Hey friends! As most of you know we at GLR love the CSI series as they frequently sneak in eco related information here and there. Although the original series, that takes place in Las Vegas, does a good job of sharing the planetary love, the NY detectives tend to really give it emphasis.
I have talked about the episode where G Oil was featured but another eco conscious episode recently hit my radar. During season five they filmed an episode called “Green Piece” and I just happened to catch it on a rerun not too long ago.
The premise of the story is that a pipe bomb explodes, blowing up a house, and leads the detectives toward locating an environmental terrorist group behind the bombing. The intended target is found to own a successful e-cycling business but in the end it is discovered he may not be as responsible with his e-waste as originally thought.
The episode is filled with great terms and important environmental issues and when they arrest the man behind the group, Gary Sinise’s character, Detective Mac Taylor, uses the one liner “Nothing personal, just doing my duty…as one of God’s creatures.”
Thanks CSI: NY for keeping your finger on the pulse of what is important and sharing the stories with us in a most dramatic and exciting fashion!
Here’s a clip from the show but I warn those who watch but haven’t made it to this season yet, it is a spoiler and has absolutely nothing to do with the environment. I just think these two characters are the cutest couple on television! Enjoy!
Showing posts with label e-waste. Show all posts
Showing posts with label e-waste. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Word is Spreading!
More and more concerned citizens are standing up to do their part for a better planet especially in the areas of proper disposal of electronics, reduction in consumption of fossil fuels and increased consumption of organically grown produce.
Keeping e-waste out of landfills is critically important in order to prevent leeching of harmful chemicals (primarily mercury) into the soil and proximate waterways. In an encouraging news story it seems that the National Center for Electronics Recycling has indicated a rise in collection of e-waste by seven percent over the numbers submitted in 2007. Every little bit helps!
We have all heard the term hybrid vehicle and understand the definition to be “a vehicle which requires at least two sources of power to go”. In hybrid cars those sources are likely gas and electric or diesel and bio-fuel. In 2007 the number of hybrid cars sold increased by 38% over the prior year. As more manufacturers are looking for ways to bring revenues back, and more consumers are looking for ways to save money at the pump, the number of hybrid vehicles will surely increase even further.
As summer rolls around we begin to think of farmer’s markets and fresh, pesticide free produce but by eating organically grown produce the rest of the year we ensure chemical free farms are supported and possibly right in our own region of the country. Even big box stores not especially known for this type of product, such as Walmart, reported a growth in sales of organics over the past few years. Stores like this actually anticipate sales to hold steady or even increase in the next year. Don’t forget to take your reusable tote!
Although these efforts may appear more difficult to complete, or even costly, savvy environmentalists understand it is nothing more than a change in attitude. The more often the practice is put into place and the more people who do it, all those concerns quickly fade away. Spread the word about how easy it actually is to live a Greener lifestyle by sharing your stories about the little things you do!
Keeping e-waste out of landfills is critically important in order to prevent leeching of harmful chemicals (primarily mercury) into the soil and proximate waterways. In an encouraging news story it seems that the National Center for Electronics Recycling has indicated a rise in collection of e-waste by seven percent over the numbers submitted in 2007. Every little bit helps!
We have all heard the term hybrid vehicle and understand the definition to be “a vehicle which requires at least two sources of power to go”. In hybrid cars those sources are likely gas and electric or diesel and bio-fuel. In 2007 the number of hybrid cars sold increased by 38% over the prior year. As more manufacturers are looking for ways to bring revenues back, and more consumers are looking for ways to save money at the pump, the number of hybrid vehicles will surely increase even further.
As summer rolls around we begin to think of farmer’s markets and fresh, pesticide free produce but by eating organically grown produce the rest of the year we ensure chemical free farms are supported and possibly right in our own region of the country. Even big box stores not especially known for this type of product, such as Walmart, reported a growth in sales of organics over the past few years. Stores like this actually anticipate sales to hold steady or even increase in the next year. Don’t forget to take your reusable tote!
Although these efforts may appear more difficult to complete, or even costly, savvy environmentalists understand it is nothing more than a change in attitude. The more often the practice is put into place and the more people who do it, all those concerns quickly fade away. Spread the word about how easy it actually is to live a Greener lifestyle by sharing your stories about the little things you do!
