January 2005 Newsletter
Looking Toward the 2005 Legislative Session
E-Waste Progress Report
A Passion for Puppets and Materials Re-use
What to do with it?
Question of the Month
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Looking Toward the 2005 Legislative Session
Introducing a Common Environmental Agenda
The 2005 state legislative session is now upon us! One of RA’s links to the legislative process is the Oregon Conservation Network (OCN), a coalition of more than 70 conservation groups, including RA, that work together to protect Oregon’s environmental heritage in the state legislature. OCN provides workshops around the state to educate citizens about how to participate in the legislative process. To check dates and locations for the January series, select “Training Opportunities” at http://www.olcveducationfund.org/. Join them and become more informed about how to influence legislation.
OCN also offers a free weekly e-bulletin called the Salem Watch, which provides status updates of environmental bills going through the legislature. The Network sends out legislative action alerts and prints an environmental handbook to inform legislators and the public about environmental issues (RA co-writes and edits the recycling chapter). The handbook is available on their web site under the “Learn More” link.
Over the past months they have worked for the first time with their member groups around the state to create a Common Environmental Agenda for the 2005 legislative session. This reflects OCN’s view of the six most important priorities for the 2005 session. While none of the projects is directly related to recycling/waste prevention some are relevant, and RA has endorsed the agenda, which we’d like to share with you. The agenda is also listed on the OCN web site.
Protecting the Oregon Dream: No Rollbacks
The 2005
Legislature should pass no law that weakens or rolls back existing environmental
safeguards. For the past five sessions, most of the Legislature’s energy on
the environment has focused on dozens of efforts to roll back or weaken existing
safeguards. The 2005 Legislature should instead focus upon restoring the bipartisan
ethic that made Oregon a national leader in protecting the environment based
on the understanding that a healthy environment and a strong economy go hand
in hand. For more information, contact Jed Jorgensen, Oregon League of Conservation
Voters, at jed@olcv.org.
Campaign for Conservation Investment
The 2005 Legislature
should restore funding that has been cut from natural resource agency budgets,
and lay the foundation for a long-term investment program to protect fish and
wildlife, repair Oregon’s natural infrastructure, and create jobs in rural communities.
In 1998, Oregon voters overwhelmingly passed Measure 66, a constitutional amendment
dedicating 15% of the state’s lottery revenues to parks, habitat conservation,
and watershed restoration efforts. In response to recent state budget difficulties,
the Legislature has used a significant part of this constitutionally dedicated
funding for other purposes. In 2005, conservationists will educate legislators
about the purposes of Measure 66 and the opportunities to inject money and jobs
into rural communities through investments in natural resource conservation
that produce lasting value for all Oregonians. For more information contact
Bruce Taylor, Defenders of Wildlife, at btaylor@defenders.org.
Closing the Toxic Mixing Zones Loophole to Restore
Oregon’s Rivers
The 2005 Legislature should close the Department of Environmental
Quality loophole that allows pollution to be released into Oregon’s rivers at
toxic levels. The loophole allows polluters to violate clean water laws in Oregon’s
rivers and streams in areas known as “mixing zones.” As it stands today, toxic
pollutants are allowed to “mix” by being pumped from pipes directly into Oregon’s
rivers at levels that DEQ scientists admit are toxic. This bill seeks to phase
out mixing zones over a five-year period. Wastewater treatment plants are allowed
seven years to phase out mixing zones. For more information contact Brent Foster,
Sierra Club, at brentfoster@ecoisp.com,
Travis Williams, Willamette Riverkeeper, at travis@willamette-
riverkeeper.org, or Rhett Lawrence, Oregon State Public Interest Research
Group, at rhettlawrence@yahoo.com.
Creating Marine Reserves for Oregon’s Future
The
2005 Legislature should confirm the Ocean Policy Advisory Committee (OPAC) and
establish a science-based system of marine reserves. Oregon’s fish stocks are
so depleted that the government is buying out commercial fisherman to reduce
pressure on resources. Scientists have found that an effective way to help restore
ocean resources is to establish areas off the coast as “marine reserves” where
fish and their habitat are protected. Once established, reserves allow “large,
fat female fish” to grow and reproduce in abundance, while their progeny seed
areas well outside the reserve boundaries. Oregon is the only state on the West
Coast without marine reserves. For more information contact Robin Hartmann,
Oregon Shores Conservation Coalition, at robinhartmann@msn.com
or Samantha Murray, Audubon Society of Portland, at smurray@audubonportland.org.
