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Markets Initiative, a group of Canadian
environmental organizations working with
Greenpeace, has convinced 67 Canadian publishers
to make formal commitments to phase out
virgin paper in their books. The coalition
even provides an extensive list of eco-friendly
current titles on its website.
Greenpeace and its cohorts have had less
success with American publishers, though,
going so far as to recommend that U.S. buyers
of the latest Harry Potter book make their
purchases online from Canadian purveyors
offering Raincoast Books’ version
on 100 percent recycled paper.
It is much the same story on the magazine
side, where a few dozen publishers have
embraced the use of recycled paper, while
the big players continue to utilize virgin
fibers, mainly due to cost considerations,
in putting out their glossy productions.
The Magazine PAPER Project (MPP), which
is trying to get big publishers to take
the lead in choosing recycled as well as
chlorine-free options, lists more than 60
magazines that have made a commitment to
using ecologically responsible papers, such
as those that contain “post-consumer”
recycled content or that are produced using
non-toxic manufacturing processes. The list
includes a wide range of publications, from
Ms. Magazine to Discover to Shape, and just
about every environmental and non-profit
publication in-between. MPP, which is part
of the non-profit Co-op America’s
WoodWise program, walks publishers through
their papers’ impacts and assists
them in adopting environmentally preferable
alternatives.
Perhaps an indication of things to come,
the 2002 book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking
the Way We Make Things, by William McDonough
and Michael Braungart--which describes how
ideas of “ecologically intelligent
design” can be applied to everyday
things in order to reduce environmental
damage--is printed on a synthetic “paper”
made from plastic resins. The book’s
pages look and feel like paper, are waterproof--and
can be recycled in communities that have
the means to collect polypropylene, a material
similar to that which is used in yogurt
containers. The paper is significantly more
costly to produce than paper (for now),
but this “tree-free” book, says
the book’s website, “points
the way toward the day when synthetic books,
like many other products, can be used, recycled
and used again without losing material quality…”
CONTACTS:
Magazine PAPER Project, www.coopamerica.org/programs/woodwise/paperproject
Greenpeace Book Campaign, www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/forests/greenpeace-book-campaign
Markets Initiative, www.oldgrowthfree.com
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Dear EarthTalk:
Are there ways to recycle old athletic shoes?
—
Carmen Wolf, Los Angeles, CA
Probably the best way to make your worn
out sneakers go the extra mile is to recycle
them through Nike’s Reuse-a-Shoe program,
which since 1993 has converted more than
15 million old athletic shoes (any brand,
not just its own) into components in more
than 170 community sport surfaces across
the United States as well as in the United
Kingdom, Australia and Japan.
Nike separates the incoming old shoes into
their component parts, and then grinds the
various materials up at its Reuse-A-Shoe
recycling facility in Wilsonville, Oregon.
The resulting material, collectively know
as “Nike Grind,” is separated
into three categories: outsole rubber, midsole
foam and upper fabric. Rubber from the outsole
is used in the making of synthetic soccer,
football and baseball fields; foam from
the midsole is used for synthetic basketball
courts, tennis courts and playground surfaces;
and fabric from the shoes’ upper becomes
padding used under hardwood basketball floors.
Nike supplies such major indoor and outdoor
athletic surface companies such as Atlas
Track (running surfaces), Rebound Ace (tennis
and basketball courts), Connor Sports Flooring
(gym floors) and Field Turf (synthetic outdoor
grass).
According to Nike, it takes approximately
75,000 pairs of shoes to make one outdoor
playing field. The company’s goal
is to recycle two million pairs of shoes
each year.
Reuse-a-Shoe accepts all athletic shoes
as long as they do not contain any metal
(zippers, eyelets, spikes, etc.). The Nike
website offers a list of collection locations--which
includes recycling centers at municipalities
from coast to coast--as well as an address
to which old shoes can be shipped. Shoes
submitted to the free program must be clean
(mud-free) and tied together or paired accordingly.
The company also hopes to eventually recycle
old shoes into new ones.
For people with wearable athletic shoes
they'd like to be rid of, there’s
also the option of donating sneakers to
local charities and thrift stores. The Children’s
Rights Foundation (CRF), for one, sponsors
an annual used athletic shoe drive through
different retail shoe shops nationally.
Retailers promote the shoe drive through
normal means of advertising. Customers are
directed to bring their used wearable shoes
to participating stores in exchange for
a discount on new shoes as decided by individual
retailers. CRF then donates the used sneakers
to needy and at-risk children and their
families within the U.S. and abroad.
Some local recycling services will also
take your old wearable sneakers and shoes
and direct them to those in need. One such
service is Eco-Cycle, a non-profit recycler
based in Boulder, Colorado. The organization’s
Center for Hard-to-Recycle Materials program
will take your old pairs of shoes--as well
as accessories and other clothing--and send
them to relief agencies in developing countries.
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