Hey, Fellow Atari Employees,

	I had a thought just the other day.  It ran something like this:

	"Say, Paul, with all this hoopla about Earth Day, and the generally
Conservationist attitudes of the general Atari populace, why are we eating
every cafeteria meal off of polystyrene plates?  Those things will easily
outlive us all in whatever land fill they end up.  And that's without even
counting the possibility of the Chloro-Flourocarbons used in their manufacture
making the ozone layer more hole than ozone, thereby shortening our afore-
mentioned lives considerably.

	"So," I continued (having secured my rapt attention), "how about if
you send out a message suggesting switching back to the paper things we used
to have?  Surely the folks around here would gladly pay the extra 1 or 2 cents
per meal it would take to use the environmentally superior stuff.  Surely a
groundswell movement is just one VAXmail message away."

	So, was I right?... YOU make the call. 

				Paul "I don't want a tan THAT bad" Kwinn

Come on, pal, Earth Day is over! We don't have to worry about the dumb ole
Earth for another 20 years.

I like the way the styrofoam cups kinda float outta the cabinets when you 
open the door and land on your head.  When you are in a boring meeting, it
would be almost impossible to make fingernail sculptures on the side of
paper cups. And besides all that, I LIKE the way Omar's lunch melts into
the plates! The lunch wouldn't quite taste the same if it had to stand
on its own merits for taste and aroma.

Our Doughnuts arrive in paper boxes, what more do you want?

Added Note, seriously folks: All the styrofoam plates and cups we use
in a week don't add up to the amount of styofoam in one of our game
shipping containers. But I don't know of an easy solution to that one.

Don't you hate it when the grocery clerk has your nine-grain-sprouted-
wheat bread shoved in the plastic bag, and then asks, "Plastic, okay?"
That way you have to be the heavy and say "NO", and then you get that look
while they pull it out. You should insist that they ask you if you would
like paper or plastic. It just a little thing, but it always peeves me.

  Great idea Paul, a few cents extra for paper plates/bowls/cups  would be
a cheap solution to fight the overwelming effects that polystyrene waste  
has on our enviornment, and I'ld be willing to go the extra mile to do my
share.  Heck I would even bring my own silverware from home rather than 
using the plastics from the cafeteria.

  But don't you think we're over reacting to all this polution around us?
After all why should I care about what's gonna happen to MOTHER EARTH after
I'm gone anyway.  I'm definitely not worried about the possibility that 
some day my grandson will not be able to enjoy fishing and other outdoor
recreations because I don't even have a kid.  Come to think of it this 
polution thing sort of defeats the hopes for having a family and completely
relieves me of the burden of parenthood,  so hay its not such a bad thing
after all !!.

  You know Carole has a good point too about the food flavor.  I mean  
some people have gotten to like the flavor of melted polystyrene in their
lunch specials.  I'ld think twice about tampering with peoples taste buds
if I were you.     
	 						Farrokh

	I agree there was an awful lot of hoopla regarding Earth Day.
While I wouldn't put it the way Farrokh did, I also want to pass on a planet
my children can enjoy.  But it seems to me that everybody is missing the
point.  ("Look, isn't that cute?  They're all out of step but my Johnny!")

	Not all styrofoam is manufactured with CFC as a byproduct.  In fact,
almost all manufacturers have already changed by this time to environmentally
BENEFICIAL procedures and products.  Most styrofoam (polystyrene, McBoxes to
you family types) are already biodegradable.  They don't last as long as the
paper equivalent.

	The real problem is:  We are running out of dump sites.  Nobody wants
one in their backyard, and more and more land is becoming somebody's backyard.
Many plastics (including McBoxes) and some papers are PHOTOdegradable.  They
dissolve in sunlight within a few months.  But because nobody wants to deal
with disposables after they have been disposed, they are sealed in 
odor-resistant, opaque PLASTIC bags (5 mils thick, not a wimpy 2!), hauled off
to a landfill, and become part of the strata by the same afternoon (so they
don't smell).  Part of the disolving process involves conversion to inert
gasses.  But since they don't get any light, they don't disolve anyways.

