discussed would actually have the effect of legalizing the littervertising if it was placed on your front porch or tied to the doorknob.

In other words, what started as a reasonable effort to let residents stop a nuisance has been twisted into an overly bureaucratic and costly proposal (complete with complaint form that puts the burden on the littering victims instead of the junk littervertisers).

But there's still time to get your comments in:

April 25, 2011 City Council minutes read:

Ordinance Bill No. 15-11 Relating to Solid Waste; Creating New Provisions; Amending SRC 47.245 (Unsolicited Written Materials) (CD)

Persons Testifying: Support: Cherie Bennett, Ward 1 Leslie Polson, Ward 1 Richard Pine, 1630 Summer Street SE
Oppose: Neutral:

Organizations: Support: Alan Scott, Chair, NEN
Oppose: Rich Ottensmeyer, Controller of Operations, Statesman Journal Don Robinson, Delivery Manager, Statesman Journal
Neutral:

Evidence Received From: Support: Alan Scott, Chair, NEN Leslie Polson, Ward 1 Oppose: Neutral:

Questions or Comments by: Mayor Peterson, Councilors Clem, Dickey, Thomas, Cannon, Tesler, and Guest Councilor Nanke.

Motion: Move to close the hearing and keep the written record open for 90 days. Motion by: Councilor Bennett Seconded by: Councilor Cannon

----

So Email the whole council with one click here. Tell them that you are sick and tired of junk littervertising, tired of paying to recycle or haul away junk ads you didn't ask for and don't want, and that you are tired of seeing the damn things laying all over, unrequested, and letting criminals know which houses are unoccupied.

If San Francisco and Seattle can pass strong anti-littervertising ordinances, so can Salem!

Countries that make makers take back their products are winning

Image by vikisuzan via Flickr

Friedman's column emphasizes the multiple benefits, both predictable and less so, that flow from passing extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws. No reason these laws can't start in Oregon, one of the "laboratories of democracy."

. . . . This is a great opportunity for U.S. clean-tech firms — if we nurture them. "While the U.S. is known for radical innovation, China is better at tweak-ovation." said Liu. Chinese companies are good at making a billion widgets at a penny each but not good at complex system integration or customer service.

We (sort of) have those capabilities. At the World Economic Forum meeting here, I met Mike Biddle, founder of MBA Polymers, which has invented processes for separating plastic from piles of junked computers, appliances and cars and then recycling it into pellets to make new plastic using less than 10 percent of the energy required to make virgin plastic from crude oil. Biddle calls it "above-ground mining." In the last three years, his company has mined 100 million pounds of new plastic from old plastic.

Biddle's seed money was provided mostly by U.S. taxpayers through federal research grants, yet today only his tiny headquarters are in the U.S. His factories are in Austria, China and Britain. "I employ 25 people in California and 250 overseas," he says. His dream is to have a factory in America that would repay all those research grants, but that would require a smart U.S. energy bill. Why?

Americans recycle about 25 percent of their plastic bottles. Most of the rest ends up in landfills or gets shipped to China to be recycled here. Getting people to recycle regularly is a hassle. To overcome that, the European Union, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea — and next year, China — have enacted producer-responsibility laws requiring that anything with a cord or battery — from an electric toothbrush to a laptop to a washing machine — has to be collected and recycled at the manufacturers' cost. That gives Biddle the assured source of raw material he needs at a reasonable price. (Because recyclers now compete in these countries for junk, the cost to the manufacturers for collecting it is steadily falling.)

"I am in the E.U. and China because the above-ground plastic mines are there or are being created there," said Biddle, who just won The Economist magazine's 2010 Innovation Award for energy/environment. "I am not in the U.S. because there aren't sufficient mines."

Biddle had enough money to hire one lobbyist to try to persuade the U.S. Congress to copy the recycling regulations of Europe, Japan and China in our energy bill, but, in the end, there was no bill. So we educated him, we paid for his tech breakthroughs — and now Chinese and European workers will harvest his fruit. Aren't we clever?

Throwing garbage on people's porches -- perfectly OK if you're a corporation

Doesn't that brick of dead tree and petroleum-derived plastic junk add to the beauty of the lavender?

Here at LOVESalem HQ, we're pretty conscious of using less stuff and less energy. We work hard at reducing waste, conserving energy, and reducing intake of new stuff that would become waste and require energy to make, move, and remove.

So we're pretty aggressive about signing up for every stop-the-junk-mail service there is, including the services that promise to stop the yellow pages dead-tree-phone-books.

But, once again, as if to prove Ambrose Bierce's observation that a corporation is just a device for capturing private profit while avoiding private responsibility, Verizon has just graced LOVESalem with a totally unwanted piece of garbage, a phone book that will never be used, made from heavy paper. Making that piece of crap and ferrying it to my door in a plastic bag made of petroleum has consumed a huge amount of energy and caused a huge amount of pollution.

WHY IS THIS LEGAL? If I go to a Verizon store and dump my trash in the store, I risk a civil penalty, if not arrest for disorderly conduct.

Why does Salem not have an ordinance that requires anyone putting unsolicited materials on my porch to come pick those materials up if they haven't been accepted (i.e., taken inside) in two days? What is it going to take? I'm looking at you, City Council. For those who are afraid of the First Amendment boogieman, let's review:

There is no First Amendment right to litter.

