Reducing Waste

Companies Working to Pare Down Waste
By RICK CALLAHAN
Associated Press Writer EVANSVILLE, Ind. - With earthshaking thuds, a plastic-stamping machine hammers a sheet of hot plastic into king-size drinking cups destined to quench travelers' thirst for soda at the nation's convenience stores. The blank white cups aren't just flexible and resistant to splitting - they're also made from less plastic than Berry Plastics Corp.'s competitors through a manufacturing process the company guards so closely it forbids photographs of those machines.

As retailers like Wal-Mart push for greener packaging, Berry Plastics is handling a growing number of redesign projects for customers eager to make their products less bulky to help both their bottom lines and the environment.

"It's not a fad anymore - it's really turning into a trend," said Curt Begle, the Evansville company's vice president of container sales.

Last year alone, the company - which counts among its customers Kraft, Nestle, Hershey's and Sherwin-Williams Paints - retooled about 30 customers' cups, tubs and other plastic containers, shaving away more than one million pounds of plastic per year in one instance.

With more companies following suit, Berry Plastics has even hired an engineer devoted to repackaging projects.

"It's continuing to gain momentum," Begle said of efforts to pare packaging.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is helping push the trend along by encouraging its 66,000 suppliers to reduce their packaging starting next year as part of the world's largest retailer's goal of cutting overall packaging 5 percent by 2013.

In March, Wal-Mart unveiled an online database called a "packaging scorecard" to help its suppliers calculate the net environmental effect of factors such as the fuel needed to make and ship packaging materials and whether they use recycled components.

Since then, more than 3,100 vendors have used the online packaging scorecard system, said Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Thornton.

Participation is voluntary, but Thornton said Wal-Mart will begin using the scorecard's results in February to make decisions on purchasing merchandise. Eventually, the retailer hopes to create "zero waste" by recycling, reusing or otherwise breaking down product waste.

"There's a ripple effect that starts with just reducing the size of the package," Thornton said. It also reduces the need for shipping containers and puts more products on each truckload and shelf, he said.

Ruiz Food Products, the nation's largest producer of frozen Mexican foods, is using the packaging scorecard.

Bryce Ruiz, the Dinuba, Calif.-based company's president and chief operating officer, said the database has revealed ways it can reduce the packaging for its 300 products, which include the popular El Monterey brand burritos and taquitos.

Ruiz declined to give specifics, but said the lessons learned build on efforts by his family's business to satisfy customers with foods - not an oversized package.

"It's common sense. Put less air in the box and the consumer gets a box full of something, versus a box full of air," he said.

It's hard to say how much money any particular company might save in packaging because of the different types of materials used, and companies are reluctant to say for competitive reasons, said Jim Peters, director of education for the Institute of Packaging Professionals.

But the savings can reach into the millions of dollars, said Peters, whose Naperville, Ill.-based group's membership includes some 5,200 packaging experts that work for companies spanning the full spectrum of American industry.

Wal-Mart's initiative offers a real opportunity to expand the push for waste-reduction, thanks to its 60,000-plus suppliers and millions of customers, said Kyle Cahill, manager of corporate partnerships for Environmental Defense, a New York-based advocacy group.

In 1991, the nonprofit helped persuade McDonald's Corp. to give up its plastic foam clamshell packages for recycled paper materials. McDonald's now claims to be the largest user of recycled paper in the fast-food industry.

Cahill said consumers concerned about global warming are becoming more aware of packaging that ends up in landfills - and the manufacturing process that adds to greenhouse gases.

"This goes backward into the supply chain, where the materials are being sourced, made and packaged, and in the opposite direction looking at how the products are being used and certainly how they are being disposed of," Cahill said.

Indianapolis resident Ray Wilson always looks for products with less packaging, but said he still ends up with bulky items in his cart. The 64-year-old engineer recently bought three compact fluorescent light bulbs encased in a large plastic package.

"I'm looking at the packaging around the bulbs and it's probably 14 inches by 18 inches of heavy duty plastic," he said. "It sure would be nice if you didn't have to buy all that because it just goes in the trash."

