In nature, waste does not exist. In human societies, waste is everywhere, which indicates inefficiency. Waste can also harm human health and degrade the environment. Businesses find that waste reduction can "green" their bottom line. Local governments can use what is saved for other public purposes. In this section, practical approaches to waste reduction and elimination are presented.
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Bio-Integral Resource Center (BIRC), Box 7414, Berkeley, CA 94707, Tel: 510.524.2567, Fax: 510.524.1758, Email: birc@igc.apc.org, Website: http://www.birc.org. BIRC develops integrated pest management programs and suggests alternatives to conventional pesticides.
Center for Health, Environment and Justice (CHEJ), 150 S. Washington, Suite 300, P.O. Box 6806, Falls Church, VA 22040, Tel: 703.237.CCHW, Email: chej@chej.org, Website: http://www.chej.org. CHEJ works with grassroots community groups on a broad range of environmental issues, including toxic waste, solid waste, air pollution, incinerators, medical waste, radioactive waste, pesticides, sewage and industrial pollution.
Community Environmental Council, Gildea Resource Center, 930 Miramonte Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93109, Tel: 805.963.0583, Fax: 805.962.9080, Email: grccom@rain.org, Website: http://www.communityenvironmentalcouncil.org/grc. The Gildea Center is a nonprofit research, policy development and education organization pioneering new technologies in all aspects of recycling, wastewater, sludge, composting, solar technology, and ecological gardening.
Consumer Education Initiative (CEI), c/o Electronic Industries Alliance, 2500 Wilson Boulevard, Arlington, VA 22201-3834, Tel: 703.907.7500, Fax: 703.907.7501, Email: cei@eia.org, Website: http://www.eiae.org. CEI, a program of the Electronics Industries Alliance, is a web-based information resource that provides consumers and others with information on recycling and reuse opportunities for used electronics, including state and local collection programs, charitable organizations, and recyclers that accept used electronics.
Cornell Waste Management Institute, Center for the Environment, Rice Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853-5601, Tel: 607.255.1187, Email: cwmi@cornell.edu, Website: http://www.cfe.cornell.edu/wmi/. CWMI addresses environmental and social issues associated with waste management.
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), 1875 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 1016, Washington, DC 20009, Tel: 202.387.3500, Fax: 202.234.6049, Website: http://www.edf.org. EDF is a national nonprofit organization that deals with a broad range of regional, national and international environmental issues.
Global Recycling Network (GRN), Website: http://www.grn.com. GRN is a free-access public site dedicated to recycling-related information.
INFORM, Inc., 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005, Tel: 212.361.2400, Fax: 212.361.2412, Email: inform@inform.org, Website: http://www.informinc.org. INFORM examines business practices that harm our air, water and land resources and identifies specific ways to improve these practices, focusing on the development of state-of-the-art strategies to prevent waste and pollution at the source.
Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR), 2425 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009-2096, Tel: 202.232.4108, Fax: 202.332.0463, Email: ILSR@igc.apc.org, Website: http://www.ilsr.org. The ILSR provides technical assistance and information on environmentally sound economic development strategies. It works with citizen groups, governments and private businesses in developing policies that extract the maximum value from local resources.
Kansas Business and Industry Recycling Program, Inc., 2933 SW Woodside Drive, Suite C, Topeka, KS 66614-4181, Tel: 785.273.6808, Fax: 785.273.2405, Email: kansasbirp@kansasbirp.com, Website: http://www.kansasbirp.com. Kansas BIRP, a private, non-profit corporation, provides assistance with recycling and solid waste issues, including recycling sites and programs, markets for collected materials, educational materials, and legislation. Many of these resources are provided online.
Municipal Solid Waste, Environmental Protection Agency, Website: http://www.epa.go/msw. This website includes information on the various methods to reduce and better manage municipal solid waste.
National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP), 701 E Street, SE, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20003, Tel: 202.543.5450, Fax: 202.543.4791, Email: ncamp@ncamp.org, Website: http://www.ncamp.org. NCAMP, a national coalition of community-based organizations and people, operates a national information clearinghouse on pesticide hazards and alternatives to their use and advocates for changes in policies and practices to stop and prevent pesticide poisoning and contamination.
National Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides (NCAP), P.O. Box 1393, Eugene, OR 97440, Tel: 541.344.5044, Fax: 541.344.6923, Email: info@pesticide.org, Website: http://www.efn.org/~ncap. NCAP, a five-state grassroots organization, promotes sustainable resource management, prevention of pest problems, use of alternatives to pesticides, and the right to be free from pesticide exposure.
The National Surplus Exchange Program, 1600 Genesse, Kansas City, MO 64102, Tel: 816.421.1080This program helps businesses dispose of surplus office furniture, equipment, supplies, inventory, etc. by supplying these items to charities and, therefore, removing them from the solid waste stream. A description of the program can be found at http://www.ncl.org/anr/stories/surplus.htm
Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), 116 New Montgomery, #810, San Francisco, CA 94105, Tel: 415.541.9140, Fax: 415.541.9253, Email: panna@panna.org, Website: http://www.panna.org. PANNA works to advance ecological alternatives to pesticides. Its site contains useful links to other websites on sustainable agriculture, pesticides, and more.
Pesticide Action Network Pesticide Database, Version 2.0, Pesticide Action Network North America (PANNA), 49 Powell Street, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102, Tel: 415.981.1771, Website: http://www.pesticideinfo.org. This online collection of pesticide data provides detailed information for about 5,400 pesticide active ingredients, breakdown products, and related chemicals. It also contains information on more than 100,000 formulated pesticide products from the U.S. Environmmental Protection Agency.
Rachel Carson Council, 8940 Jones Mill Road, Chevy Chase, MD 20815, Tel: 301.652.1877, Email: rccouncil@aol.com, Website: http://members.aol.com/rccouncil/ourpage/rcc_page.htm. The Council is a clearinghouse and library with information at both scientific and layperson levels on pesticide-related issues.
Right-to-Know Network, Tel: 202.234.8494, Website: http://rtk.net/. This site provides information on how to obtain toxic release inventory information.
Sustainable Business Database, Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development, U.S. Department of Energy, Website: http://www.sustainable.doe.gov/business/buintro.shtml. This section of the Center's Sustainable Development Resource database site provides links and information for companies and communities on waste reduction, energy efficiency, and pollution prevention.
U.S. EPA Resources for NonProfit Organizations, Tel: 202.260.2623, Website: http://www.epa.gov/epahome/nonprof.htm. This Environmental Protection Agency site was created to provide nonprofit groups easier access to environmental and public health information.
Waste Reduction Record Setters Program Profiles, Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 2425 18th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009, Tel: 202.232.4108, Fax: 202.332.0463, Website: http://www.ilsr.org/recycling/wrrs.html. This website contains short profiles of public and private waste reduction record setters.
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Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Toxicology. ATSDR ToxFAQs. This series of information sheets addresses some of the most frequently asked questions about hazardous substances. To obtain this resource contact Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Division of Toxicology, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Mailstop E-29, Atlanta, GA 30333; Tel: 888.422.8737; Fax: 404.639.6359; Email: ATSDRIC@cdc.gov. This resource can be found online at: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov.
Briggs, Shirley A. and the Rachel Carson Council. Basic Guide to Pesticides: Their Characteristics and Hazards. (Washington, DC: Taylor & Francis, 1992).
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1962).
CONCERN, Inc. Household Waste: Issues and Opportunities. (Washington, DC: CONCERN, Inc., 1989). To obtain this resource contact CONCERN at 1794 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC 20009; Tel: 202.328.8160; Fax: 202.387.3378; Email: concern@igc.org.
CONCERN, Inc. Pesticides in Our Communities: Choices for Change. (Washington, DC: CONCERN, Inc., 1992). To obtain this resource contact CONCERN at 1794 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC 20009; Tel: 202.328.8160; Fax: 202.387.3378; Email: concern@igc.org.
CONCERN, Inc. Waste: Choices for Communities. (Washington, DC: CONCERN, Inc., 1988). To obtain this resource contact CONCERN at 1794 Columbia Road NW, Washington, DC 20009; Tel: 202.328.8160; Fax: 202.387.3378; Email: concern@igc.org.
Environmental Protection Agency. Risk-Screening Environmental Indicators. This CD-ROM tool can be used to compare relative risk from toxic chemicals in local communities. To obtain this resource contact TSCA Assistance Information Service; Tel: 202.554.1404; email: Tsca-hotline@epa.gov. For further information, visit the EPA website at www.epa.gov/opptintr/env_ind/index.html.
