Tuesday, December 18, 2001
Reuse Those Packing Peanuts
My Poynter pal Larry Larsen found another good topic for Morning Meeting; what to do with all of those packing peanuts you get in boxes during the holidays. The answer, reuse them.
The Plastic Loose Fill Council was founded in 1991 by major U.S. manufacturers of Styrofoam peanuts to promote their reuse. According the council, manufacturers make about 45 million pounds of loose fill a year.
Here is a list of companies that make packing peanuts and other such packing “loose fill.”
Here is a nifty site where you can find recycling centers for packing peanuts. Just type in your zip code and city. I found two here in little ole’ St Petersburg, Fla. There are 1,500 reuse centers nationwide.
In fact some businesses on the island of St Croix, put the peanuts outside their business and people who need them can just get what they need.
“Geraldine Smith, executive director for St. Thomas-St. John of the Anti-Litter and Beautification Commission, said that reusing the peanuts keeps them out of the landfills. That’s good, she added, because the Styrofoam does not degrade and remains intact indefinitely. “This extends the landfill’s life,” she said. Smith also said if people reuse Styrofoam peanuts, manufacturers will make less of them, which will save natural resources. “
Outing Fake Navy SEALs
Investigative reporter Mike Mather at WTKR Norfolk sent this idea to Morning Meeting; “On the web is a site called CyberSeals.org, and it is a site dedicated to “outing” people who claim false membership in the Navy’s most elite unit, the SEALS. That fact may be interesting on its own, but the site also includes a “wall of shame” where they have posted the names of people who falsely claim to have been SEALS, sometimes with their pictures. The owners of the site take tips from people who have doubts about someone’s claims, and then enter that name in a database of all people who have graduated the grueling training. They post the fakers online. Included in the group of fakers are teachers, doctors, police officers and self-proclaimed “heroes.” The group’s “outings” have led to some resignations among local government types whose resumes and claims have been debunked.
Tip Sharing at Restaurants
Tip sharing is a hot topic in the food business right now. See this exchange on Restaurantreport.com.
The main issue is whether tips should be shared and pooled among all restaurant staff in order to improve service or whether tip sharing takes away the individual incentive to do great work.
What is the law on this?