Companies like Procter & Gamble Co. are paying attention. The world's largest consumer product company recently announced it would begin rolling out in September liquid detergents such as Tide and Cheer in double-strength concentrations. That will give consumers a bottle half the former size but with the same number of loads.

Even changes that aren't noticed by consumers can go a long way toward reducing a company's need for costly resources.

Nestle Waters North America, one of the nation's biggest sellers of bottled water, has saved about 20 million pounds of paper over the past decade by using narrower labels on its bottles, said company spokeswoman Jane Lazgin.

And this spring, the maker of Poland Spring, Arrowhead, Deer Park and other brands began rolling out half-liter plastic bottles weighing 12.5 grams, about 15 percent lighter than those of competitors.

"It makes the bottle feel a little crunchy, but it's the same amount of water," Lazgin said.

Nestle Waters expects the new bottle to reduce its use of plastic resin by 65 million pounds during 2008, the first full year of the bottle's availability.

Anne Johnson, director of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition - an industry working group with about 105 corporate members - said such success stories will help more companies look at how they package goods.

"If you're not optimizing the use of the materials you've purchased and the energy you've purchased, if you're paying for your waste to be hauled off, then you're not running your business very well," Johnson said.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Green Everett Lives Sustainably

Green Everett members strive to live sustainably

Leaving less of a footprint on the planet isn't just an ideal for Marilyn Rosenberg, it's her lifestyle.

At home she composts, gardens with native plants and buys everything she can secondhand.

"I don't go to department stores or the mall," she said. "I find great, one-of-a-kind things at thrift shops and yard sales."

She bicycles to her Everett business, Zippy's Java Lounge and practices the same types of waste-reducing, energy saving measures she does at home, including using a worm bin to compost waste. She also supports local business, such as selling a Snohomish woman's woven bags made from recycled straw.

It is no surprise, then, that her coffee shop has become the meeting place for a grassroots group of like-minded people. The loose-knit group is called Green Everett, and its aim is promoting sustainable living.

Sustainable living means different things to different people, Rosenberg said. To her, it means making as small of an impact on the planet as possible.

The group has a Web site and, so far, dozens of people have attended several meetings at the coffee shop. At the last meeting, discussions covered topics such as including educating people about invasive plants and promoting Earth-friendly commuting options.

Its members want to learn more about changes they can make in their own lives, and they also want to inspire change in the community, Rosenberg said. At the last meeting, people talked about establishing a regular presence at City Council meetings, getting involved in neighborhood associations and signing up for work parties at Forest Park to remove invasive plants.

Zippy's also hosts Conversation Cafes at 3 p.m. on the first Sunday of each month. A documentary showing is followed by a discussion. There are plans to start a sustainable book club too.

Other local groups with similar aims are active around the county, including the Sustainable Living Institute in Mukilteo and another group that meets in Snohomish.

"If more people start getting involved and sharing ideas, we might need a bigger meeting space," Rosenberg said.

Reporter Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com.

Student Organizes Recycling

Student activist spearheads recycling effort

Kathryn Buckstaff
News-Leader


Blue Eye — Jonathan Ratliff was looking for a service project for Blue Eye High's Teenage Republicans club when he watched "An Inconvenient Truth."

Inspired by former Vice President Al Gore's movie about the global warming crisis, the senior who founded the club organized a recycling program for the school of 700 students. It's called TRUTH Recycling, and it stands for "Teenage Republicans United Toward Humanity."

Over the past six months, the program has gained support from several communities and private businesses. And students and school officials say they expect the program will continue even without Ratliff, who graduates this month.

"This is where you really realize one person can make a difference," said Connie McGriff, a teacher and club sponsor. "He has been the total inspiration for it. It shows that one person can drive a lot of other people to get moving."

The project has already reduced the amount of trash at the school, and local residents are beginning to bring their recyclables as well, said superintendent Dan Ray.

"It's a great service to the community," he said.

Blue Eye junior Jennifer Girard said Jonathan is "very commanding. He knows how to tell people to get it done."

She'll help continue the project this fall.

