In the News
CALENDAR OF EVENTS Advocacy News (Includes how to reach your legislators) DEP Enforcement Actions In The Berkshire return to top |
||
Why We Have an E-Waste Problem:
In the US, we scrap about 400 million units per year of consumer electronics, according to recycling industry experts. Rapid advances in technology mean that electronic products are becoming obsolete more quickly. This, coupled with explosive sales in consumer electronics, means that more products are being disposed, even if they still work.
Recycling electronics isn't like recycling cardboard. These products are not easy to recycle. Proper and safe recycling often costs more money than the materials are worth. Why?
Monitors and televisions made with tubes (not flat panels) have between 4 and 8 pounds of lead in them. Most of the flat panel monitors and TV's contain less lead, but more mercury, from their mercury lamps. About 40% of the heavy metals, including lead, mercury and cadmium, in landfills come from electronic equipment discards. More on toxics in electronics.
Most e-waste still goes in the landfill
And what about the 13% that is supposedly recycled? Most recycling firms take the low road, exporting instead of recycling. From 50 to 80% of e-waste that is collected for recycling is shipped overseas for dismantling under horrific conditions, poisoning the people, land, air, and water in China, other Asian nations and to Ghana and Nigeria in western Africa. More info on global e-waste dumping.
Electronic recycling operations are increasingly active within America's prison systems. Inmate laborers are not automatically afforded the same degree of worker health and safety protections as are people employed on the outside, nor are they paid comparable wages. Moreover, reliance on high tech chain gangs may frustrate development of the free market infrastructure necessary to safely manage our mountains of e-waste. More on prison recycling |
||
Federal Legislation on E-Waste There are three areas where Congress is working on the E-Waste issue, each examined below.
Legislation Needed to Stop the Global Dumping of E-Waste We are hopeful that Congress will introduce strong legislation to ban the export of toxic e-waste from the US to developing countries. This would be an historic step in bringing the US in line with the rest of the countries in the "developed" world, who have agreed to stop dumping their toxic e-waste on poor countries around the globe. Legislation on E-Waste Research and Development HR 1580: Electronic Waste Research and Development Act Rep Bart Gordon introduced HR 1580, which:
House Science Committee E-Waste Hearings The House Committee on Science and Technology has held two hearings on this issue. Congressional Work on a National Takeback and Recycling Program The topic of creating a national approach to e-waste take back had been discussed for many years at the federal level. (See history, below.) The most recent effort was from the Congressional E-Waste Working Group. Congressional E-Waste Concepts Paper In March, 2008, a group of eight members of Congress released a draft "Concepts Paper" for federal e-waste legislation. This document was sent to stakeholders - manufacturers, retailers, recyclers, States, NGOs (including ETBC), etc - for comments. The paper is intended to lead to discussion on a federal e-waste solution Stakeholders were asked to comment by March 14, 2008. The members of Congress participating in the discussion on e-waste legislation are: Rep Louise Slaughter D-NY Why Don't We Have a Federal TakeBack Law? Multi-Stakeholder Process: Industry Associations: Congressional E-Waste Working Group: Prior ity Should Be Legislation to Stop the Global Dumping of E-Waste Current regulations EPA's CRT Rule View relevant federal regulations: Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Part 261 States Can Treat E-Waste as Toxic Waste Resources on the e-waste export problem Learn more about the problem with e-waste exports to developing countries, on the ETBC website. |
||
What is Zero Waste? Zero waste is a way to design, create, use, and breakdown products so that no waste ends up being emitted, landfilled, or incinerated. Despite similarities, zero waste is not just another form of recycling; it involves changes at the production level. Goods should be made with plans for how all components will be treated at the end of that product's useful life - whether that means the product is disassembled and each component reused, or the product itself could be reused for a different purpose. While you may be thinking zero waste is unrealistic - setting zero waste as a goal has amazing results. For one thing, the only way we will ever reach zero waste is to set it as a goal. It is easy to measure and tell how we are doing toward reaching that goal. And that goal effects every decision point in a product's life cycle - or for the consumer - everything about the product you are buying - what is in it, how is it packaged, when I am done is there a way to completely recycle the product or every piece of it? Thinking this way can have a pronounced effect on the amount of garbage you produce, even if you are not reaching zero waste. for more information on Zero Waste visit: |
||