Diesel Solutions Act
The 2005 Legislature should
reduce unhealthy diesel exhaust and create new markets for Oregon farmers by
promoting biodiesel and establishing a fund to retrofit and replace dirty diesel
school buses. Diesel pollution, the leading air toxin in Oregon, has been linked
to lung cancer, upper respiratory illnesses, allergies, asthma attacks and death
from heart and respiratory disorders. Diesel is of particular concern as an
asthma trigger, especially for children and other vulnerable populations. People
in every county in Oregon are exposed to ambient concentrations of diesel pollution
above safe levels. For more information contact Chris Hagerbaumer, Oregon Environmental
Council, at chris@orcouncil.org.
Taking Back Our Right to Know: Implementing Oregon’s
Pesticide Use Reporting Law
The 2005 Legislature should properly fund Oregon’s
pesticide use reporting system. Five years ago, the Legislature voted overwhelmingly
to pass Oregon’s landmark pesticide use reporting law. Today, however, we still
have no information about where, when, how or how much pesticides are being
sprayed in our communities – both urban and rural – because the Legislature
has withheld funding for the program. In the 2005 session, the environmental
community will work to ensure this important program is funded so that information
about pesticide use will finally be available to help protect human health and
the environment. For more information contact Laura Weiss, Oregon Environmental
Council, at laura@orcouncil.org.
A seventh issue has just been added to the agenda: how to respond to the recently passed Measure 37. A strategy is currently being developed. Measure 37 puts everything from the state’s land use planning program at risk: from safeguards that protect farm and forestland from over development, to neighborhood zoning, to enforcing responsible limits on clear-cutting forests on private land. For more information go to http://www.olcv.org/olcvalerts/112404-m37update.html.
E-Waste Progress Report
Electronic Product Stewardship in Oregon
by Wayne Rifer
Recent months have seen an odd combination of no progress and considerable action on the e-waste front in Oregon. At our last reporting the Oregon Electronic Product Stewardship Advisory Committee, which was created by 2003 legislation that was introduced at the request of Recycling Advocates, was beginning to meet. Two members of the Recycling Advocates Board served on the committee. The committee completed its meetings and will produce a final report early in the year. There was strong participation by committee members including a lot of volunteer effort. The report will reflect a good set of stakeholder perspectives and will point to several possible paths forward.
However, the report will not include a recommendation of how progress can be made in Oregon. This is due to the lack of stakeholder consensus.
And Oregon stakeholders reflect the viewpoints of stakeholders nationally. The National Electronic Product Stewardship Initiative (NEPSI), a multi-stakeholder dialogue to develop a plan for end-of-life management of electronics, was in hiatus while the industry representatives worked to develop a compromise that they could agree on. And there it still lies. The news nationally is that it appears that the electronic manufacturers will not be able to agree on an approach.
The main sticking point is the financing system. In Oregon and nationally, Hewlett Packard, with Dell as its soft-spoken sidekick, wants a system that will allow them to do their own thing without a consumer fee – an Advanced Recycling Fee or ARF – on their products. Meanwhile the other industry stakeholders have decided that an ARF is the best approach. These two approaches embody contrasting philosophies, and agreement does not appear to be forthcoming.
Oregon’s Advisory Committee likewise could not agree on which financing approach is best. However, the final report will deal constructively with a number of peripheral issues, such as the role of reuse, job creation and market development, recycler permitting, a disposal ban on electronics, education and outreach, and state procurement. The report will also include a description and analysis of the financing options.
Meanwhile the challenge of electronics end-of-life management continues to garner considerable attention locally and nationally. Several states are introducing legislation and manufacturers are very actively campaigning for their preferred solutions.
Whither Oregon? The Advisory Committee meetings and final report does not provide an answer to the core challenge – how to pay for end-of-life management of electronics. Recycling Advocates is working with Representative Jackie Dingfelder, the sponsor of the 2003 legislation, to introduce a bill this session that would include an ARF and other provisions to establish an Oregon program. We will actively promote this legislation and will be contact RA members through our Action Alerts when, and if, it receives a hearing. To join RA’s Action Alert list, e-mail us at info@recyclingadvocates.org.