"I don't mind at all doing it," she said. "You know, save the planet and all."

White House bound

This week the energetic, fast-talking senior plans to influence lawmakers in Jefferson City. Ratliff arranged with five state legislators he met at a Stone County Republicans event to spend a day with each of them."

"I want to let them understand that people do care," said Ratliff, 18. "Things have to change. Americans have this love of driving around in fast cars, and we don't want to be inconvenienced regardless of the cost. Do we all want to go around in hazmat suits because everything is so toxic?"

This fall, he'll study political science at the University of Missouri in Columbia.

"I want to become an attorney," he said. "Maybe go into environmental law. Especially the way everything is going, and global warming, environmental law is the coming thing.

"And I'll have to make the money to be able to afford my political campaigns. I hope to be governor and maybe president."

McGriff, for one, thinks Ratliff could go all the way.

"I expect to dance at his Inaugural Ball someday," McGriff said. "The best thing about being a teacher is that we see a lot of great things the kids do every day, and you realize our future is in good hands."

Recruiting support

McGriff, a social studies teacher at Blue Eye High for the past 13 years, said she's been amazed by Ratliff.

"Normally, when I sponsor something, I do the work, and the kids go along with it, but on this, Jonathan did all the legwork," McGriff said.

Learn and Serve America awarded the project a $500 grant. The Washington D.C.-based group encourages students to organize community service projects linked to classroom learning.

Ratliff's group of 10 students also got donations from local residents and from Wal-Mart stores in Branson, Branson West and Berryville, Ark. With the funds, they bought bins for classrooms and hallways to hold paper, aluminum and plastic. Cafeteria staff now separate recyclable products.

Tyson Foods donated a large storage bin. Nestle Purina PetCare in Springfield brought a bin for paper products, which the company turns into pet litter.

A recycler in Berryville picks up the tin, and Pepsi-Cola collects the aluminum. Students haul some items to the Kimberling City recycling center. And Butch and Lisa Bettlach, owners of Harter House in Kimberling City, invited the students to use their paper baler to compact cardboard.

"I'm all for it," said Blue Eye Mayor Jerry Kerns. "It's a good program."

For their efforts, Learn and Serve recently presented the project its "Inspire By Example" award.

Sustainability

When Ratliff began the project, he visited Debbie Redford, the city of Branson environmentalist. She gave him a tour of the city recycling center, which opened 14 years ago.

"What's unusual is to see a high school student taking the initiative, and saying, 'I'm going to make this work,'" Redford said.

Jonathan's parents, Jonathan and Glenda Ratliff, are both Blue Eye High School graduates. The family operates a kennel, Chihuahuas By Ratliff. Jonathan's brother, Jordan, 15, also helps with the recycling.

Jonathan's father said his son has always been a go-getter.

"As a kid, he was always outgoing and well-spoken," his father said. "Of course you're proud when you son is doing something like this."

Thanks to Recycling Kids See Green

Chesterton kids seeing green thanks to recycling

Sunday, May 13, 2007 12:19 AM CDT

BY HEATHER AUGUSTYN
Times Correspondent

CHESTERTON | Students at Chesterton High School know how to do more than reduce, reuse and recycle. They also know how to turn trash into cash.

CHS students increased recycling by 25 percent during the first quarter of their recycling effort. The accomplishment earned them a $500 bonus and the honor of being the No. 1 recycler for public schools in the Chicago area in the Abitibi Paper Retriever program, a fundraising recycling program that is operated by Abitibi-Consolidated Paper Co.

The students' efforts have brought in $1,700 to date, and they have recycled 110.49 tons, or 220,980 pounds, of paper since January 2006.

Susan Talbert, recycling coordinator for CHS, said the students worked hard.

"Recycling at CHS is a whole school project. We have close to 10 percent of our student body participating in the collection process, and that is probably the piece of the puzzle that other groups miss," Talbert said. "There are 160-plus CHS students collecting the papers, cans and bottles for recycling every day. They see firsthand the positive impact they are having and how all of our efforts are moving us toward zero waste."

And with a little peer pressure, they're increasing recycling in the community.

