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True Green Report

Dirty diaper decor

by Heather Stockford

September 8, 2003

Since the invention of the oh-so convenient disposable diaper, 98 percent of parents have one thing less to worry about as they throw their child’s do-do out of sight, out of mind, and into the nearest landfill. However, concerns over the amount of landfill space available and the recent recycling craze has bred a new company called Knowaste, born in the early 1990’s.

Knowaste is a recycling company that will break down diapers, adult incontinent materials, and feminine hygiene products into their raw ingredients to be reincarnated as wallpaper, oil filters, shoe insoles and plastic building materials.

It is a beautiful thought that a child can dirty a diaper one day, and parents can decorate bathroom walls with it the next. But does it work?

The Washington Times reports that diaper-recycling actually does more harm to the environment that good because of the fuel-burning machinery process that breaks down the material, consuming up to 1.7 million gallons of water a year to support a city wide program.

Many cities have rejected the program, including Toronto in 1997, because of the high costs on taxpayers. In Santa Clarita, California, Knowaste is currently setting up a pilot program that feeds off of $250,000 from taxpayers and an additional quarter million from the city. The cost per ton of diapers collected would be $1,800, and a managing editor of the Santa Clarita Signal newspaper calculated that it would cost "about $28 to dump a ton of trash at a landfill. So, for the same amount it would cost to recycle, say, nine diapers, you can dump 8,000 of them."

In the end, when all is paid for, only about 1 percent is converted into useable product. The rest of the sludge indirectly meets its destiny in the sewers and landfills of the world where it should have gone to in the first place.


Battle of the beasts

What are executives to do when a pack of tiger suit-wearing NGO activists attack their companies in high-profile campaigns? Should they fight back, ignore or befriend these demanding lobbyists who seem to drag on the tails of leading firms such as Nike, Shell, KFC and Fords.

The Economist reports that brand-name firms such as Nike, Burger King and Wendy’s are more likely to co-operate with attacking NGOs. Debora Spar, of the Harvard Business School, states that firms may save money if they capitulate quickly rather than fight back.

This is not the case for ExxonMobile who is fighting against Greenpeace’s demands that it reduces its production of fuel that may contribute to climate change. Meeting these demands would put massive money stresses on the company, so the executives will just have to calmly ignore having their offices invaded by roaring environmentalists dressed in tiger suites.

For those firms caught in battle, have no fear, a study by Craig Smith of the London Business School shows that the NGOs campaigning against a company, urging customers to drop their loyalty and join hunger strikes, have little impact on the public. However, campaign stunts do attract a lot of media publicity and organizers may be thinking more about raising donations from consumers than the actual cause they’re fighting for.


Recipes make a bang in court

The World Wide Web is a great place to find instructions on how to care for your pet, build toy boats, and craft Molotov cocktails, pipe bombs, and various other explosive devices. A 20-year-old kid from L.A with a knack for chemistry posted an anarchist’ Web page innocently offering explosive recipes for the sake of aiding others who encounter police brutality. Freedom of speech right? Not on the world’s largest information highway, says U.S. District Judge Stephan V. Wilson.

A single felony count strictly looms over Sherman Martin Austin’s head along with an 8-11 month prison sentence according to the L.A. Times. Wilson stood strong by his decision despite cries that the sentence be split to four months in prison and four months in a halfway-house.

Austin is described by his defender, Ronald Kaye, as a "very peaceful person", and Austin’s psychologist muses that the youngster did "not appear to have seriously considered the ramifications". However, his history may prove otherwise.

Austin has been involved in numerous anti-government protests, was arrested in 2001 during a May Day March in Long Beach, and arrested again in a 2002 demonstration in New York against the World Economic Forum.