ll RECYCLING II Connecticut Bottle Bill Passed The Connecticut General Assembly passed a bottle bill on March 31 which requires a 5</. deposit on all beer and soft drink containers beginning January 1980. The bill also bans cans with fliptop openings. Gov. Ella T. Grasso has indicated she will sign the bill. Deposits on beverage containers are mandated by law in Maine, Michigan, Oregon and Vermont. Other states have laws banning pull-tabs or imposing levies on beverage containers. -LJ Project SORT (Separation of Office & Residential Trash), for more information contact: Terry W. Conner, Project Manager Rm. 101, Courthouse Annex San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 A voluntary solid waste collection/ recycling program in this city achieved a 65 percent participation rate in the first six months of its residential operation .(April-Sept. 1977). 5200 of the town's 8000 households took part in home separation and curbside collection for old newspapers, bottles, jars and metals. SORT is also handling an office paper recycling program involving some 1500 workers in 21 office buildings occupied by both private firms and government agencies. As a result, over 2-1 /2 tons of high-grade paper is recycled per week. -LJ II WIND II Windmill Power for City People: A Documentation of the First Urban Wind Energy System, by Energy Task Force, NYC, CSA Pamphlet 6143-8, Sept. 1977, $3.00 from: U.S. Govt. Printing Office Washington, DC 20402 If you're considering a city or suburban wind system, then this is an excellent starting point. Covers zoning, structural calculation, public utility commission regulations and tariffs, as well as basic windpower theory and practice, in language easily understood by most people. Lots of clear drawings, schematics. Very well done by the people who installed a 2kw Jacobs wind-electric system atop the housing cooperative at 519 E. 11th St. in New York City. -LJ FILM A City Farmstead, produced by Steve Greenberg, directed by Louis Schwartzberg, 1977. 15 minutes, color. Sale: $225. Rent: $30. Available from: Energy Productions 846 No. Cahuenga Blvd. Hollywood, CA 90038 213/462-3 310 Down to Earth-City Living, produced and directed by Joaquin Padro, 1977. 18 minutes, color. Sale: $250. Rent: $30. Avail.able from: Pyramid Films Box 1048 Santa Monica, CA 90406 At a time when the typical urban household is consuming enormous amounts of energy and generating large quantities of waste, the Integral ·Urban House in Berkeley exists as a demonstration of the practical alternatives to this destructive cycle. Steve Greenberg has produced a film which examines the life-support systems that have made this home more self-reliant and reduced its negative impact on the environment (solar capture, waste recycling, food production). This film, A City Farmstead, is a nice introduction to the people and ideas from which the Urban House evolved and the possibilities and implications it demonstrates for more livable cities. Another film, Down-To Earth- City Living has also been done by Joaquin Padro about the Integral Urban House, but its scope, perspective and overall quality is not nearly as good as A City Farmstead in giving an accurate understanding of what is happening there. I am compiling a list of the best a. t. related films now available. If anyone has any suggestions (especially of more obscure films), please let me know. Muchas gracias! - JM May 1978 RAIN Page 11 II INFORMATION II National Directory of Addresses and Telephone Numbers, Stanley R. Greenfield, editor, 1977, $9.95 from: Bantam Books 666 Fifth Ave. New York, NY 10019 This book is a must for information centers and information junkies-it would probably come in handy for most_ offices too. I've used it several times already in the last few days I've had it and I'm sure we'll be wondering soon what we ever did without it at the Rainhouse. Over 50,000 of the most wanted listings in the U.S.-corporations (by type), government offices (all levels,) colleges and universities, hotels, organizations (by type), bus stations, radio stations and newspapers. Each is also repeated under the general alphabetical listing. What fun-now I can easily call the Randolph County Courthouse (in NC, IL, GA, WV, MO, AR, AL or IN) or I can write to the president of Mobil Oil to complain about their ads. -LdeM II TRANSPORT II Trucklets, Vanlets, Where Are You? Vans have been getting a lot of environmental flack lately because of their poor gas mileage (true). Vans and pickups shouldn't be exempt from gas mileage regulations, but vans in particular have a lot of versatility that is quite valuable. I often claim a greater people/ mpg and cargo/mpg than other vehicles and claim that my van gets better mileage than any other home I've lived in. The real kicker to me is why mini-vans aren't available in this country. We've heard rumors that GM is coming out with a VW bus sized van, but haven't been able to track that down. The VW is overpriced and underpowered, no "stripped" model is available, and it lacks versatility because of the engine location in the cargo space. Toyota, Datsun and several other companies have for years made small, economical, versatile front-engine vans that are a real delight-but you can't ,buy one in the U.S. We were told that Datsun imported two of them into L.A. (our big-is-better capital) in 1974, then shipped them back to Japan. What's going on? When are we going·to be able to buy an inexpensive, gas-saving;people and cargo carrying basic vehicle? -TB
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc4NTAz