"They, in turn, encourage their friends and family to participate. They also discourage others from placing paper, bottles and cans in the trash rather than the recycle bins," Talbert said.

"Peer pressure doesn't have to always be negative. We are using it to change people's behavior in a positive way, one piece of paper, one can and one water bottle at a time."

The CHS students used the money they earned to buy energy-saving light bulbs to give away for Earth Day and to help other schools buy more collection bins.

The paper collection bins are yellow and green and are located in the high school parking lot and at other Duneland schools and Porter County locations.

The Cost of Plastic Bags

Let’s face it – they’re a scourge.

On average, each person uses 300 bags a year. Collectively, the people of BC use 1.2 billion bags a year, using 18 million litres of the world’s oil supply a year, releasing 50,400 tonnes of CO2. (Data via San Francisco’s Department of the Environment).

The Stern Review estimated the purely economic cost of climate change to be $100 a tonne of CO2, so the cost that future generations will have to pay for our use of the bags will be $5 million a year. We use them for 30 minutes and they sit in a landfill for up to 1,000 years, slowly breaking down into smaller toxic bits.

Even if we recycle them, the recycled plastic is not used to make more bags. Every year, hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die from eating plastic bags they mistake for food: there are over 46,000 pieces of plastic in each square mile of ocean.
The solution is to ban them, or tax them. Ireland’s “PlasTax” of 23 cents a bag has led to a 95% reduction in their use.

In San Francisco, they have voted to ban their use at supermarket checkouts within 6 months, and in large chain pharmacies within a year; compostable bags made from corn starch and recycled paper bags made will still be allowed.

Leaf Rapids, Manitoba (pop’n 550) started with a fee a year ago, and has now adopted a ban. The French island of Corsica banned the bags in large stores in 1999; Paris has just banned all non-biodegradable bags. By 2010, they will be banned all across France.

Ireland’s Plastax (increasing to 33 cents a bag in June) reduced consumer use from 328 bags a year to 21, raises $28 million a year, and has raised $140 million since 2002, used to provide more recycling facilities, enforce waste management regulations, recycle old fridges and freezers, run waste awareness campaigns, and to launch a very successful Green Schools initiative. It would make sense for BC to do the same.

It would also be a feel-good measure, as people get used to carrying cloth bags.

From EcoNEWS www.earthfuture.com

Chucking your Yorgurt carton in the Recycle Bin?

It all depends on your recycling program.

Figuring out exactly what's recyclable can be harder than navigating the shoe section during clearance season, but our cheat-sheet makes at least one of these tasks a whole lot easier.

The Benefits
Less confusion. Proper disposal ensures that your recyclables end up in the right place.
Save energy. Recycling an aluminum can takes 96% less energy than creating a new one.
Less landfill. According to the EPA, 75% of Americans' trash can be recycled, but only 25% actually is.

Cleaner groundwater. Most landfill liners are just 1/10th of an inch thick, so toxins from garbage often leak into the groundwater.

Personally SpeakingBozeman Biters are lamenting that the city just stopped recycling glass due to the expense of shipping it to a recycling facility. Need to kvetch or create an action plan to green up your town's recycling options? Join the discussion in today's blog.

Wanna Try General
Earth911 - local listings of where you can recycle anything under the sun.

You don't need to remove labels from cans and bottles, but you do need to remove plastic caps (and throw them away).

Your recyclables don't need to be spotless - just not moldy or full of food. Save water - don't rinse 'til clean.

Glass

Unbroken bottles are easier for workers to sort than broken ones.

Metal
Most containers, such as tins and cans, and aluminum foil.

Paper
Newspapers, magazines, photocopies, shoe boxes, envelopes (including ones with glassine windows).

Plastic
Plastics #1-#2 – recyclable in most areas. Usually found in 2-liter and detergent bottles, milk jugs and food containers.
Plastics #3-#7 – more difficult to recycle, they are found in Styrofoam, pipes, shrink wrap, padded envelopes, trash liners and more. Check with your local facility to see if it recycles these plastics.
Yogurt Cups - recyclable in most areas, especially the #2 plastic kind.