Fishbein, Bette. Building for the Future: Strategies to Reduce Construction and Demolition Waste in Municipal Projects. (New York, NY: INFORM, Inc., 1998). This report describes strategies that have been used around the country to reduce waste during the design, construction and demolition phases of municipal building projects. To obtain this resource contact Whitman Distribution,10 Water Street, Lebanon, NH 03766; Tel: 800.353.3730.
Fishbein, Bette K. and Caroline Gelb. Making Less Garbage: A Planning Guide for Communities. (New York, NY: INFORM, Inc., 1992). This guide shows municipal solid waste planners how to make source reduction happen. To obtain this resource contact INFORM, Inc., 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005; Tel: 212.361.2400; Fax: 212.361.2412.
Heartland Center for Leadership Development in cooperation with the University of Nebraska - Lincoln. W. K. Kellogg Collection of Rural Community Development Resources. This site contains an annotated bibliography of the W. K. Kellogg Collection of Rural Community Development materials - guidebooks, manuals, workshop materials, reports, books, and videos - as well as information on how to obtain each resource. This resource can be found online at: http://www.unl.edu/kellogg/index.html.
Hershkowitz, Allen. Too Good To Throw Away. (New York, NY: Natural Resources Defense Council, 1997). This publication examines recycling's record and the rhetoric of the anti-recycling lobby. To obtain this resource contact NRDC Publications Department, 40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011.
Kenworthy, Lauren and E. Schaeffer. A Citizen's Guide to Promoting Toxic Waste Reduction. (New York, NY: INFORM, Inc., 1990). To obtain this resource contact INFORM, Inc., 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005; Tel: 212.361.2400; Fax: 212.361.2412.
Lachman, Beth. Linking Sustainable Community Activities to Pollution Prevention: A Sourcebook. (Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 1997). This report discusses the sustainable community movement and explores the relationship between sustainable community activities and pollution prevention. To obtain this resource contact RAND, 1700 Main Street, P.O. Box 2138, Santa Monica, CA 90407-2138; Tel: 310.393.0411. This resource can be found online at: http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR855/index.html.
Materials for the Future Foundation. Manufacturing with Reused and Recycled Materials: 50 Business Opportunities. (San Francisco, CA: 1998). This guide is designed for the entrepreneur or community organization interested in starting a manufacturing business with recycled materials. To obtain this resource contact Materials for the Future Foundation, P.O. Box 29091, San Francisco, CA 94129-0091; Phone: 415.561.6530; Email: mff@igc.org.
The Minnesota Environmental Initiative (MEI). The Blue Ribbon Task Force's Print Buyer Guidelines. This is a step-by-step guide on how to minimize the environmental impacts of printed materials while remaining cost conscious and preserving quality. To obtain this resource contact MEI, 219 North Second Street, #201, Minneapolis, MN 55402-1324; Tel: 612.334.3388. This resource can be found online at: http://www.mn-ei.org/policy.html.
National Environmental Law Center. At The Source: A Newsletter for the Pollution Prevention Network. To obtain this resource call the National Environmental Law Center, 29 Temple Place, Boston, MA 02111; Tel: 617.422.0880; Fax: 617.422.0881; Email: nelc@igc.apc.org.
Owens, Kagan, and Jay Feldman. "The Schooling of State Pesticide Laws: Review of State Pesticide Laws Regarding Schools," Pesticides and You, Vol. 16, No. 3 . (Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides (NCAMP), 1998). This report addresses issues that specifically pertain to states' laws on pesticide use in schools. To obtain this resource contact Beyond Pesticides/NCAMP, 701 E Street, SE, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20003; Tel: 202.543.5450. This resource can be found online at: http://www.beyondpesticides.org.
Parker, Daniel. Catalog of Environmental Indicators, Vol. 1. (Tallahassee, FL 32306-4025: Florida Center for Public Management). This volume contains lists of natural resource indicators, plus food safety, population, environmental justice, and environmental management response indicators. To obtain this resource contact Daniel Parker, Florida Center for Public Management, University Center Building C, Suite 4400, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4025; Phone: 850.644.2242; Fax: 850.644.4339. This resource can be found online at: http://www.fsu.edu/~cpm/segip/products/index.html.