	Paper is NOT an environmentally freindly alternative.  To start with,
paper is made out of trees we need to stay trees (I remind you that paper is 
about twice as dense as wood--it takes more trees than you think).  And, paper
also needs air to decompose.  If any of you have tried burning a magazine or 
newspaper in the fireplace, you'll realize what I mean.  We have archaeologists
digging in our own country.  They are pulling out of dumps, completely intact,
unread newspapers that are in mint condition...from the 40s.  By the TONS.
We are making our landfills (what a euphemism!) completely sterile.  Because
the  microorganisms that decompose waste produce chemicals which smell badly,
we perfume our dumps and impregnate them with chemicals to retard their
growth.  And then we mash everything so that it can't be penetrated except
for boring holes through the materials.  The microorganisms can't eat all at
once, they have to eat from the outside in.  We go to great lengths to ensure
that the return to the environment is stretched from as little as a few
months to well over 100 years.

	The point I'm trying to make (you were wondering, weren't you?) is this:
Make all the difference you can, cause if none of us does, that's no difference.
But know the difference you make.  It makes absolutely no difference if you
bury a paper plate or a plastic one for the next hundred years.  It makes no
discernable difference if you recycle a paper plate or a plastic one.  The
key issue is not paper versus plastic, it is bury versus recycle.  What
you can do that makes the biggest difference, is to NOT THROW STUFF OUT.
Recycle.  When you get packing peanuts, don't toss them in six wastebaskets.
Send your original box, still 90% full of peanuts, to shipping.  Toss your
pop cans in any of the collection boxes (you probably know of several).
Try NOT to use your trash can.  Don't BUY disposable stuff.  Don't use paper
plates at home to avoid washing plates.  If you don't read your paper,
cancel the subscription.  If you do, save them & give them to the Boy Sprouts.
If we all cut down in the amount of trash we throw out, we will help solve one
of the real problems.

	I don't have any solutions that would be generally acceptable as far
as what to do with the trash once we throw it out.  I'm not sure there is one.
We've re-evaluated that every time a dump closed.  Within a few months, another
one opens.  They have life expectancies even before they open.  They know just
how long we can collect the trash from this size area and pile it on this much
square feet, before height becomes a problem.

	I haven't quite figured out the solution to the rainforests, or
world hunger, or AIDs.  But it seems to me that we must be spoiling for
a war or something, because we are more interested in having a cause than
in knowing what it is.  I was both impressed and apalled at the Earth Day
special for its depth and its aim.  Apparently a number of other people also
were impressed.  That's great.  Let's all do something that makes a difference.

	The soapbox is now open.

sas

Some of the recent information put fourth on junk mail regarding safe
polystyrene (styrofoam) was potentially misleading.  Here is some additional
information from the book "50 SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN DO TO SAVE THE EARTH":

BACKGROUND: What we think of as "styrofoam" is actually polystyrene foam.
This material is made from benzene (a known carcinogen), converted to styrene,
and then injected with gases that make it a "foam" product.  The gases often
used are CFCs - which "eat" ozone molecules, depleting the Earth's vital ozone 
layer.  The alternatives to CFCs at present aren't wonderful.  One is HCFC -
95% less damaging than CFCs, but still a threat to the ozone layer.  Others
are pentane and butane, hydrocarbons that contribute to urban smog.  So
non-CFC foam merely trades one kind of environmental problem for another.

IT'S GARBAGE:
o  Polystyrene foam is completely non-biodegradable; it just won't go 
away.  Even 500 years from now, that foam cup that held your coffee this 
morning might be sitting on the Earth's surface.
o  Because of its very structure - containing large amounts of air - all 
"styrofoam" (regardless of how it's made) takes up a lot of space for its 
weight.  This means it wastes enormous amounts of precious space at 
already-bulging landfills.
o  Polystyrene foam is deadly to marine life.  It floats on ocean surfaces, 
breaks up into pellets resembling food, and is consumed.  When sea turtles, 
for example, eat "styrofoam" its buoyancy keeps them from diving; it clogs 
their systems and they starve to death.