Any neutral city ordinance -- one that does not make content-based distinctions but simply regulates the time, place, and manner of delivery and requires that anyone distributing unsolicited materials collect them if they are not accepted --- will survive a corporate challenge.

In fact, an ordinance that prohibited distribution of junk like that without a positive "opt-in" request from residents would likely be upheld too. It would be pretty straightforward to require that anyone who plans to distribute anything more extensive than a single-sheet or card would first have to mail or deliver a request form to the targeted addresses (on paper or online), and only deliver the ultimate object to those residences that complete and return the request form or request the object online.

But hey, it's just the health of the environment -- who give a rip about that compared to Verizon's profits?

As goes Maine, so too should go Oregon (and the country)

It's even easier when you pass laws making those who choose the materials for the products take responsibility for those choices by making them accept the products back at the end of their useful lives. Image by chrissatchwell via Flickr

Maine's extended producer responsibility law -- huzzah!

For your old e-waste, check here first

Image by georgehotelling via Flickr

Interesting and good idea: create a website the vacuums up old electronic items that would otherwise be landfilled or disassembled and instead tries to find a use for them. If you have some old electronic junk sitting around unused, check this out -- you might get a few bucks for it, and even if you don't they'll help recycle it for you, either by directing you to a local recycler or by sending you a box that you can use to ship it to them for free.

Nice.

Recharge Salem (interest survey)

NiMH batteries have good power characteristics, hold a charge well even when not used for a long time, and can be recharged hundreds of times. Image via Wikipedia

Click Here for a very short survey that is designed to find out if there is interest in Salem for a rechargeable battery service --- that is, a service that would offer to keep you supplied with as many high-quality nickel-metal hydride (NiMH) batteries as you like for less than the cost of disposables.

(NiMH batteries are the kind that hold their charge well and can be reused hundreds of times.)

Here at LOVESalem HQ we've been thinking about how to eliminate the flood of disposable batteries for some time. Only recently have rechargeable batteries become really good alternatives, but many people still think about nickel-cadmium rechargeables, which were not so good. So there's a bias against rechargeables that we have to overcome.

The idea is that, if we can offer people good-quality rechargeables for less than they spend now on throwaways, we can eliminate a big source of toxic waste that we generate.

So take the survey and help design the system!

Salem waterways flush with envy . . . and plastic bags

Washington, D. C. has joined the growing list of places recognizing that disposable grocery bags are an energy-wasting scourge. The plastic ones are not only responsible for killing various marine creatures and birds, they are a blight upon the land. The paper ones are heavy and bulky, which means that making and delivering them for their (typical) single use requires extraordinary amounts of energy as well as creating a demand for logging.

It's time for Salem to join the movement: put a nickel or dime tax on every paper or plastic bag from a retail outlet in Salem. Merchants will fall all over themselves to provide lots of options for inexpensive and durable cloth and net bags. Before you know it, there will be about as many bags laying around as there are pop-top beer can lids.

And Mill Creek and the Willamette and all our storm drains (that clog with plastic bags) will thank us!

UPDATE: Tom Toles, the brilliant cartoonist, nails it.

Stop unwanted phonebook dumping! Save a forest or two . . .

Urgent -- call or email your Oregon legislators and ask that they SUPPORT HB 3477 to STOP unwanted and wasteful phonebook distribution and make companies only give phonebooks to people who request them. This is a great and long overdue idea. (h/t to bojack for noticing this.)

To find your legislators.

Your Right to Know about Toxic Releases

OMB Watch today launched a redesigned and expanded website for the Right-to-Know Network (RTK NET) at www.rtknet.org. The website serves as a source for information about environmental and public health threats and opportunities for public engagement with environmental policy, and it offers news, data, and analysis of environmental right-to-know issues.

Constantly evolving since its initial launch in 1989, RTK NET continues to provide free access to several government databases of environmental information. Users can identify sources of pollution in their communities, learn about the transport of hazardous waste, search reports of chemical spills and accidents, and much more.

RTK NET allows users to conduct countless types of data searches, including in the Toxics Release Inventory - a database containing information on toxic pollution from facilities across the nation. Visitors will also find interactive maps for comparing states and easy-to-understand graphs that clearly identify pollution trends.

In addition to offering access to extensive amounts of environmental data, the redesigned RTK NET presents information on how environmental data are being used to protect air and water quality, wildlife habitats, children's health, and more.

Visitors will also find news items dealing with government transparency, public access to information, and public participation in environmental decision making. Opportunities for grassroots action and citizen involvement are available, as well as tools for outreach and education.

By providing both the raw information and the context for how it can be used, RTK NET empowers citizens to make a difference in their communities and beyond.

RTK NET can be found at http://www.rtknet.org. Please take a look and let us know what you think.

Tonight: Friends of Marion County sponsor Solid Waste plan forum

Since Marion County runs a garbage incinerator --- possibly the worst possible solution for managing waste --- Salem has an interest in how its trash is handled. There's a forum tonight on this subject at 7 p.m. in the Willamette University Law School's Paulus Auditorium.

Free and open to the public.

Welcome - 7:00 Kathrine Reed, League of Women Voters of Marion/Polk Counties
7:10 - League Study outline and purpose - Deanie Anderson
7:20 - Jeff Bickford and Doug Drennen, Marion County Solid Waste Master Plan
7:50 - League of Women Voters findings
8:15 Q&A
8:50 Next steps
9:00 program ends

Friends of Marion County