There are five days left to help decide which of ten innovative green ideas should receive $20,000 in funding. The Green Effect contest, sponsored by National Geographic and SunChips, will award $20,000 each to five deserving projects. One of the projects will be selected through online voting, while a panel of judges will choose the remaining four.

Several of the proposed projects are near and dear to the hearts of waste industry professionals. One would establish recycling collection for multifamily homes in the San Rafael, Calif. community of Canal using a fleet of large tricycles. Another seeks to eliminate waste by replacing all of the disposable cups, plates, and utensils used during class celebrations at an elementary school in Julian, Calif. with a “Green Classroom Party Kit,” washable white plates, clear cups, and silverware in a rolling storage container that can be deployed all over the school.

All of the finalist proposals seem worthy. Stop in and register your vote before it’s too late!

Usually when garbage in Italy makes the news, it’s because it’s piling up in the streets. But now Italians can be proud, as researchers working in the Tuscan town of Peccioli have developed a cutting-edge (and adorable) robot named DustCart that has the potential to replace truck-based garbage collection in the tiny, truck-unfriendly avenues that crisscross most small European towns.

In tests, residents summon DustCart simply by calling to it. It quickly rolls over and asks for a customer ID number and details on the type of trash being disposed (organic, recyclable or waste) before opening a compartment in its belly to accept it. From there it would likely take the waste to a centralized collection point.

According to the GlobalPost (click through for a great set of photos of the robot in action), DustCart is part of a $3.9 million research program called DustBot, launched in 2006 to “implement robotics in society in useful ways.” In addition to collecting garbage, DustCart is equipped with special sensors that monitor air pollutants, such as nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, ozone, benzene, CO, CO2 and air temperature, making it a rolling air-quality barometer.

If writing this column has taught me anything, it’s to ALWAYS check inside envelopes (and occasionally mattresses) before tossing them out. Because you never know when they might contain someone’s life savings, the only existing copy of a will, an unpublished Shakespeare play or nude photos of a celebrity.

The latest schlub to learn this lesson the hard way is Achim Gerber, a music professor at Bob Jones University in Greenville, S.C. Gerber, preparing for an upcoming trip to his homeland in Germany, had obtained 3,500 euros — more than $5,000 U.S. dollars — and stashed it in a white, legal-sized envelope. As so often happens, that envelope ended up in the recycling bin and, subsequently, a Greater Greenville Sanitation Commission collection center. Though it took a month of searching through 20 tons of packed paper, Gerber, with help from Greenville sanitation employees, found the envelope. He reportedly emitted a “bloodcurdling scream” of joy and hugged all assembled, who were amazed by his luck.

So I ask you: Envelopes — harmless stationery or GATEWAYS TO HELL?

Source: GreenvilleOnline.com

In the pantheon of unfortunate street names (Butt Hole Road, near South Yorkshire, England; Farfrompoopen Road in Story, Ark.; and the all-too-familiar intersection of Lonesome and Hardup in Albany, Ga., to name but a few), you could certainly do worse than Florence Garbage Road in Florence, Ore. Though it clearly lacks in aesthetics, the name is functional, as the road services the Lane County Transfer Station and the neighboring Florence Area Humane Society. That said, including the word “garbage” in local place names doesn’t exactly scream “civic pride,” so it’s no surprise that residents lobbied hard to have the name changed to something a little more becoming.

Bending to political pressure, the city council recently agreed to rename the thoroughfare New Hope Lane. Whether the new name reflects genuine optimism on the council’s part or their devotion to Star Wars was not disclosed.

Source: The Siuslaw News

We’re hearing more and more discussion of manufacturer responsibility, mostly as it applies to electronics. But what about something as pedestrian (pun slightly intended) as footwear? According to GreenBiz.com, Timberland’s new line of boots — the not-so-subtly-named Earthkeepers 2.0 — are not only made mostly of recycled material (including Green Rubber, which contains 42 percent recycled rubber tires), but also are designed to be reclaimed and disassembled into reusable or recyclable components at the end of their useful life. Certainly beats slinging them over telephone wires!