Friday, December 26, 2008
After the Holiday Comes the Clean Up and Clear Out of Toys
In my house we live by the ‘one out one in’ rule. If I purchase something new it is generally due to the fact that something else has completely worn out, broken, or become outdated to a point where it is no longer functional and has already made its way to a recycling center or charity. Since it is just my husband and I there are far fewer family members to determine the supposed need for the item in question. Even though we do not have children we do own some board games, stuffed animals of sentimental value and other items that are deemed “kid”. These items are a small portion of our overall possessions but for those with children it becomes necessary to locate an alternate solution for all of the toys the children in question no longer find appealing.
A friend of mine collects all of these toys and other items her children outgrow in a given year and sells them on craigslist to families who are looking for a toy in that growth stage at a reduced cost. She collects this money over the course of the year and uses it to completely finance their summer vacation. In the past few years she, her two sons and a friend have been taking tours of all the major league baseball parks in the country, seeing games and touring the cities they are located in. The trips are a lot of fun for everyone and they are making far greater memories by selling these items instead of placing them in boxes in the attic.
Not all people have the desire to spend their time uploading photos and descriptions of items onto an internet selling or auction site but there are many additional ways to recycle without going through all of those steps. Why not check in with local preschools, public schools, churches, hospitals or other charitable organizations to see if they would be able to utilize the toy in question. Another great way to recycle a toy is to check with local community organizations to see if there are families who have fallen on hard times and are in need of assistance. For new families in the neighborhood why not put together a gift basket of formerly loved toys that are still in great shape. This will help the family save a great deal of money and introduce the child to something they may not have had the opportunity to acquire otherwise.
Earth911 is a website dedicated to discussing the benefits to recycling just about anything from toys to bicycles to eyeglasses. They provide great tips for recycling parts of children’s toys like batteries or electronic components. As the world of technology improves, toys can become outdated faster but throwing them away leads to tons of e-waste being placed in landfills. Recycling these toys will help keep over half of all toxic waste out of landfills and stop potential pollution of waterways. In addition it will ensure less air pollution as emissions are not being released to construct something new.
Now that the holidays are winding down families are attempting to find space to store all of the new items that have come into their home and one of the easiest ways to do it is to recycle the old. What may seem boring to one child might just be the best gift ever to another.
A friend of mine collects all of these toys and other items her children outgrow in a given year and sells them on craigslist to families who are looking for a toy in that growth stage at a reduced cost. She collects this money over the course of the year and uses it to completely finance their summer vacation. In the past few years she, her two sons and a friend have been taking tours of all the major league baseball parks in the country, seeing games and touring the cities they are located in. The trips are a lot of fun for everyone and they are making far greater memories by selling these items instead of placing them in boxes in the attic.
Not all people have the desire to spend their time uploading photos and descriptions of items onto an internet selling or auction site but there are many additional ways to recycle without going through all of those steps. Why not check in with local preschools, public schools, churches, hospitals or other charitable organizations to see if they would be able to utilize the toy in question. Another great way to recycle a toy is to check with local community organizations to see if there are families who have fallen on hard times and are in need of assistance. For new families in the neighborhood why not put together a gift basket of formerly loved toys that are still in great shape. This will help the family save a great deal of money and introduce the child to something they may not have had the opportunity to acquire otherwise.
Earth911 is a website dedicated to discussing the benefits to recycling just about anything from toys to bicycles to eyeglasses. They provide great tips for recycling parts of children’s toys like batteries or electronic components. As the world of technology improves, toys can become outdated faster but throwing them away leads to tons of e-waste being placed in landfills. Recycling these toys will help keep over half of all toxic waste out of landfills and stop potential pollution of waterways. In addition it will ensure less air pollution as emissions are not being released to construct something new.
Now that the holidays are winding down families are attempting to find space to store all of the new items that have come into their home and one of the easiest ways to do it is to recycle the old. What may seem boring to one child might just be the best gift ever to another.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Moving With the Times
There is something to be said for technology, the small little chrome and black devices we all carry around with us are sleek and snazzy; a status symbol or just a great way to keep in touch with people when our business takes us far from home. What happens when we decide we have outgrown a black and chrome color scheme and that “clunky old” gaming system and want to show off our red or pink or blue gadget replacements and sleekly designed game hard drive? There is a cell phone, MP3 player, laptop, digital camera and gaming system to get rid of so just throw the old ones in the trash right?
WRONG!!