SIMPLE THINGS TO DO:
o  There are no such things as "safe" polystyrene foam.  Don't use it.  
Avoid foam packaging in egg cartons, disposable picnic goods, etc.
o  If you eat at fast food restaurants, ask for paper cups and plates.

			***************

Additional note:  the cafeteria folk don't mind if you bring your own plate
& utencils.  They also don't mind putting small items (egg on muffin, etc) on
napkins instead of styrofoam plates.  As the consumer, YOU have the final vote.

Allright you guys....
It's finally here!         RECYCLING

There will be two bins for collection:
              
                                    One for aluminum (cans, etc.)
                                    and one for glass (bottles, etc.)

They will be conveniently located:
        
                                    One set in the engineering comman area
                                    One set in the cafeteria
                                    One set in manufacturing (probably in
                                    the lunch room)
***PLEASE use the bins that are nearest you. To date there is no official
recycling program in the city of Milpitas so a lot of concerned people are
going to do a lot of extra work to gather everything up and get it to the
correct facilities. ( big round of applause to Bob Frye and Brenda and her
staff and to Ed Logg ) So pleeeeeeze let's keep up our end and take that
extra two minutes to get ALL of you cans and bottles to the bins. We can't
let them get piled up in the offices and the cleaning people will not take
them for you.
   The next on our agenda for a cleaner Atari is recycling paper and getting
all the styrafoam products down to the minimum...(remember to try to bring
and use your own coffee mugs and plates\bowls in the cafeteria!)
   Bob Frye has promised to have all the bins installed by tomorrow (thursday)
so watch for them!
                                            Thank you

                                         Concerned Atarians for a Better World

Just to throw more trash into the heap about recycling I thought I'd mention
that there was an archeologist on TV last week (I believe his name is Dr.
Rafferty) who has been studying our (USA citizens) refuse at dumps and
landfills all across the country for the past 15 years. His findings are
very interesting even though the sample size is limited.

He and his crews have been using the procedures adpoted and used by most modern
archeologists, so I don't have any reason to believe that he's lying about any
of this. I can't remember everything, but the high points are:

	20 years ago (1970) 11% (by volume) of the country's trash was plastic 
	products (which I believe included styrofoam and stuff like that).
	Today (1990) 12% (by volume) of the country's trash is plastic products.
	Not the substantial difference that I've been led to believe
	from other sources. He claims that even though we are tossing more
	plastic stuff away, it takes up less space (i.e. it squashes down
	to a very small volume).

This is not to say that throwing away plastic is a good thing nor that we
can continue to toss stuff as we are, only that if we stopped doing it all
together it wouldn't make as big a difference as we have been led to believe.

	20 years ago about 17% of the country's trash was paper
	products. Today 36% of our trash is paper products. This includes
	all forms of magazines, junk mail, newspapers, napkins, 
	paper plates, etc. This one item (paper products) represents
	the single largest component of our trash content. Everyone
	thinks it is disposable diapers and plastic, but according to
	his measurements, everyone is wrong.

If this is true, it appears evident to me that if we want to reduce the rate of
landfill expansion, we must cut back on the disposal of all forms of paper
products. If we didn't use paper we wouldn't have to throw it out and we'd
save some trees too. Although he didn't state exactly how much, he implied that
telephone books are a major contributor to this mess. (Personally, I think
newspapers would win the award hands down for being the greatest waste of
resources and the largest contributor to landfill expansion). 

He also claims that there really is no such thing as "bio-degradable".
To demonstrate that idea he dug up from a landfill a copy of the San Jose
Mecury News looking like it had been rained on but otherwise in decent
shape only the date on which it was printed was sometime in 1963. He also
pulled out numerous supermarket coupons also dated in the 60's. The point 
being that they might be biodegradable in a techincal sense, in a practical
sense they are not since it will certainly be hundreds and maybe even thousands
of years before all traces of this garbage is gone. Paper is not biodegradable.

He also pointed out that items that are supposed to be biodegradable are
actually comprised of components which will "degrade" at different rates. For
example,the components of some of the inks that are used in and on the so called
"biodegradable" products are toxic and as their "host" degrades these toxins are
released and will eventually end up in our ground water. It might be that these
things are better left right where they are. Can anybody be sure that whatever
they make their "biodegradable" junk out of is itself not toxic or will not
become toxic? Does anybody know if the components of the ink used in newsprint
is non-toxic under all circumstances?

