ECO BITES

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ECO-BITES
by JANE BOGNER
SUNDAY, August 24, 2003

This column is filled with Eco-Bites: short updates on environment news.

FOILED AGAIN
I’m not a fan of disposable packaging but I have to admit, Reynolds Aluminum has developed a better wrap. Reynolds Metals invented aluminum foil for the military during World War II. It came into household use by accident in the early 1940s. One Thanksgiving morning, the wife of a Reynolds executive asked him to find a large turkey roasting pan. Figuring that he had little chance finding a pan on a holiday, he offered her some aluminum foil that he happened to have in his briefcase. He was planning to show it to a customer at a commercial kitchen. The makeshift roasting pan worked like a charm.

In 1947 the company started selling Reynolds Wrap to the public. This year, Reynolds has introduced Release Non-stick Aluminum Foil. We have tried it at our house and were pleasantly surprised with the easy cleanup. Food doesn’t stick, but be cautious as food will slip off the foil as I learned when latkes went flying all over my oven.

Aluminum continues to be one of the easiest and most profitable materials to recycle and now it is easier for you to clean it before recycling.

BRITISH JUNK MAIL
I devoted my July column to getting off junk mail lists. The United Kingdom has taken a different approach. Currently, British citizens receive 21 billion items of junk mail annually. Only 13 percent ofthat mail is recycled. Under a new plan, the British government will work with the direct-mail industry to increase the recycling rate to 70 percent by 2013. The Daily Grist reported that the 900 members of Britain's Direct Mail Association will refine their target audiences, make their materials easier to recycle, and work with local authorities to improve recycling facilities.

RECYCLING OLD WOOD
VALCORE’s ReUse Barn and donation bins are sporting new signs. Steve Wiskerson salvaged old fence boards for these great signs. Drop by and take a look.

The Wooden Duck, a furniture store in Berkeley, recycles wood to craft new furniture. They salvage and refinish old-growth Douglas fir, 150-year-old white oak, and Indonesian teak. The company is dedicated to preserving the world's forest through the exclusive use of reclaimed timber. This wood comes from demolished barns and warehouses throughout California and the Pacific Northwest. Old world woodworking techniques are combined with modern finishes to create their furniture.

Recently, they have begun buying used South African products made from old-growth Douglas fir that was shipped to Africa in the 1800s. Now the wood is coming home, where craftspersons will pull it apart and turn it into some of the greenest furniture around. The Wooden Duck is located at 2919 Seventh Street in Berkeley (510 848-3575, www.thewoodenduck.com).

COASTAL CLEANUP DAY
VALCORE Recycling and Vallejo Sanitation and Flood Control Districts have identified seven sights for this year’s cleanup event. The date is Saturday, September 20 from 9:00 a.m. to Noon. To sign up as a beach captain or volunteer, please call 707 55-EARTH.

VALCORE Recycling Vice President Jane Bogner's "A Sorted Affair" is published every other week in the Times-Herald, Community Outlook Section. For recycling information call Genie Kaggerud, VALCORE Recycling manager at 645-8258 or visit www.VALCORErecycling.org.