a028  0137  05 Apr 90
PM-Environmental Fair,0617
Industry Shows Best Environmental Face; Greenpeace Grumbles
'Greenwash'
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
    WASHINGTON (AP) - There is an $18 light bulb that lasts seven years
and uses one-fourth less energy. And a solar powered car. And don't
forget Mr. R.E. Cycle, a dummy made of recycled plastic bottles and
bags.
    In two large tents stretching more than a block in the Capitol's
shadow, corporate America is showing off its best environmental face
in a five-day technology fair.
    Some environmentalists were hardly impressed as the fair opened
Wednesday on the national Mall. Several members of Greenpeace
handcuffed themselves to a support pole near the Du Pont Chemical Co.
exhibit. They were among 19 Greenpeace members who were arrested for
demonstrating without a permit, according to the U.S. Park Police.
    ''Corporate America has begun a campaign to paint themselves
green,'' said Peter Bahouth, executive director of Greenpeace USA. A
Greenpeace banner proclaimed: ''Don't Be Fooled - Industry
Greenwash.''
    Bahouth complained that while some of the exhibits by more than 100
companies and trade associations might be environmentally beneficial,
many of the same companies are guilty of pollution and environmental
neglect in other aspects of their businesses.
    But organizers of the fair - dubbed Earth Tech - maintained that
many of the exhibits demonstrate business' interest in making
environmental improvements.
    ''I don't think that you can make anything these days without using
energy or polluting the environment. The question is how much,'' said
Sen. John Heinz, R-Pa., co-chairman of the fair's organizing
committee.
    The Earth Tech program was said by organizers to have cost about $1
million, mostly paid by exhibitors.
    The participants included Fortune 500 companies such as Du Pont and
AT&T but also some lesser knowns such as Oil Stop Inc., which says it
has invented a new type of boom to capture oil spills - the
''self-energizing oil containment system.''
    It's so compact, said company official Richard Lazes, that a
5,000-foot spool could be put on a tanker and unwound within minutes.
That much boom would have surrounded the Exxon Valdez, he said.
    While several oil companies ''are excited about it, they've made no
commitment yet,'' he added.
    Producers of solar, thermal and wind-generated energy were
prominent, as were companies in the rapidly growing industry of waste
management and disposal - and, of course, recycling.
    Some exhibits approached the exotic: a solar-powered car that had
traveled across the country; a model of a ''wind plant'' to show that
wind power already is generating millions of kilowatts of power in
parts of California; and the $18 electric bulb that lasts seven
years, won't break and uses one-fourth less energy than a
conventional bulb.
    ''That's equivalent to not burning 400 pounds of coal over the life
of the bulb,'' said Steve Waxman of Philips Lighting Co. The ''Earth
Light'' isn't available in hardware stores yet but may soon be, he
said.
    At the Du Pont exhibit, displays touted the company's efforts to
push for plastic recycling.
    That's where visitors could find Mr. R.E. Cycle - his limbs made of
beverage and detergent bottles, a torso of a recycled plastic bag and
his head a milk bottle, also of recycled plastic. He sat on a
wood-like bench made of plastic waste.
    At another booth, the American Wood Preservatives Institute and the
National Timber Piling Council passed out saplings wrapped in paper
and ready for planting. The industry over the years has been
criticized by environmentalists for polluting in its production of
chemically treated lumber products.
    But they too had a good environmental story to tell, noting the
longevity of treated lumber. ''Treated Wood Saves Trees,'' read the
white and green buttons next to the rows of saplings.
    
 
AP-NY-04-05-90 0424EDT
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a078  0740  05 Apr 90
PM-Environmental Fair, 1st Ld, a028,0078
Industry Shows Best Environmental Face; Greenpeace Grumbles
'Greenwash'
Eds: SUB lead to CORRECT that light uses one-fourth of energy of
normal bulb, not one-fourth less
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
    WASHINGTON (AP) - There is an $18 light bulb that lasts seven years
and uses only one-fourth of the energy. And a solar powered car. And
don't forget Mr. R.E. Cycle, a dummy made of recycled plastic bottles
and bags.
    In two:
    
 
AP-NY-04-05-90 1037EDT
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a079  0745  05 Apr 90
PM-Environmental Fair, 1st Ld, CORRECTION, a078,28,0089
    WASHINGTON SUB 13th graf: Some exhibits xxx bulb to CORRECT that
light uses one-fourth of energy of normal bulb, not one-fourth less
    Some exhibits approached the exotic: a solar-powered car that had
traveled across the country; a model of a ''wind plant'' to show that
wind power already is generating millions of kilowatts of power in
parts of California; and the $18 electric bulb that lasts seven
years, won't break and uses one-fourth of the energy than a
conventional bulb.
    ''That's equivalent: 14th graf
    
 
AP-NY-04-05-90 1040EDT
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