P.S. Starting tomorrow, we'll be disconnecting all the printers, Xerox machines
and Fax machines.

P.P.S. Just kidding.

	For those of you who are not aware, I have been recycling cans, glass,
newspapers, and magazines for quite some time.  I have boxes in my office 
and lab for your use.  There is no need to dump the weekly supply of magazines
in the can when you can place them in a box in my office.  As long as the 
volume is small I do not mind taking all the recycle to PCC or some other
organization.  If someone wants the extra money and wants to take my cans
or whatever, please feel free AS LONG AS it is recycled.

	It never ceases to amaze me how someone can walk by my office and
throw a can in the trash when there is recycle box next to the trash can.
Maybe, it was my upbringing, but it is really tragic to live outside Seattle,
where Seattle now has it's dump, and see the newspapers, etc pile up and
see the acres next to your property stripped of trees to be made into
paper products.

I have the perfect solution to fixing one part of the
recycling issue...beverage containers.

1. The deposit on cans and bottles should be raised
from the low CA redemption value to maybe $.10.  Now
the container has real value to most people, not just
some.  I still bend over to pick up a dime but not a
penny.

2. The retailer that sells a certain brand of
beverage must also redeem those containers.  So, now
when you walk into the store you will be carrying a
lighter bag than when you walked out.  At this point
there is incentive to get your money back or trade
there again and not pay more deposit money.

3. The wholesaler or bottler that drives that very
heavy truck loaded with liquids from the factory can
now return, no longer empty, but doing something
useful.  The same goes for the guy or gal wheeling
these cases in the store.  Full cans in...empty ones
out.  The bottler and retailer is to be responsible
for the recycle of the containers.

4. As I recall, this is the way that Oregon does it.
Containers are to be clean and not crushed.  The
beverage trucks up there have a special bin area in
the back for transporting empties

5. By forcing bottlers and retailers to be part of
the solution there is a possibility of even having
reusable bottles in the system again.

6. After watching recycling efforts flounder for the
last 20 years, I think for the most part,
Californians don't really care.  Voluntary efforts
work to a point, but major things will happen when
you squeeze someone's wallet.  The bottling industry
is very powerful and has effectively blocked any real
advances in recycling containers in my opinion.  In
the past Californians have voted down measures that
cause inconvenience or economic committment to
recycling.

7. Oops!  I kinda drifted away from the plan and to
my attitude.....

8. So, when you review legislation at voting time,
look for the key notes!
  1.   Bottlers and retailers are bad guys when
     it comes to accepting responsibility.
  2.   Californians respond when someone else has
     their money (significant deposit).  More
     people will participate when it's two
     bucks instead of .20.
  3.   Bottlers and cigarette companies are
     brothers.  Look for sneaky fronts like the
     'citizens committee for choice' during
     campaigns.
  4.   Voluntary good citizen recycling efforts
     are only a start at solving the problem.
     Besides, all those cans lying around just
     remind you of the junk that you put
     through your body!!!

      From RADICAL MAN,
                  JERRRRRY

I live in San Jose. San Jose has curb-side recycling.
Everyday I trek outside with my paper, aluminum, and glass separated.
Once a week I take the bins to the curb.
Once a week someone comes along and steals my aluminum.
	Some of you would say that is okay, since the aluminum is getting
     recycled anyway. But if it continues to happen, the City won't have
     enough money to continue to send out the trucks, and they will probably
     scrap the whole program.
But they do still pick up the glass!
Then I read in the Merc News that the glass recycling company for the city
took all the glass to the dump, because they couldn't find any buyers for
it.


Recycling has a poor chance of working unless there are big incentives (read
"pressure") on manufacturers and bottlers to buy used glass. It is probably
cheaper and easier for them to buy new glass.

And yes Jerry, I do remember always taking my old coke bottles to the store
when I was going to buy some more. The system seemed to work in those days.

