The January 2007 Safety Topic is Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
One area we should discuss is how to reduce the spread of colds and flu here at work and at home. To prevent picking up viruses which can lead to colds, you should frequently wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, preferably with an antibacterial soap. Hand washing is important prior to eating, after handling body secretions, and before you rub your eyes or touch your face. If you have to cough or sneeze, never do it into your hands because you can spread your cold when you touch objects with your contaminated hands. If you need to cough or sneeze and you do not have a tissue, “sneeze into your sleeve”. Doctors and nurses are preaching this practice. Just place your left hand on your right shoulder, and sneeze into your sleeve at the bend of your elbow. You should make it a habit to carry disposable tissues to wipe or blow you nose. Every day you should place disposable facial tissues into you pocket or purse. This should become a regular health care habit.
Why is hand washing so important to reduce the spread of colds and flu? More illnesses are actually transmitted by viruses on the hands rather than airborne droplets created from a coughing or a sneeze. When a person coughs or sneezes, the viruses are released into the air and settle on surfaces such as desks, computers, telephones, etc. These viruses can survive on surfaces up to several days. If you touch these surfaces, the viruses will get onto your hands and when you touch your eyes, nose, or mouth, they will enter your body. To prevent contaminating objects around you, make it a practice not to cough or sneeze into you hands.
The next topic we will discuss is electronic waste, or what’s commonly known as “e-waste”. First we’ll focus on computers, computer monitors, and television screens. These electronic devices contain heavy metals, such as lead, cadmium, copper, nickel, tin, and cobalt. If these electronic items are disposed into the landfill, the heavy metals would leech out of the electronic devices and contaminate the landfill and eventually seep into the ground and contaminate the groundwater. Because of this potential environmental health impact, the Environmental Protection Agency has classified computers, computer monitors, and televisions as “universal hazardous waste” which cannot be thrown into the regular trash. At UCOP, all UC-owned computers, monitors, and peripherals designated for disposal are placed in the excess salvage bin, located in the loading dock at 1111 Franklin Street. The excess salvage bin is picked up once a week by UC Berkeley Overstock & Surplus, where the electronic items are first put up for sale (reuse). If the item does not sell, they would be sent to a e-waste recycler where they are either refurbished or dismantled to salvage the parts.
To manage e-waste in the State of California, the State Legislature passed the Electronic Waste Collection and Recycling Act in 2003. One of the major components of the bill is a funding mechanism for collection and recycling of certain types of e-waste. At purchase, a surcharge is added for certain types e-waste. The fee goes into a state fund which would in turn pay e-waste recyclers for each eligible item they receive. The fee would then be used by the recycler for the proper management of the e-waste item (such as recycling the item or dismantling the item).
As part of UCOP’s Environmental Stewardship Program, arrangements have been made with UC Berkeley’s Overstock and Surplus Program to sponsor a collection day for all UCOP employees’ personal computers and televisions. The event will take place on Wednesday, January 24, 2007 between 10 AM and 2 PM. An e-waste recycler will be on the 11 th Street side of the 1111 Franklin Street building to accept and collect UCOP employees’ personal laptops, computers, computer monitors, keyboards, mice, and televisions. There will be no charge for UCOP employees who bring these items in for recycling. UCOP has reserved the yellow zone and the four metered spots on 11 th Street. This will allow UCOP employees to drive their vehicles up to a collection location and drop off their computers, monitors, and televisions. Each participant will be asked to complete a form which lists their address for state recordkeeping purposes. A free software is available at dban.sourceforge.net to clear your hard drive of personal data. If you have any additional questions, please contact Pat Cheney, UCOP Strategic Sourcing, at 510-987-0474.
If you have other types of electronic waste, such as printers, fax machines, microwave ovens, telephones, etc., you can go to the erecycle.org webpage and enter you county, and list the item you wish to recycle. The webpage will give you the address and phone number of several e-waste recyclers you can contact. Depending on what the e-waste is, the recycler may charge a fee for certain types of e-waste.
The City of Oakland has a goal of 75% waste reduction by the year 2010 and zero waste by the year 2020. UCOP is helping Oakland achieve its goal by education its employees on their buildings recycling program. Over half the waste created in the city of Oakland is from businesses.
What items are recyclable and can go into the blue recycling bins? 3 rd floor – Only white paper is to be put into the small blue bins at your desks. All other recyclables go into the large blue bins in the common areas. 4 th Floor – The blue recycling bins can be located at your desks, in the kitchen, in conference rooms, and in the copy rooms. Paper items: all paper, cardboard, envelopes, phone books, post-it notes, magazines, and newspapers. Containers which can be recycled : all cans and glass bottles. Only the following plastic items can be recycled – Empty plastic bottles (#1 thru #7) where the neck is smaller then its base, (i.e.: soda, shampoo, catsup, detergent). Plastic tubs and lids (#2, #4 and #5). Examples include yogurt, margarine and sour cream. Why can’t all plastic carrying the recycle symbol and a number be recycled, such as plastic cups, plastic to-go containers and Styrofoam? There are a number of different plastics, each with a different chemical composition and set of properties. To help differentiate them, manufacturers stamp a Plastics Identification Code on their products. This code is a number inside a triangle of chasing arrows. These codes only identify the product and do not actually indicate that the product can be recycled. In theory, most plastics can be recycled. However, due to expense, it is only currently economically viable to recycle a small amount of plastic packaging. Therefore the chasing arrow symbol does not actually mean that the items are recyclable. This is true for Alameda, Berkeley, San Francisco and Contra Costa County. If you are unsure what plastic items are accepted by your home garbage collection service, give them a call or look them up on the internet. Most of the companies list online what items are and are not acceptable for recycling. Why can't I recycle plastic bags in a commingled recycling program? Plastic bags get caught in the recycling processing equipment and can cause the recycling sort line to break down. You can however, recycle your plastic bags at most grocery stores, In most cases, they also accept your dry cleaning bags and other similar plastic bags (if you can push your thumb through it, it's probably acceptable). Paper towels are not recyclable. Items like paper towels and napkins are made from very low quality paper, which cannot be made into more paper.
All items which cannot be recycled or composted or are thrown in the trash can end up in our landfills. Actual trash items which must go to the landfill should be placed in the grey bins in the kitchens or black bins at your desk or in the copy rooms. The “landfill/trash” items are non recyclable plastic items (bags, cups, utensils, food wrap, straw, coffee cups, plastic food wrappers) and Styrofoam materials
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