Grocery Bags - reuse them first! You usually can't recycle them curbside, but some supermarkets have recycling bins in-store. Try to avoid them altogether by bringing your own

Biter bag to the store.
This tip submitted by Laura Dicterow and Kim Hamer.

Can You Be Single and Green?

by HEIDI SOPINKA

This column launches a weekly examination of current environmental issues that will focus on what matters most to eco-conscious Canadians: how individual actions can contribute to global ecological change.

If you feel as though no one else understands your overly close relationship with the cat, you're not alone.

The kingdom of one is the fastest-growing type of household in Canada, climbing from 2 per cent to more than 14 per cent in the past 50 years, with the figures steadily rising.

The new solo-living cohort are young (25 to 44), far more flush than the thrifty jar-reusing widows that once ruled the one-person roost and, as it turns out, the biggest consumers of energy, land and household goods.

Now that their numbers are shooting up, people who live alone represent what Joanna Williams, a sustainable development professor at University College London, calls "an environmental time bomb."

From washers and dryers to toasters and television sets, singletons burn through just over twice as much energy per capita as those who live in a four-person household.

According to the Recycling Council of Ontario, every Canadian throws away almost half a kilogram of plastic packaging a day - a figure that snowballs in the one-person household once the increased per-capita consumption and the gobbling up of takeout and single-serving foods are factored in.

For the eco-minded and unattached who aren't looking to bed down to do their part for the planet, Penny Gurstein of the school of community and regional planning at the University of British Columbia points to the Canadian Cohousing Network (cohousing.ca), modelled after a 1964 Danish community-based project that had residents build individual homes clustered around a "common house" with shared amenities, thereby reducing the ecological footprint.
Ms. Gurstein also recommends the Vancouver Community Kitchen Project (communitykitchens.ca), which offers "a way for people to get together to cook in large quantities and then parcel it out. You get something like seven meals doing it as a group, or you can eat together."

The communal Kumbaya life is a tough sell for your average single urbanite. Besides, shoehorned into their 600-square-foot lofts and often living close to the office, they in some ways actually have a leg up on the smug marrieds with children living out in the sprawl. As professor William Rees, a population ecologist at UBC and originator of the phrase and methodology behind the "ecological footprint" suggests, having loved and lost might be worse for the planet than never having loved at all.

"Let's say a professional family breaks up with mom and pop going their separate ways but sharing the kids. Now there are two households, but the same number of people. With a doubling of households, the energy needed per capita to manufacture, operate and maintain twice as many appliances and automobiles increases. This means that the per-capita eco-footprint rises even faster."

Short of mating for life or joining a commune, if you happen to be unattached and environmentally conscious, it may be time to test your horse sense and peruse the classifieds: Eco-friendly person seeks like-minded roommate to lessen ecological footprint. Must be cat positive.

Heidi Sopinka, a licensed helicopter pilot, has cooked for firefighters in the Yukon, edited Southeast Asian poetry in Singapore, and written two travel books. A seasoned world traveller, she now agrees to stay put until the afterlife in order to neutralize her carbon footprint.
hsopinka@globeandmail.com

Stop Global Warming What You Can Do

Take Action!

The Stop Global Warming calculator shows you how much carbon dioxide you can prevent from being released into the atmosphere and how much money you can save by making some small changes in your daily life. It’s our hope that the calculator will promote action, awareness and empowerment by showing you that one person can make a difference and help stop global warming.

There are many simple things you can do in your daily life — what you eat, what you drive, how you build your home — that can have an effect on your immediate surrounding, and on places as far away as Antactica. Here is a list of few things that you can do to make a difference.

Use Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
Replace 3 frequently used light bulbs with compact fluorescent bulbs. Save 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $60 per year.

Inflate Your Tires
Keep the tires on your car adequately inflated. Check them monthly. Save 250 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $840 per year.

Change Your Air Filter
Check your car's air filter monthly. Save 800 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $130 per year.

Fill the Dishwasher
Run your dishwasher only with a full load. Save 100 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $40 per year.