Since recycling programs are now so poorly managed or utilized, it seems
like there is only one thing left to do: Take your bottles to the store and
stand there while the merchant refills them with whatever it was that you
wanted.

(Yuch! Bulk mayonaisse?)

How about...... a ten cent deposit on pampers?

THE SOFT DRINK BEVERAGE COMPANIES GAVE THE KISS OF DEATH TO ANY HOPES OF
REUSABLE CONTAINERS WHEN THEY INTRODUCED THE 2 LITRE PLASTIC BOTTLES.
DON'T FORGET TO SCREW THE ALUMINUM CAP BACK ON BEFORE THROWING THEM IN THE
GARBAGE.......   THE FANCY SHAPE ON THE BOTTOM IS DESIGNED NOT ONLY TO STAND
THE BOTTLE UP, BUT WITHSTAND THE CARBONIZATION PRESSURES INSIDE, THIS MAKES
THEM HARD TO CRUSH EVEN WITH THE CAP OFF. I NOW GET TO BUY MOTOR OIL IN THE
SIMULAR TYPE OF HARD TO DESTROY BOTTLES. 


                                                   ATTITUDE

    In reference to the LICHAC memo concerning plastic beverage containers.

	These containers ARE recyclable.  I know that there is curbside 
pickup of these containers in Fremont, Newark, Union City, Mountain View,
Palo Alto, San Jose and other places in the bay area.  These containers
can also be sold at various centers.  

	As you know, the most effective way to cut down on waste, is to not
throw out.  A good place to start is with the disposable coffee cups.  Please,
please don't use them.. bring in your own mug.  By using a coffee mug, you
will be helping to cut waste, and you may find your cup-o-joe tastes better.
If you need a mug, we can get you one.


					thanks,
						JFS 

MY GUT FEELING IS THAT MOST PLASTIC CONTAINERS ARE NOT RECYCLED BY ANYONE
OTHER THAN MIDDLE CLASS SUBURBANITES.  I JUST CAN'T PICTURE THE LARGE
METROPOLITAN AREAS,SUCH AS N.Y.C., ADMINISTERING SUCCESSFUL RECLAIMATION.
I HOPE I'M WRONG.  IT ALSO SEEMS TO BE AN INEFFICIENT USE OF ENERGY TO
KEEP REMANUFACTURING THE SAME THING WHEN IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY.
JOHN'S COMMENT ABOUT THE COFFEE CUP IS THE POINT I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO 
MAKE, MAYBE NOT SUCCESSFULLY: MAKE THE BEVERAGE CONTAINER ONCE, WASH IT
AND USE IT AGAIN.  IF THAT IS NOT GOING TO BE DONE, MAKE THE DEPOSIT
SYSTEM ECONOMICALLY MANDATORY SO THAT PEOPLE THAT ARE NOT CONCERNED
WITH THE ENVIRONMENT ARE FORCED TO PARTICIPATE.  IF WE CAN'T MANAGE
THE RELATIVELY SIMPLE PROBLEMS, HOW CAN WE DEAL WITH NUCLEAR WASTE?

I DON'T BELIEVE THAT SUBSTITUTING PAPER PRODUCTS FOR PLASTICS IS 
AN ACCEPTABLE SOLUTION. 

MY NEXT OUTBURST WILL COVER THE WAY THE NAVY DOES IT........
                       

                   CORRECTION: I HAVE NOT BEEN RADICAL ON ENVIRONMENTAL
                               ISSUES FOR YEARS NOW.

                               THESE COMMENTS ARE FLASHBACKS.

