THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 24, 1995 TAG: 9512220076
SECTION: HOME PAGE: G1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: AROUND THE HOUSE
SOURCE: BY MARY FLACHSENHAAR, SPECIAL TO DAILY BREAK
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
MANY SUGAR COOKIES and swigs of eggnog ago, this column offered advice on ways to ``use less stuff'' throughout the holiday season. The tips came courtesy of a group of individuals, corporations and organizations called Partners for Environmental Progress. The group even designated Nov. 16 as ``The First ULS (Use Less Stuff) Day.''
Well, how did your household do?
If you're like me, your intentions may have been noble. But, with holiday deadlines fast approaching, it became so easy to slip into old habits, like using half a roll of tape to ready a package for mailing.
For those of us who UTMS (used too much stuff), let us now try to shrink that pile - in ways that are gentle on the environment, of course. Before you open all the gifts on Christmas morning and haul out all the trash, consider these tips.
Robert Lilienfeld, editor of The Use Less Stuff Report, a publication of Partners for Environmental Progress based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, advises consumers: ``Before you recycle, try to reuse your holiday stuff yourself. Recycling puts stress on the environment because it uses up energy.''
He suggests, for example, saving gently used ribbons and bows in a cookie tin for next year, nesting cardboard boxes together to use again as needed.
Another of his favorite tactics is the neighborhood white elephant party. Everybody brings the gifts they can't live with and, hopefully, leaves with things they will use. (Hmmm, how's this for a recycling coup: The white elephant might be just the place to serve the fruitcakes that have been circulating the neighborhood for years.)
All that done, here is a list of places to recycle the rest of the pile.
Foam packing peanuts: Many of the packaging services listed in The Yellow Pages will accept the small foam pieces used to cushion packages. The Plastic Loosefill Council lists some local services on its toll-free ``peanut pipeline,'' (800) 828-2214. Here are two:
Mail Werks, 681 North Battlefield Blvd., Chesapeake, 436-3486.
Packaging Store - Handle with Care, Kemps River Crossing, Virginia Beach, 420-8781.
The following manufacturing companies also take foam peanuts:
Storopack, 513 Viking Drive, Virginia Beach, 498-9828.
RADVA, 2211 Elliott Ave., Portsmouth, 397-3119. RADVA also accepts the larger pieces of white foam that encase TVs, stereos, etc.
Corrugated cardboard: In the South Hampton Roads cities it services, the Southeastern Virginia Public Service Authority accepts heavy-duty cardboard at its drop-off centers but not through its curbside program.
Non-metallic gift wrap, magazines and catalogs, corrugated and thin cardboard, Christmas cards:
Atlantic Disposal Recycling, 431 S. Witchduck Road, Virginia Beach, 497-4562.
Tidewater Fibre Corp., 1958 Diamond Hill Road, Chesapeake, 543-5766.
The City of Virginia Beach collects these items at 76 public schools and five city drop-off centers.
Christmas cards: St. Jude's Ranch for Children, a residential facility for abused and troubled children in Nevada, welcomes contributions of used Christmas cards, which are converted into new cards by residents. The children trim the pictures from cards and paste them onto new ready-made greetings, earning spending money for their work. Their new cards are for sale for $6.50 for a pack of 10. Send cards to St. Jude's Ranch for Children, 100 St. Jude St., Boulder City, Nev. 89005. For information, call toll-free (800) 492-3562.
Best wishes for a new year that's filled with less stuff! by CNB