Platt, Brenda. Creating Wealth from Everyday Items. (Washington, DC: Institute for Local-Reliance, 1997). This publication profiles household collection programs and model reuse operations that handle reusable goods. To obtain this resource contact the Institute for Local Self Reliance, 2425 18th street, NW, Washington, DC 20003; Tel: 202.232.4108; Fax: 202.332.0463; Email: ilsr@igc.apc.org.
Saphire, David. Making Less Garbage on Campus: A Hand-on Guide. (New York, NY: INFORM, Inc., 1995). This report offers case studies of campuses that have learned to prevent waste in a variety of innovative ways and includes checklists for action. To obtain this resource contact Whitman Distribution,10 Water Street, Lebanon, NH 03766; Tel: 800.353.3730.
Saphire, David and Sharene Azimi. Rethinking Resources: New Ideas for Community Waste Prevention. (New York, NY: INFORM, Inc., 1997). This report explores some of the key limiting factors to greater implementation of government waste prevention programs and describes a broad array of public and private sector initiatives that have overcome these limitiations. To obtain this resource contact Whitman Distribution,10 Water Street, Lebanon, NH 03766; Tel: 800.353.3730.
US Environmental Protection Agency. Source Reduction Program Potential Manual: A Planning Tool. (1997). This manual is designed to help solid waste planners estimate in advance the potential of various source reduction programs. To obtain this resource contact the RCRA Hotline at 703.412.9810 in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, or 800.424.9346.
US Environmental Protection Agency. Financing Guide for Recycling Businesses. (US Environmental Protection Agency). This EPA guidebook provides resources to small recycling/reuse businesses regarding how to find financing. This resource can be found online at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/recycle/finguide/index.htm.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Pollution and Prevention. 1997 Toxics Release Inventory and Right-to-Know Conference Proceedings. (March 1998). This report provides summaries, analyses and comparison of 1997 TRI data. This resource can be found online at: http://www.epa.gov/tri/tri97/drhome.htm.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Cutting the Waste Stream in Half: Record-Setting Communities Show How [EPA530-R-99- 013] . (1999). This report, a result of a project conducted by the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, profiles 18 cities and counties with record-setting waste prevention and recycling programs. To obtain this resource contact the RCRA Hotline, 800.424.9346.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Reusable News. This newsletter contains articles on a variety of topics related to waste reduction, recycling, and methods used in communities to reduce waste. This resource can be found online at: http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/recycle/reuses.htm>.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Service-Learning Education Beyond the Classroom [EPA530-K-99-001] . This booklet profiles both school-based and community-based recycling and waste reduction initiatives that emphasize education as well as service. To obtain this resource contact RCRA Hotline, 800.424.9346.
Winter, John P. and Sharene Azimi. Less Garbage Overnight: A Waste Prevention Guide for the Lodging Industry. (New York, NY: INFORM, Inc., 1996). This report describes how hotels and motels can prevent the generation of solid waste, while saving money, and offers numerous case studies. To obtain this resource contact Whitman Distribution, 10 Water Street, Lebanon, NH 03766; Tel: 800.353.3730.
Wise, Marian and Lauren Kenworthy. Preventing Industrial Toxic Hazards: A Guide for Communities. (New York, NY: INFORM, Inc., 1993). This guide leads community groups step-by-step through a process for encouraging local plants to reduce their use of toxic chemicals and their creation of toxic waste. To obtain this resource contact INFORM, Inc., 120 Wall Street, New York, NY 10005; Tel: 212.361.2400; Fax: 212.361.2412.
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Appalachian Regional Recycling Consortium, Radford, Va.--A cooperative alliance among planning district commissions responsible for 21 rural counties and their cities has organized multi-dimensional programs to promote material recycling.
Clean Cities Recycling, Inc., Griffith, Ind.--A community-backed non-profit corporation, provides education and recycling services, under a contract from local government, utilizing homeless persons for part of it labor force.
Southern Echo, Jackson, Miss.--A statewide educational organization works with members of the African-American community on sustainable agriculture and environmental safety, using an intergenerational approach.
SunShares, Inc., Durhan, No. Car.--A non-profit organization is working with local communities on innovative approaches to waste collection and recycling, solar technologies, waste conservation, and environmental safety.
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Sustainable Communities Network (SCN) Revised April 29, 2002