Companies are now taking of advantage of ever changing technology trends and jumping in to assist with the e-cycling of those old items by handling what is known as e-waste. Not only will they take them back and properly dispose of them -- either refurbish and resell or e-cycle appropriately -- but some companies will even pay a small fee in cash or gift cards to garner those items.
When replacing old technologies we sometimes go to chain outfits such as Staples, Office Max or Office Depot. Office Depot just moved up about five branches on the Green Leaf Tree as they have now partnered up with ecoNEW to provide trade in for gift certificate service. So how does it work? The old item is researched on the ecoNEW website (ElectroStore portal must be acquired first), a value is placed on the old technology, an ElectroStore credit is issued with a UPS shipping slip, the item is shipped back, verified and a gift card to the retailer of choice is sent to the consumer.
What about those folks who do not want to turn their stuff into more stuff but would like to sell for cash without the hassle of listing items online over and over again?
Right here in Waltham, Massachusetts is a company called Gazelle (formerly Second Rotation) which receives, values, and turns old electronics into cash for the consumer. This company deals with less items than some of the others as they are only willing to accept eleven different types of electronic hardware (they do not accept old printers for example) but for those they do accept a consumer can (as their website states) “get green while being green”! As technology age increases the value decreases so that is something to be aware of. Selling back old electronics will likely not pay the mortgage but they will be kept out of landfills.
It is estimated that 2.25 million tons of electronics were deemed unworthy in the twenty four month period of 2006-2007. Only eighteen percent of those were e-cycled, a whopping 405,000 tons. That leaves 2,249,595 tons of electronic equipment to be placed in landfills. Ouch.
A fantastic example of rapidly changing technology would be the digital television switch over coming to all homes as of next year. With this mandated switch to DTV in February of 2009 there are going to be quite a few televisions that are deemed outdated. I strongly encourage everyone to begin research now for a location where these can be dropped (getting this done early will decrease chances of being turned away on the switch date due to high demand). Not only will it save a huge tonnage of waste in landfills but it could even pay back with a little pocket lining green.
Keeping up with trends is fun but landfills are not so that is why I give e-cycling companies such as ecoNEW and Gazelle and partners of their mission, such as Office Depot, a Four Leaf Rating!
WRONG!!
Companies are now taking of advantage of ever changing technology trends and jumping in to assist with the e-cycling of those old items by handling what is known as e-waste. Not only will they take them back and properly dispose of them -- either refurbish and resell or e-cycle appropriately -- but some companies will even pay a small fee in cash or gift cards to garner those items.
When replacing old technologies we sometimes go to chain outfits such as Staples, Office Max or Office Depot. Office Depot just moved up about five branches on the Green Leaf Tree as they have now partnered up with ecoNEW to provide trade in for gift certificate service. So how does it work? The old item is researched on the ecoNEW website (ElectroStore portal must be acquired first), a value is placed on the old technology, an ElectroStore credit is issued with a UPS shipping slip, the item is shipped back, verified and a gift card to the retailer of choice is sent to the consumer.
What about those folks who do not want to turn their stuff into more stuff but would like to sell for cash without the hassle of listing items online over and over again?
Right here in Waltham, Massachusetts is a company called Gazelle (formerly Second Rotation) which receives, values, and turns old electronics into cash for the consumer. This company deals with less items than some of the others as they are only willing to accept eleven different types of electronic hardware (they do not accept old printers for example) but for those they do accept a consumer can (as their website states) “get green while being green”! As technology age increases the value decreases so that is something to be aware of. Selling back old electronics will likely not pay the mortgage but they will be kept out of landfills.
It is estimated that 2.25 million tons of electronics were deemed unworthy in the twenty four month period of 2006-2007. Only eighteen percent of those were e-cycled, a whopping 405,000 tons. That leaves 2,249,595 tons of electronic equipment to be placed in landfills. Ouch.
A fantastic example of rapidly changing technology would be the digital television switch over coming to all homes as of next year. With this mandated switch to DTV in February of 2009 there are going to be quite a few televisions that are deemed outdated. I strongly encourage everyone to begin research now for a location where these can be dropped (getting this done early will decrease chances of being turned away on the switch date due to high demand). Not only will it save a huge tonnage of waste in landfills but it could even pay back with a little pocket lining green.
Keeping up with trends is fun but landfills are not so that is why I give e-cycling companies such as ecoNEW and Gazelle and partners of their mission, such as Office Depot, a Four Leaf Rating!
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