WasteExpo wrapped up less than two weeks ago and I’m still trying to shake the hangover of another spin through Vegas and the sprawling cross section of our industry that the show represents. Here are a few highlights of my WasteExpo experience. Please be sure to comment with a few memories of your own!

The Looooooooooooong Hall

I had forgotten how long the Las Vegas Convention Center is. I was doing okay making my way across the show floor — until I got to the steps and realized I was only halfway through the hall.

Heil’s “Box Booth”

We were impressed by Heil Environmental’s unconventional booth, which at first glance appeared to consist of artfully assembled refrigerator boxes. The company took the “Environmentalists. Every Day” theme of the show to heart. The only promotional materials handed out were impregnated with flower seeds, designed to be planted or composted rather than thrown away. Everything else was displayed and distributed electronically to conserve paper and packaging. The company sent 50 percent less staff to man the booth compared to last year and reduced the amount of equipment on display by 80 percent to conserve resources (and no doubt money) that might otherwise be burned to transport and house them. Perhaps most impressively, nearly every material used in the booth, from the cardboard walls and benches, to the soy-based seating pads, was made from recycled materials and would be reused or recycled again after the show. The only component that could not be recycled — the cushiony artificial turf that lined the floor of the booth — was donated to a Las Vegas school for underprivileged children, for use on their playground.

What Happened Last Night

The staid Inspirational & Awards Breakfast got a welcome jolt when one Driver of the Year honoree, impressed by the number of wives accepting awards on their husbands’ behalf, admitted that he had just gotten hitched the night before. He didn’t appear to be joking (and I later spotted him on the show floor with his blushing bride in tow); truly a man that took full advantage of his Vegas trip. Does the Mack Driving Skills Safety Challenge count as a honeymoon?

Bruce Parker Tees Up

The Waste Age booth was located next to a vendor hosting a continuous putting contest, which seemed to be quite popular (not least because of the attractive models managing the putters). Even National Solid Wastes Management Association president and CEO Bruce Parker got into the act (he missed).

Unless you’ve been living under a rock since last Friday, you are aware that there is some serious political unrest in Iran right now. Claims of election tampering (more like outright theft) and worse are flying, and the country is being rocked by massive protests.

It is a common tactic for those loathe to relinquish their grip on power to attribute any criticism to a small group of radicals and/or ivory-tower intellectuals that do not speak for the common man. Such have been the explanations offered by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, seeking to quell the demonstrations. But their arguments have been undercut by videos like this one, showing orange-suited sanitation workers in Tehran, perhaps the epitome of “the common man,” joining the protests (brooms in hand).

Chris Della Pietra of Potters & Della Pietra LLP led an informative session today titled “Waste Industry Contracts: Practical Advice in Uncertain Times.” Della Pietra went in depth on a range of issues related to successfully crafting and negotiating waste contracts to ensure that both parties are satisfied and protected.

Della Pietra began by emphasizing the importance of considering all aspects of a contract before going into negotiation. “Leverage is best at the outset of a relationship,” he said. All contracts are governed by the universal commercial code. As a general admonition Della Pietra pointed out, “The bigger the contract, the bigger the risk, and the longer the contract, the longer the risk.” Still, he added, “If you’ve got volume, you’ve got leverage.”

From a practical standpoint, Della Pietra recommended that haulers keep contracts to one page (to avoid confusion and prevent complications like a second page being lost through FAX, etc.). After outlining the different types of contracts, Della Pietra noted that it is important to know all the parties involved in a contract, as sometimes the affiliates and subsidiaries involved may not be readily apparent.

A large section of the presentation was devoted to the commercial terms covered in a contract. These were broken out into scope of services and performance obligations, prices and fees, price adjustments, and payment terms. In general, Della Pietra urged that these elements be as specific as possible. Among the tips offered:

• If comments are invited (even before a bid has been accepted), “give yourself a place-holder” in the contract to make necessary changes later.

• Don’t fix rates for more than one or two years.

• Note whether prices in the contract include taxes, fees, etc. Include provisions that allow for flexibility in the event of a substantial rise in fuel prices, new taxes, etc.

• “Cash flow is king.” Net 30 to 45 day payments. Avoid anything over 60 days.

• Consider offering an “early-pay discount” as an incentive.