                                        JERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY

Speaking of plastics recyling...
	At the current time, it is actually easier to recycle SOME plastics
than it is to recycle glass (other than to re-use the glass containers).
However, the demand for both recycled glass and plastics is lagging
behind the various local and state programs around the country that are
rapidly coming into place which requires the return of glass and plastic
containers (and also paper products, for that matter).  This appears to
be a transitionary problem however as the recycled products industry begins
to take shape.  In just the last 3 months, the demand for recycled plastics
from the 2-litre beverage container has shot up dramitically.  There is an
outfit in the southeast that uses the ground up plastic from these containers
to make RUGS.  They use approx. 55 2-litre bottles per square yard of carpet
and they make carpet by the thousands of linear yards each day!
	They did not have a reliable supply (hence their lack of interest in
using recycled products) until AFTER the state of New Jersey came down HARD
on all of its citizens to perform MANDATORY seperation of trash into all
products which are recyclable.  (This was due to the fact there is only a
single landfill site left in the entire state!)  They even have garbage cops
which inspect curbside trash to make sure there is nothing there that should
be in the recycled bins.  Fines up to $5000 have been levied against repeat
offenders (usually landlords which have a tough time getting all their
tennents to cooperate)!
	Anyway, the point of all this is that the creation of an entire
infrastructure to handle recycled products does not happen overnight, and
there will be cases such as the one that happened locally where tons of
glass had to be taken to the landfill instead of recycled.  BUT, the
facilities to use these products ARE beginning to pop up (especially in the
area of recycled paper products which has been around for a long time, but
has not been able to keep pace with the recent increase in the growth of
recycled product).
	SO...  Whatever form of recycling you use, do it!  At the very least,
you are developing habits which are a positive step toward keeping garbage
out of landfills and sooner or later (hopefully sooner), ALL of the stuff
we put out for recycling will actually help reduce the demand for those same
raw materials!
	Enough soapbox...
	Rusty

	I see the problem is that there are just too many people using too much
stuff. We should reduce the need for recycling by reducing the amount of
useless packaging. People buy all this pre-packaged stuff in the first place
because they are lazy or don't have time............ and then we expect them
to take all this extra time to recycle the package they bought to save time.
People buy prepared beverages because the don't take the time or effort to
make their own. (Remember Ice Tea and Lemonade?) We never used to be able to
buy individually wrapped ultra-pasteurized cheese food and squeezable
ketchup. Have you noticed that all this overly-packaged food is all stuff
that isn't healthy for us to eat or drink anyway?

 	So maybe the answer isn't to make recycling easy. Maybe it should be
absolutely mandatory and incredibly cumbersome .........so then people will
stop buying all this packaged stuff to begin with.

	Then we can put all our out-of-work citizens to work washing bottles
and returning them to the mayonaisse manufacturer.(....but then that will
use a lot of water, oops, next problem....)

It's come to my attention that a number of people would or do recycle by way
of making piles of cans and/or bottles in their labs, offices, cubes etc.
If you would like your personal stash periodically collected for you, drop
me a mail message, and I'll come around (probably after-hours) and collect them
for our local recycling effort.  Alternatively, drop them in those cleverly 
disguised blue bins marked "GLASS" and "CANS" scattered about the building.
You've probably missed them in the lunchroom. From the perennially empty state
of the bins there, I figure no one can see them.  They're there, just a few
dozen feet from the regular trash cans ... just waiting for you to fill
them up.  You know they want it.
					-- jim

	Does anyone know of a place that takes plastic water bottles to
	be recycled (big 2.5 gallon and 1 gallon bottles).  I've had no
	luck finding a place and they're piling up.  You can make great
	toilet tank water saving reservoirs out of them if anyone wants
	them!!

		Steph (x1754) or reply

Information for recycling plastics:

First, buy the right plastics. Look for a triangle symbol with 2 in the
middle. That is the symbol for High density polyethylene (HDPE). Examples of
this plastic are milk jugs and shampoo bottles. A triangle with a 6 in the
middle stands for Polystyrene (P/S). Examples of polystyrene are yogurt and
cottage cheese tubs.

HDPE and P/S can be recycled locally. Waste Management/Recycle America
accepts HDPE at 1140 Campbell Ave, near Newhall Ave and The Alameda in San
Jose. Bay Polymer accepts P/S at 44530 Grimmer Blvd in Fremont. Please make
sure the containers are clean. Otherwise, they will be rejected.

For more information, Waste Management can be reached at 408-980-9900. Bay
Polymer's phone number is 415-490-1791.

There is no cash reward yet for recycling plastic, but you will have the
satisfaction of knowing you're part of the solution to a critical problem.