A Passion for Puppets
and Materials Re-use
Mudeye Puppet Company performs and teaches puppeteering
Many of us have seen beautiful puppets and marionettes crafted out of fiberglass and other high quality materials. For Bruce Orr, founder and director of the Mudeye Puppet Company, materials that many consider as waste can be re-used to create innovative, expressive, and thought provoking puppets.
“All materials for our puppets are reused, and I organize them into paper, plastic and rubber sections. I use lots of cardboard, plastic bottles, old bike inner tubes, yogurt cups and things like this. I also buy lots of materials from SCRAP,” says Orr.
Friends provide Orr with cardboard, bottles, containers, and other items. A company downtown provides plenty of free cardboard for reuse. He picks up his old inner tubes from North Portland Bike Works on North Mississippi. Orr notes that inner tubes make great legs, arms, necks, and joints for puppets.
An artist with a community vision
The Mudeye Puppet Company was founded by Bruce Orr to provide children and adults
with esteem- building puppet-making classes. Orr has collaborated with 40 different
local organizations to teach and perform, including many schools, non-profits
and community centers.
“In the two years since starting the company, I have taught close to 1000 people and partnered with organizations, including Native American Youth Association, Environmental Middle School, the Serendipity Center as well as many YMCA and SUN after school programs,” adds Orr. Currently the company is teaching at three SUN Schools in Gresham and the YMCA’s 21st Century after-school program.
In late March, Orr will again present PuppetGanza, a cabaret puppet show in which puppeteers of all different backgrounds perform together. Past PuppetGanzas have included hand puppets, giant puppets, object theater, puppet pageants performed by children and lots of audience participation. According to Orr, PuppetGanza is “family friendly” and includes critical perspectives on a variety of themes that are bound to interest adults.
Mudeye also provides public workshops. Most recently, the company put on its Winter Wonder Puppet Workshop in December.
A creative path starts early
Orr’s passion in puppeteering started in childhood when he made puppets out
of paper and performed shows for friends from behind the family sofa. His interest
in the craft was re-ignited when he was living in Philadelphia during the 2000
Republican Convention. Orr heard about how police raided the studio of the puppet
company Spiral Q, where activists were assembling giant puppets, banners, and
masks. The raid sparked significant protest against Philadelphia officials.
He later volunteered for the company and eventually became its education director.
While in Philadelphia, Orr worked as an art therapist at a psychiatric facility
and taught at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts.
Upon relocating to Portland, Orr wanted to create his own puppet company to give people the opportunity to express themselves. He named his new organization Mudeye Puppet Company after the slang term for the dragonfly nymph. “It’s about transformation and growth. I like to transform junk into living objects,” says Orr.
For more information on the Mudeye Puppet Company’s programs, performances, and workshops, go to www.mudeyepuppets.org or call Bruce Orr at (503) 284 3990. To sign up for the puppet company’s free online newsletter go to Mudeye’s web site or e-mail Orr at edbruce@critpath.org.
What to do with it?
Styrofoam, peanuts, and bubble wrap, etc.
The holiday season produces a hefty volume of materials in many family households, even in those that are trying to live more simply and with less waste. According to Judy Miller of Metro Recycling Information, many packaging and shipping stores (e.g., Mailboxes, Etc. and UPS stores) will take peanuts for reuse. She suggests calling first.
Metro suggests calling your hauler to find out details about putting trees and wreaths our for curbside yard debris collection. The Metro web site lists non-profits that fundraise by accepting trees and wreaths for a fee. For more information, go to http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleid=655.
For other post-holiday waste prevention and recycling ideas check http://www.metro-region.org/article.cfm?articleid=2397.
For a list of facilities that will take styrofoam, peanuts, bubble wrap and other packaging, go to Metro’s web site at http://www.metro-region.org/findrecycler or call the Metro Recycling Information line at (503) 234- 3000.
RA plans to support legislation that will reduce
hazardous e-waste in the coming months. According to recent research, which
of the following do small electronic devices like cell phones, PDA’s, and keyboard
mice leach out at levels considered as hazardous waste?
A. Cadmium
B. Copper
C. Iodine
D. Lead
E-mail your responses to info@recyclingadvocates.org or call us at (503) 777-0909 and leave a message by January 20.
To find out more about this topic, visit http://www.svtc.org/cleancc/ewastehazwaste.htm.
Do you have a question you would like us to publish? E-mail us your question at info@recyclingadvocates.org