• If providing services for a municipality, see if they are willing to handle billing. That’s one less headache for your firm.

Next, Della Pietra broke down specific contract provisions, including term of renewal, representations and warranties, indemnification and insurance, damages, non-competition and non-solicitation clauses, environmental provisions and title to waste, and contract termination. Some tips here:

• When setting an effective date with a new business, include a qualifier like “provided it’s no later than” to protect against delay in the business coming online.

• Certain municipalities do not allow contracts longer than one year.

• Haulers should get representations and warranties from the landfill they will be using, lest unforeseen variables place an undue burden on the hauler or its clients.

• A contract should indemnify the other party for your negligence and vice versa. Mutuality should be a given here.

• Non-competition clauses are a fact of life and you may have to live with them, but make sure they are reasonable (e.g., no clause insisting on lifelong non-competition).

• The recession is producing a wider range of force majeure claims, with wild fluctuations in fuel costs and other economic pressures being cited as “acts of God” and justification for vacating or renegotiating a contract — sometimes successfully.

Although fuel prices declined during last fall and winter, they have been inching back upwards lately. Generally speaking, that trend can be expected to continue in the coming years.

That was a point driven home by Jamey Holland, a risk management consultant for Kansas City, Mo.-based FCStone Trading, during Tuesday’s “Take Charge of Fuel Prices: Effective Risk Management” conference session.

To illustrate his point, Holland cited studies predicting that global energy demand will increase by 44 percent over the next 20 years and that global oil demand will rise to 107 million barrels per day over the next two decades. Global demand is currently around 84 million barrels a day, he said.

Holland also noted that one study projects 2 billion cars to be on the road worldwide in 2030, up from 812 million automobiles just seven years ago.

Toss in the fact that the number of refineries in the United States is declining, and you have a climate ripe for soaring and volatile fuel prices, Holland said.

So, what’s a fleet to do? Hedge, Holland said.

For one thing, fleets should consider buying call options, which function very much like insurance policies, Holland said. “It’s like a policy against higher fuel prices,” he said.

The fleet pays a premium, and if fuel prices rise above a pre-determined level, the increase is covered by the call option. If prices decline, then the fleet purchases gas for a lower price, and there is no claim on the policy, Holland explained.

Other hedging options include purchasing heating oil futures or swaps, Holland added, with the hope that gains in those investments will help offset increased diesel fuel expenditures.

In the Waste Expo exhibit hall, which opened this morning, two overriding influences are apparent: the struggling economy and the green movement. An endless array of environmentally friendly products is on display, and most of the big players are at pains to demonstrate their commitment to green principles. They are catering to an eager throng of attendees looking for ways to attract customers and do business more efficiently in the midst of a recession.

Lee Lydic, the national fleet development manager for Truck-Lite Co. Inc., a Falconer, N.Y.-based manufacturer and distributor of truck visibility products, is a good example of the type of waste professional walking the floor. Lydic said he had exhibited at past Waste Expos, but couldn’t afford to exhibit in the current economic climate. Nevertheless, he said he was very impressed with the show, noting that he was finding many products worth getting excited about, such as the new LED headlights featured on the trucks Mack was showing at its booth.

“You’ve got the top truck manufacturers, the top body manufacturers and the top container manufacturers,” said Lydic, adding that the quality of the vendors he had met with was high.

Among those exhibitors displaying on the floor is Erie, Pa.-based Eriez Manufacturing, which produces equipment for screening and separating recyclables. Eric Confer, a technical sales rep for Eriez, said that traffic so far was a little slower than in previous years, but that everyone who had stopped by the booth was eager to learn about the company’s products: “We’ll take quality over quantity any day,” said Confer. He also noted a greater interest in recycling this year, with firms looking to add recycling to their operations, or improve the efficiency of existing recycling programs.

Terry Creamer of Western Cascade Container, a solid waste container manufacturer based in Kelso, Wa., said he had already seen several interesting products, including a new backing camera, and had spoken to a range of hook-lift manufacturers. This was Creamer’s first time attending the show in 10 years, and he said he was impressed with how far the show had come in that time.

The exhibit hall will be open 10:00 – 5:00 on Wednesday and 10:00 – 1:00 on Thursday.