Use Recycled Paper
Make sure your printer paper is 100% post consumer recycled paper. Save 5 lbs. of carbon dioxide per ream of paper.

Adjust Your Thermostat
Move your heater thermostat down two degrees in winter and up two degrees in the summer. Save 2000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $98 per year.

Check Your Waterheater
Keep your water heater thermostat no higher than 120°F. Save 550 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $30 per year.

Change the AC Filter
Clean or replace dirty air conditioner filters as recommended. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $150 per year.

Take Shorter Showers
Showers account for 2/3 of all water heating costs. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $99 per year.

Install a Low-Flow Showerhead
Using less water in the shower means less energy to heat the water. Save 350 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $150.

Buy Products Locally
Buy locally and reduce the amount of energy required to drive your products to your store.

Buy Energy Certificates
Help spur the renewable energy market and cut global warming pollution by buying wind certificates and green tags.

Buy Minimally Packaged Goods
Less packaging could reduce your garbage by about 10%. Save 1,200 pounds of carbon dioxide and $1,000 per year.

Buy a Hybrid Car
The average driver could save 16,000 lbs. of CO2 and $3,750 per year driving a hybrid

Buy a Fuel Efficient Car
Getting a few extra miles per gallon makes a big difference. Save thousands of lbs. of CO2 and a lot of money per year.

Carpool When You Can
Own a big vehicle? Carpooling with friends and co-workers saves fuel. Save 790 lbs. of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.

Reduce Garbage
Buy products with less packaging and recycle paper, plastic and glass. Save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.

Plant a Tree
Trees suck up carbon dioxide and make clean air for us to breathe. Save 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide per year.

Insulate Your Water Heater
Keep your water heater insulated could save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $40 per year.

Replace Old Appliances
Inefficient appliances waste energy. Save hundreds of lbs. of carbon dioxide and hundreds of dollars per year.

Weatherize Your Home
Caulk and weather strip your doorways and windows. Save 1,700 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $274 per year.

Use a Push Mower
Use your muscles instead of fossil fuels and get some exercise. Save 80 lbs of carbon dioxide per year.

Unplug Un-Used Electronics
Even when electronic devices are turned off, they use energy. Save over 1,000 lbs of carbon dioxide and $256 per year.

Put on a Sweater
Instead of turning up the heat in your home, wear more clothes Save 1,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $250 per year.

Insulate Your Home
Make sure your walls and ceilings are insulated. Save 2,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $245 per year.

Air Dry Your Clothes
Line-dry your clothes in the spring and summer instead of using the dryer. Save 700 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $75 per year.

Switch to a Tankless Water Heater
Your water will be heated as you use it rather than keeping a tank of hot water. Save 300 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $390 per year.

Switch to Double Pane Windows
Double pane windows keep more heat inside your home so you use less energy. Save 10,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide and $436 per year.

Buy Organic Food
The chemicals used in modern agriculture pollute the water supply, and require energy to produce.

Bring Cloth Bags to the Market
Using your own cloth bag instead of plastic or paper bags reduces waste and requires no additional energy.

Learn More About Global Warming
If you're not already convinced that global warming is an issue that you need to care about, click here to learn why.

Buy The Bracelet
Made from 100% scrap leather by Roots — 100% of net proceeds go to the Stop Global Warming Fund.
Headlines

It's Maple Syrup Time, So Why the Whiff of French Fries?
Sam Hooper Samuels (4/30/2007)

PepsiCo takes top spot in global warming battle
Bruce Horovitz (4/30/2007)

Is China outdoing US in curbing carbon?
Mark Clayton (4/27/2007)

Protect God's creation: Vatican issues new green message for world's Catholics
John Vidal and Tom Kington (4/27/2007)

California Hotels Go Green With Low-Flow Toilets, Solar Lights
Ari Levy and Carole Zimmer (4/27/2007)

Poll Finds Majority See Threat in Global Warming
John M. Broder and Marjorie Connelly (4/26/2007)

Canada to ban incandescent light bulbs by 2012
Reuters (4/25/2007)

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