CT Green Scene

The Circular Economy - Moving away from Planned Obsolescence

An interesting element of this concept is that it appears to be very viable. With the emergence of car sharing, house swapping, and other community driven sharing programs - it seems we're well on our way. This video does a great job at creating additional context and broadens the applicability of this concept beyond the home to the work place.

 

Need an Easy New Year’s Resolution? Green Your Office Equipment!

Via our friends at Northeast Recycling Council

The Regional Water Authority, New Haven, Connecticut is one of the newest members to join the State Electronics Challenge.  The Challenge takes the mystery out of buying green office equipment, using it efficiently, and recycling it responsibly by providing a simple, straightforward process.         

The Challenge is a free program that provides public sector entities with access to tools, resources, and technical assistance to green their purchase, use and/or recycling of office equipment.  It documents the success of participating programs and provides Partners with annual sustainability reports that detail reductions in energy use, GHGs, and waste.  Exemplary programs are acknowledged through the Challenge’s awards and recognition program.

To learn more about the State Electronics Challenge, register for an introductory webinar.  There are two webinars scheduled:

• February 12, 3 p.m. eastern

To register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2523028787997809152

• March 14, 3 p.m. eastern

To register: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3635301347725787392

Who’s Eligible to Join the Challenge:

• State and tribal agencies
• Cities & towns
• Counties
• K-12 Schools
• Colleges & universities
• Public utilities
• Libraries

For more information, contact info@stateelectronicschallenge.net or visit the website.

The State Electronics Challenge is funded by a grant from the EPA Region 5 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and with the support of its sponsors—Samsung, Panasonic, Sims Recycling Solutions, the Consumer Electronics Association, and the ISRI R2/RIOS program.

Post Office to use junk mail for profit

This has got to rank up there as one of the dumber business plans: use junk mail to boost your profit margin. That's what the U.S. Postal Service, struggling financially with a reported $5 billion loss in September, thinks will pull them out of their own recession. 

The downside? Direct mail only brings in business about two percent of the time. (See a previous article from this site on junk mail.) Most people just throw it out. We're simply making more garbage. As if our landfills don't have enough crap, we now have the Post Office adding to the fray. Brilliant.

See an excerpt below from CNNMoney that was posted earlier today.

Postal Service: Junk mail could be new cash cow
By Jennifer Liberto | CNNMoney.com 

The U.S. Postal Service wants small businesses to send more direct mail, a.k.a. junk mail, to help the beleaguered agency expand its revenue stream by hundreds of millions of dollars.

In a campaign called "Every Door Direct Mail," the Postal Service is touting a year-old online tool to help small businesses micro-target direct mail. The Web tool allows firms to tap customers by neighborhood or zip code without names or addresses.

The Postal Service has made headlines recently with cost-cutting moves to get out of the red over the next few years. The agency is working to close more than 200 postal plants that may cost 32,000 jobs, to cut Saturday service,and to delay delivery of some first-class mail .Separately, officials may also consider a hike in the price of a first-class stamp by a nickel to 50 cents.

No closures will happen until a self-imposed deadline of May 15, when a moratorium on postal service facility closures expires. Postal advocates for are pushing Democrats and Republicans to come up with a bipartisan plan to prevent the closures, but so far little progress has been made.

In the meantime, the Postal Service is looking to expand other revenue streams, including this direct mail program.

To read more, click here.

Image courtesy of MyZeroWaste.com.