Souvenir at green conference: lead tainted coffee cups

Don't drink out of the some of coffee cups at West Coast Green.

The organization running the conference ordered a bunch of paper coffee cups to use at the conference, which took place in San Francisco this week. Unfortunately, the organization ordered the cheapest ones. They came from China with a warning on the bottom: caution contains lead. Sarah Suzanka, the author of "The Not So Big Life" and one of the hosts of the conference, asked people in the audience to come up with ideas for ways to use them.

Recycling after all is a big topic here. Among other products on display are countertops made from broken bits of recycled glass (actually quite attractive) and rubber flooring for kids' rooms made from recycled tires.

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Reasons to Boycott Chinese Products

Never mind the Tibetan Holocaust, here's yet another reason to boycott Chinese products.

[billmosby]

And...

...half the decorative plates, trays, metal bowls, and glassware you
get at Pier One imports, which often come from India and
thereabouts.

[climbingstar]

green conference?

I am at this conference and the only cups I have seen so far are the compostable, health-friendly cups. There's over 10,000 of us here and we are all running around drinking coffee from ecofriendly cups. I understand that in one of the speaker lounges there were cheaper cups.

Your post is misleading. You make the organizers look like fakes and they are actually awesome greenies. I hope you will correct yourself.

Here is a paste from their website. I am seeing this in action.

Vinyl table covers will be replaced by linen.

Event signage is made with recyclable or reusable materials.

Event collateral is printed on a ?green printer? with vegetable-based inks and recyclable paper.

Exhibitors will have access to the ?green printer? during the course of the event.

Food sold at the event will be packaged in biodegradable, compostable food ware.

Biodegradable cornstarch plates and utensils.

Implementation of a carbon offsetting program will reduce emissions generated by equipment, heating/cooling, shipping, and electricity.

We're using solid color carpeting (vs. strips) so that no carpet is wasted.

Resource Recovery Stations are placed throughout the facility. Now this doesn?t sound exciting?BUT?an anticipated 75% landfill diversion is expected through this effort. Exhibitors, while you won?t get trashcans at your booth, each RR station will actually be hosted by a knowledgeable and friendly volunteer ready to tell you which of your items is recyclable, compost, or true trash.

[jpomeroy]

Misleading blog entry

Hello,
I am one of the conference organizers, and am shocked to see this post on cnet. (Thank you to the greenie that posted our "greening the conference" actions that we absolutely commit to.
#1: The mugs were NOT made of paper, but ceramic.
#2: They were NOT distributed, but rather, withheld because of the warning.
#3: The comment that Sarah made during her speech, about the mugs was to bring up the point that there are opportunities from even small problems.

I suggest, if you are going to be a journalist of any kind, that you get your facts straight and interview the conference organizers before you accuse our organization of making these mugs available.

Think before you submit.

[billmosby]

Reminds me

I worked for Argonne National Laboratory-West, which researched
nuclear energy systems. On the 40th anniversary of the beginning
of power production by EBR-II, they got some commemorative
coffee mugs made with a nice reddish-brown colored glaze.
Turned out they couldn't get cartons of them through the radiation
portal monitors without setting them off. The glaze had some small
amount of thorium in it, I think they found out.
One to several cups at a time were undetectable, though.

[swag]

Recycle? What happened to reduce and reuse first?

The best way to go green is to stop buying new stuff (reduce, or reuse). But it's a lot more convenient to only talk about recycling when sponsorship and marketing is involved.

[ferretboy88]

Why use china?

When I visited ma major company in china a few years ago I was shocked to find zero running water and a hole in the ground for a toilet. They dump toxic waste in all of their rivers which are now ruined forever.

[Stating]

The Chinese Are Just Recycling Lead

The Green Conference should applaud the Chinese. They are just recycling lead. In fact, China is at the forefront of reccyling. Their recent melamine recycling effort was pure genius. Chinese fish farms that recycle toxic industrial waste is another example of China's commitement to recycling and the environment. Chinese toothpaste enhanced with industrial antifreeze -- fantastic.

The 2008 Olympics in China will allow the world to experience firsthand China's ingenuity and commitment to preserving the environment by aggressive recycling.

[pegadoodle]

I came to this site to find out who reuses melamine plastics, in order to recycle some plates that my dumb kids put in the microwave and now they are toxic to eat from. I never found any reference to who actually reuses this type of plastic but now I think it's not something I should ever buy again. If there is a company that will reuse them, please, let me know. I hate filling up the landfill and I will use them under flower pots before I throw them out. I was just hoping that they might have a greater purpose, because they will eventually end up in a landfill no matter what I do with them. At the very least I learned a grave lesson. Never buy crap (toxic waste) that you can't do anything with later!