Everyone is welcome to attend all board and committee meetings.
Thank you!
REACT membership continues to grow with renewals from 77 % of last year’s members, plus 17 new members. If you are receiving this and have not received a REACT shopping bag, that means you have not yet renewed and we are hoping we don’t lose you! Please send $5 to PO Box 8942, Reston, VA 20195 and help Reston residents protect the environment! (If you have joined or renewed this year and have not received your shopping bag, please email Mary Brown.)
REACT Shopping Bags – Show your green (or turquoise, rather)
According to a 9/26/08 Wall Street Journal article, many shoppers do not use their reusable shopping bags. As environmental leaders, REACT members save resources and reduce pollution by using REACT bags (and thereby encouraging others to use reusable bags) and publicize the organization at the same time. Sure, groceries normally fill more than one bag, but every bag helps. Plus, according to the article, many people don’t like using reusable store bags in competing stores. Not a problem with the REACT bag!
The entire article is available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122238422541876879.html
Here’s an excerpt:
“Getting people to actually use the
bags is another matter.
Maximizing their benefits requires changing deeply ingrained behavior, like
getting used to taking 30-second showers to lower one's energy and water use.
At present, many of the bags go unused -- remaining stashed instead in consumers'
closets or in the trunks of their cars. Earlier this year, KPIX in San
Francisco polled 500 of its television viewers and found that more than half --
58% -- said they almost never take reusable cloth shopping bags to the grocery
store.
Phil
Rozenski, director of environmental strategies at the plastic bag maker Hilex
Poly Co., believes even fewer people remember to use them. Based on consumer
surveys conducted by the company, he says roughly the same number of people
reuse their bags as bring disposable bags back to the grocery store for
recycling -- a figure he puts at about 10% of consumers, according to industry
data.
This
month at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, marketing professor Baba
Shiv dedicated the first day of a weeklong seminar on green marketing to the
"road blocks" facing reusable bags. He says it can take "years
and decades" for consumers to change their shopping habits, and only when
there's a personal reward or an obvious taboo associated with the change:
"Is it taboo yet to be carrying plastic bags? I don't think so." Mr.
Shiv also says that according to surveys done by his graduate students, many
shoppers say they are less likely to carry a retailer's branded reusable bag
into a competing store. "What these bags are doing is increasing loyalty
to the store," he says.”
Electronic Recycling
From the Fairfax County website http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpwes/recycling/announce.htm
Electric Sundays
at the I-66 Transfer Station
“County residents can recycle
televisions, computers and electronic peripherals at the I-66
Transfer Station from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the upcoming Electric Sunday
events: Feb. 8 and March 8. The Transfer Station is located at 4618
West Ox Road in Fairfax. There is no cost to Fairfax County residents for
this service. This event is sponsored in part by Covanta Fairfax,
LLC.
This event is limited to the collection of televisions, computers and
peripheral electronic devices - including keyboards, speakers, printers,
external drives and other such materials. Residents should not bring small or
large kitchen appliances, CDs, DVDs, video cassettes or stereo equipment to
these events. Equipment brought to these events do not
need to be in working order.”
PROJECTS
Reston Recycles / Close the Loop
Organize this project in your neighborhood and your neighbors who participate will also receive REACT shopping bags!
Country Walk cluster is planning to begin the project in the spring.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Eco-Friendly Yard and Garden Care Next Meeting: Tues., Feb 3,
7:00 p.m., 1684 Moorings Dr.
Country Courts cluster held a meeting on January 31. Participants asked questions regarding specific native plants for their yards, as well as on non-synthetic pest control, composting and rain barrels. And as happened in a previous neighborhood meeting, one resident exclaimed that she was excited about working to make her yard eco-friendly!
Indian Ridge Cluster is planning a
meeting in March.
Drive Less, Breathe Better
Remember a few months ago when we mentioned a World Wildlife Fund UK study that stated we are more likely to change our behavior if our motivation is environmental, not financial? We see this with some drivers whose habits change with the gas prices. The dollar costs of driving may be lower than they were last summer, but the air pollution, global warming emissions and health costs are still high. Help change actual behavior with a Drive Less, Breathe Better meeting in your neighborhood by promoting driving less for the environment.
Wethersfield Cluster is planning a meeting in March.
Next REACT Board Meeting: Wednesday, February 25, 7:30 p.m., Reston
Community Center at Hunters Woods, Room 2
Check www.restonenvironmentalaction.org for
meeting dates, and other REACT information. If you would like to participate in a project or join a committee,
contact Mary Brown at info@restonenvironmentalaction.org
or 703-620-0151.
This email was sent to you by Reston Environmental Action. To ensure delivery, please add info@restonenvironmentalaction.org to your address book.