WRLF invites artists to paint in support of land conservation The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation invites artists and photographers to record their impressions of the colorful north Berkshire fall landscape for submission to a juried exhibition to be held at Gramercy Bistro in North Adams during March 2010. The show and sale will benefit the WRLF, a non-profit land conservation trust. Artist participants in the fundraising exhibit are asked to donate proceeds from the sale of their work to the WRLF. Any two-dimensional work featuring preserved or scenic lands will be considered, and must be submitted to the WRLF at its Sheep Hill headquarters by December 15th, 2009. Works for the show, called “Dreaming of Green”, will be selected in January, and the show will be hung at Gramercy Bistro in North Adams throughout the month of March. Artwork can be submitted to the WRLF at its Sheep Hill headquarters on Cold Spring Road (Route 7) in Williamstown by December 15. There will be an additional show of all submitted artwork at Sheep Hill in the late summer and fall of 2010. The Williamstown Rural Lands Foundation and chef Alexander Smith of Gramercy have partnered in a number of efforts in support of the local food movement and land conservation. Leslie Reed-Evans, WRLF Executive Director, states “In the doldrums of March we want to be reminded of the colorful splendor of summer and fall in our stunning landscape. The WRLF’s partnership with Gramercy Bistro celebrates the preservation of farmland and support of the regional farm economy through Chef Smith’s commitment to the use of local ingredients in his creative menu.” For a submission form or other details artists may call 458-2494 or email ruraland@wrlf.org. Leslie Reed-Evans lre@wrlf.org www.wrlf.org |
||
Project Sprout Featured in Orion Magazine Project Sprout student leaders have written an article in the new issue of Orion about their first in the US student-initiated/run veggie garden at Monument Mtn HS: http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/5058 Please pass along, share with others with kids in other schools in the region. The veggies are going to the cafeteria and to food banks, so it's helping the nutrition of our kids and citizens, and it's a great learning experience. Erik Hoffner The Orion Grassroots Network provides services and support to grassroots organizations engaged in ecological, social, and cultural change. |
||
Second Annual Massachusetts Wildlife Trackers Conference Saturday, November 7, 2009 Keynote speaker: Peter G. Mirick of MA Fish and Wildlife “Wildlife Trends: A Century of Success in Massachusetts Wildlife Conservation”
Contact Information: |
||
Another Invader |
||
Complete all 8 Units of Fundamentals for Conservation Commissioners in 2 months or less! Are you a new member of your Conservation Commission, or do you need a tune-up? Do you have questions about your job description? What about all those acronyms, such as: NOI, OOC, COC, RDA, DOA, CPA & ANRAD? Do you look at engineered plans, wondering when you’ll understand them? Are you aware of all the legal procedures Commissioners are required to follow under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act and other state statutes? Have you read “the regs”? Just what are “The Interests of the Act”? Do you need information about acquiring and managing conservation land in your town? Thanks to a recent award from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust, MACC is offering all 8 units of its certificate training program, Fundamentals for Conservation Commissioners, in 5 different regions throughout Massachusetts. Taking all 8 units of the Fundamentals will ensure that you’ve acquired the basic training needed to do your job effectively and efficiently and will fulfill the requirements to receive MACC certification. The South Shore Series starts in Fall River on September 11th and 12th. The Western Series begins on November 7 in Northampton. To register for training through December, click here: https://www.maccweb.org/edu_workshops.html |
||
Social Capital: Reach Out to a Neighbor
Taking action by supporting legislation or greening your home is important, but don't forget that we can also take action in our social lives. New Dream has always believed that change begins with our everyday choices: investing in relationships builds happier people and a stronger community--and may be good for your health. Which is why we're asking you to bring a neighbor some cookies. Between the mid 1980's and the 1990's, Americans' openness to making new friends declined by about a third. A 2000 Harvard study found that one-third of Americans no longer participate in social activities like inviting people to their home or visiting relatives. Reaching out to others doesn't just add meaning to our lives--it's part of what makes up social capital, the shared values and trust that keep a society together and running smoothly. Luckily, it doesn't take a lot of your own capital to simply bake some cookies (or any other treat) and share them with a neighbor you don't know. Think of it as the most fun and delicious way to make the world into what you want it to be: an open, trusting place full of people who will wave to you on the sidewalk. As a family activity, making and sharing homemade goodies is a way to have more face-to-face time and less screen time. So go ahead--knock on that door and then tell us what happened and how it made you feel. |
||
Health Care & the Environment: What Does Michael Pollan Know about Health Care Reform? In an insightful reaction to President Obama’s health care speech to a joint session of Congress, noted author Michael Pollan (Omnivore’s Dilemma, In Defense of Food) said something very provocative on the pages of the New York Times. Unlike South Carolina Congressman Joe Wilson, he didn’t accuse the president of lying. But he did make pretty clear that the health care debate thus far has ignored a very significant part of the problem: an acknowledgment that our transformation into a fast food nation is playing a huge role in making health care more costly and less accessible for all Americans. In his Op-ed titled “Big Food vs. Big Insurance“, he writes: From Conservation Law Foundation’s e-newsletter, Thursday, October 8, 2009 (www.clf.org). |