67 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
67 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
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EPA Bans Its Own _Environmental_Consumer's_Handbook_
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After Makers of Disposables and Cleaning Products Complain
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By Jym Dyer
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Last October the Environmental Protection Agency released a
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44-page booklet: _The_Environmental_Consumer's_Handbook_.
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This February they stopped distribution the booklet, allegedly
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because it contained "blanket statements" and "incorrect
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information."
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Environmental Action, an environmental lobbying and education
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organization, has obtained documents that suggest different
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motives. From December 1990 through February 1991, the EPA
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received letters or visits from members of these organizations:
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The Foodservice and Packaging Institute
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Procter & Gamble
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Scott Paper
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Sweetheart Cup
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These organizations demanded that the EPA stop distributing
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the booklet, and they got what they wanted. A letter from
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Scott Paper to EPA Assistant Administrator Donald Clay thanked
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him for arranging a meeting the company had been granted with
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EPA officials, because these officials "immediately halted
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further distribution of the book."
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The organizations' complaints are predictable, given the
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products they profit from. The makers of disposable products
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complained because the book suggested such things as bringing
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a reusable cup to work, or using a sponge instead of paper
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towels.
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Procter & Gamble was concerned about tips on doing housework
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with simple compounds like baking soda, vinegar, and Borax.
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There are now dozens of consumer books on the market offering
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these tips. The EPA is now working on a revised edition which
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may well exclude the very same tips the other books recommend!
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Environmental Action has copies of the EPA's original handbook,
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and you can write their Solid Waste Alternative Project (SWAP)
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to get a copy. Environmental Action also recommends that
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you write to Bruce Weddle at the EPA, "tell him you like the
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booklet, and that you would rather see your tax dollars go
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to helping the public, than to protecting the interest of
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companies that make toxic household cleaners and disposable
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products." Here are some addresses:
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SWAP
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Environmental Action
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1525 New Hampshire Ave.. NW
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Washington, DC 20036
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Bruce Weddle
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Director, Office of Solid Waste
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
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401 M St., SW
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Washington, DC 20460
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[Information for the above comes from the May/June 1991 issue of
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_Environmental_Action_Magazine_. Feel free to redistribute this
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information widely.]
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