Composting Videos
This is an amazing set of videos on home composting that are short, to the point, and totally fascinating. I’d love to see 100% of all my friends composting kitchen and yard scraps. Its easy to do it right, and sure helps our gardens and houseplants stay happy!
Annie Hauck-Lawson, of FoodVoice.net shares a series of composting videos that are a must see.
Starbucks makes progress in cup recycling goal
As reported, Starbucks set an ambitious goal to ensure 100% of its cups are reusable or recyclable by 2015.
The good news is, they are making progress!
With International Paper and Mississippi River Pulp, LLC, Starbucks has finished a six-week pilot project that for the first timeproved Starbucks used paper cups can be recycled into new paper cups. So this success takes them one step closer.
Starbucks also has another recycling pilot project underway in New York. The company is collecting paper cups at 86 of its Manhattan stores (just how many do they have in Manhattan anyway?) to determine whether they can be recycled into bath tissue and paper towels.
Another recycling project is slated for 2011 in Chicago, which aims to transform the company’s discarded paper cups into napkins for use in its stores.
This past year, Starbucks began front-of-store cup collection in Toronto and Seattle, where its cups can be recycled, and in San Francisco, where its cups can be composted.
Do you know of any other interesting paper recycling initiatives? If you do, let me know!
Ultimately Gazelle Disappoints
OK, got the scoop from Gazelle today. Rather then paraphrase, here’s the note I received from customer service:
Hello Tim,
I have researched your order, unfortunately at this time we do not provide free shipping for items that are eligible for recycling only. If you would like to send your items please send them to:
Gazelle
61 North Beacon St.
Suite 3000
Boston Ma, 02134
If you would rather not send in your item here is a link to a page on our site that can help you locate a local recycle center so you can responsibly recycle these items.
Thank you,
Nicole
Customer Care
This is just a bit of a snafu don’t you think? No where is this policy mentioned on the site, or in the order fulfillment process. In fact, I was instructed to print up a packing slip and the FAQ says an envelope will arrive shortly.
At a minimum, this policy should be revealed during the order fulfillment process, prior to the step where one prints up the packing slip.
I venture to say that the envelope should be sent anyway in order to “buy a customer.” Everyone knows that customer acquisition is much more costly than repeat business, so Gazelle would do well to suffer a small loss in order to acquire a customer who will experience a smooth process from the get go, gain confidence from the experience and then continue to do (profitable) business with them.
As it is, I’m grumpy with Gazelle, doubtful that I’ll do business with them in the future and I now have to source a local cell phone recycler – after having old junk clutter my desktop for two weeks.
More on Franchised Waste Markets
David Davis, principal of MSW Consultants sent me an email about my previous Franchised Waste Market post. He also emailed me a white paper he wrote for the city of Monrovia, CA.
Graciously, David agreed to let me post an excerpt. Let me know what you think about his take!
Lower Rates than those in Cities with a Single Exclusive Hauler Rates for commercial refuse collection service in cities with non-exclusive systems are
typically lower than those in cities in which a single hauler provides exclusive service to both the residential and commercial sectors. This is mainly due to two factors: market pressure and ‘subsidization.’
First, in non-exclusive systems, there is continued downward competitive market pressure on rates. If a hauler increases its rates too much, the customer is usually able to readily switch to another service provider.6 As a result, the freemarket keeps rates in check.
However, commercial rates in cities that have a single hauler with a city-wide exclusive contract typically suffer from a phenomenon known as ‘subsidization.’ In these cities, the commercial rates often subsidize the residential rates.
This phenomenon typically occurs over time when a single hauler provides exclusive service to both the residential and commercial sectors, typically under a single contract. From the hauler’s profit-seeking perspective, it usually views the city as a whole. The hauler is typically indifferent as to how much of its profit comes from the residential or commercial sector, as long as the whole contract is profitable. Consequently, as rates are adjusted and the
contract re-negotiated over time, there is a tendency for the commercial rates to be increased more than the residential rates.
This tendency is caused by two factors. First, residential rates usually consist of one or two simple monthly charges that are charged to a large number of single family customers. These high-profile rates are easily understood and often compared to similar rates in nearby jurisdictions. However, commercial rates are more abstract, and are based on a more complicated matrix of the size and number of bins, and number of weekly pickups.
Consequently, residential rates are often subject to more scrutiny when they are adjusted or re-negotiated.
The second factor is the political nature of local government. There are simply more voters in the residential sector. Elected officials tend to represent the needs of their constituents, and more of their constituents are residential ratepayers. As a result, commercial rates tend to increase more over time than residential rates. Those commercial rates tend to be higher than the rates charged in non-exclusive systems, which are kept in check by market pressure.
