Too many old monitors! February 25, 2008

I finally made the switch to a flat-screen monitor this week. I’d inherited it a year ago and never bothered to hook it up. Finally the advantages of saving space and some energy prompted me to make the change. The new monitor is great, only now I have the old CRT monitor sitting on my living room floor. It didn’t seem all that big when it was on my computer stand, but when I look at it now it seems immense:

 

(The wine bottle is just for perspective!)

My problem is bigger than this, however. I actually have 2 other similarly large monitors I’m not using, plus 2 non-working but fixable printers, 2 or 3 keyboards, and a complete desktop system that my mother just replaced and that I volunteered to dispose of for her.

Despite the fact that there is probably a higher concentration of hardware in the NYC metropolitan area, there are surprisingly few options for donating or recycling. Most of my unneeded equipment is in working order, so I would prefer not to take it to my town’s electronic recycling day, which isn’t until April 18th anyway. My preference is that it find a useful purpose somewhere. Staples collects from businesses but not from individuals, and even the apparently helpful Find a Recycling Center at earth911.org didn’t offer any options.

Finally, after many fruitless searches, I came across the National Cristina Foundation, which encourages companies and individuals to donate computers and other technology, which are then matched to charities, schools and public agencies in all 50 states, Canada, and in many countries around the world. The process was easy. I filled in a form with the details of the monitor, and my contact information. Once they have a match they will get in touch. There is an option for 3 levels of detail about the equipment. I chose the most detailed in this case because I knew the make and model number, and had been able to find some of the specs on Amazon. For the IBM I have I don’t have much detail, so when I post that one I’ll choose the “don’t know much about the equipment” option. I could also choose whether I’d ship the item or would prefer to drop it off or have it picked up, which seemed more sensible in this case. They say it takes 2 weeks minimum to hear back, so I’ll have to be patient, and will update the blog once I’ve been contacted.

The take many types of notebooks, desktops, printers, peripherals and even software, so if you have something you don’t need, give it a try. Not only will you be helping someone else, you’ll be keeping potentially dangerous substances out of a landfill.

Encouraging signs February 20, 2008

I started recycling glass bottles and aluminum cans over 30 years ago. They would pile up at my house, sometimes sorted into the three categories of brown/green glass, clear glass and cans. When I couldn’t stand it anymore, or when they threatened to spill out from the area where I kept them and block my front door, I’d load them all into my car and drive them across town to where the tall, ugly dumpsters were. There was something cathartic about slinging them high enough into the air to clear the edge of the big bins, and then hearing the smashing glass when they dropped on the other side. Sometimes in summer I’d have to run from the bees that rose up, disturbed by the intrusion.Things have changed over the years, and now all I have to do is drag my yellow tub out to the curb each week. The great thing is that recycling is a part of my neighbors’ lives, too. It’s something we all take for granted, and when in one of the few parts of the country where I can’t recycle, it seems strange to throw a can or glass bottle into the trash.

I wonder how many cubic yards of glass and cans I’ve saved from the landfills in over 30 years? We can all make a difference!

Plastic cutlery and wire hangars! February 18, 2008

Well, I got confused with the holiday today, and by the time I went for my walk, the garbage had been collected, so I can’t share tales of my neighbors’ refuse. Instead, I will talk about two issues I face on my own: plastic cutlery and wire hangars.

No matter how hard I try not to acquire plastic forks, spoons, and sometimes knives, it seems hopeless. The other night I ordered Chinese takeout, and when I got home I discovered that they had thoughtfully provided me with a plastic fork. That wouldn’t have surprised me at lunch, or if I had been in the city, but here in suburbia, it’s unlikely that I’d be taking my food anywhere but home, where I have plenty of cutlery, and usually use chopsticks anyway for Chinese. I would think that it would be better for the restaurant not to have to hand out forks, etc., when they’re not needed, between the expense and storage issues in a small place. Plus, they already have self-serve bins of mustard, soy and duck sauces, so why not forks? My community will not accept plastic cutlery for recycling, and I already have way too much of that stuff already. (You can put them in the dishwasher and they last forever.)

My other pet peeve is wire hangars. I try not to use dry cleaning much, but even so, the wire hangars I do get seem to multiply like rabbits. Sometimes the clothes are only on them for 24 hours, before I take sweaters, etc. off to fold them and put them in a drawer. Should I just throw the hangars out? Once I took a pile of them back to the dry cleaner and they took them back, but I had a feeling they weren’t going to make it back to the plant where they actually clean the clothes.

I’ve managed to cut down on a lot of other superfluous items that make it into the house, but these two have me stumped. Does anyone have any suggestions?

A notable package and an interesting coincidence February 17, 2008

I didn’t think I’d run across something I wanted to talk about so soon, or so easily. Only hours after I had started my blog, a colleague at work brought over an example of excess packaging. “Hey, Les, I thought you’d be interested in seeing this!” I guess I have a reputation in the office. “Look at the size of the carton they used to mail this little box.” Sure enough, a little gift box measuring about 3″ square and 3/4″ thick was nestled at the top of a carton measuring 10″x10″x11 1/2″. The box didn’t even contain anything fragile

A friend lent me her camera phone. Tale a look:

Now here’s the interesting part -

Although this arrived on Thursday, I hadn’t written about it yet. Then Friday night I was reading Seth Godin’s blog for the first time in quite a while and a few entries down I found that he had written about a similar experience. Take a look at the entry Profligate. At first I was disappointed, thinking that it looked as if I was almost plagiarizing, but then I realized that it’s actually a very encouraging situation, since it shows an example about how people’s consciousness about packaging is changing. Perhaps I shouldn’t use this one blog entry as an indication that the minds of the masses are being swayed, but I was glad to see it.

The garbage issue February 14, 2008

We all generate too much garbage. No matter how good our intentions, it can’t be helped. Through this blog, I will attempt to examine the problem from the ground (sometimes literally) up. What do we throw away? Might we have had another option? I will comment on some of the discarded items I see on my daily walks, and will highlight some interesting initiatives that have been introduced in various parts of the world to deal with this situation.