My Knowledge

Week in Review
PUBLISHED 04/07/2008

Seattle Officials Propose 20-Cent Grocery-Bag Fee

Next time the cashier says "paper or plastic," think outside the bags. Think about ocean pollution, giant landfills and global warming, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels says. Then think to next year, when you might have to either pull out a reusable tote or pay 20 cents a bag. Nickels and City Council President Richard Conlin proposed a 20-cent "green fee" Wednesday on all disposable bags to encourage customers to carry their milk and eggs home in their own bags. Forget the canvas sacks at home? Shoppers at grocery, convenience and drug stores will pay the price starting Jan. 1, if the City Council approves. A family buying six bags of groceries a week would spend $62.40 a year in bag fees. The city will issue one free reusable shopping bag to each household. ...The Seattle Times, 4.3.08
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Food For Thought: Bans On Polystyrene Foam

Jen Neumann was taken aback when a restaurant placed her "to go" order for six cinnamon rolls in six foam containers. When she objected, the clerk "just gave me a completely blank stare," said the Cedar Rapids moth er of two, who considers herself environmentally aware. "Especially with all the information out there, it just shocked me that a place would use six separate containers." Foam containers, used by many restaurants for carryout items, are fairly inexpensive and popular because they keep food warm and do not soak through. But their very durability also is a drawback in an increasingly environmentally conscious world. Environmentalists say polystyrene foam -- of which Styrofoam is a common brand name -- is a hazard because it does not readily decompose, consumes landfill space, is difficult to recycle and uses petroleum, a non-renewable resource, in its production. ...The Gazette - Cedar Rapids, Iowa, 4.2.08
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Bay To Recycle Plastics: Soda Bottles Become Carpet Or Lumber

A soda bottle's not just a soda bottle. Maybe it's a parking curb. Or lumber. Until recently, Bay County's used soda bottles and other plastics did little more than end up as landfill fodder or incinerator fuel. But, starting in April, local plastics will get a chance at reincarnation. "I've had call after call after call asking to know when we are going to start taking plastic," said Linda Hilton, environmental coordinator for Bay County. Though the county has offered drop-off locations for materials such as newspapers and aluminum cans for a decade, officials have been unable to find a market for plastic. Recently, a buyer was found in Waste Industries Inc., located outside Dothan, Ala. Waste Industries division manager Shawn Sapp pointed out a lot of plastic goes a little way. ...The News Herald, 3.31.08
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A Stylish Shade Of Green: Environmentally Friendly Housewares

You can think of the green movement as something that was in serious need of a makeover; a perfect candidate for a stylish new wardrobe and a fabulous haircut with highlights. "In the '70s, it wasn't desirable to be eco-friendly. It was mostly the hippies," said Fabian DeGarbo, director of sustainable packaging for . "Now there is eco chic." Driven by the real and escalating concern for the environment (and given a huge boost by "An Inconvenient Truth"), the post-millennial green movement -- and all of its attendant themes of sustainability, cradle-to-cradle concepts and carbon-footprint reduction -- has become a hot topic with high pop-culture recognition and even a trendy gloss of stylish respectability. The new buzzword for 2009-09 is "eco-iconic," referring to a hip focus on one's eco status, said DeGarbo, speaking last week at the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago. ...The Hartford Courant, 3.28.08
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Succeeding as a Supplier to Today’s Plastics Industry Manufacturer: Saving The United States Skilled Worker And The Declining Middle Class

By Rick Puglielli, ProMold Plastics
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Incentive Based Recycling

By Ron Gonen, Recycle Bank
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