Columns
A Word About Recycling - Oct. 11, 2009
Today we’ll talk about electronic waste plus a personal comment on another subject at the end.
From the recent E-Scrap newsletter we find the rankings Greenpeace has given some electronics manufacturers. They rate “... Nokia the greenest electronics manufacturer for ... ‘leading competitors on toxic phase out.’"
Samsung was second. Sony moved from 12th place to eighth.
“Apple also improved from 11th to ninth, being called ’the most progressive PC maker on removing toxics from product range.’" Further down, “Microsoft claimed the 15th spot, due to "poor scores on e-waste" while Nintendo brought up the rear, staying in last place...”
While on the subject of electronics, including cell phones, an e-mail newsletter from where we donate blood has this to say:
“The Blood Center of Central Texas has partnered with Funds for Phones by CycledCells to raise money by recycling cell phones. For every cell phone donated, Funds for Phones will make a donation to The Blood Center of Central Texas. Recycle your cell phone and raise money for a great cause!”
(The title of this item was “Donate your cell phone and help save lives” which sounds like a great idea.)
And finally in the area of electronic waste, it was interesting to find out from one who works in the computer repair area (thanks Thad) that when any government computer is recycled, its hard drive must be shredded (just removing all data from it isn’t enough). Thus an item in the latest Recycling Today e-newsletter caught our eye.
“Ameri-Shred Corp., Alpena, Mich., has expanded its hard drive shredder line... “ And a company selling one of these new shredders reported: “The unit has proven to be much more robust than expected, with zero downtime after over 50,000 drives shredded by one of our clients.”
(That’s a lot of hard drives being shredded by just one company.)
Off subject: At the end of these columns during the drought we sometimes made comments on the need to pray for rain, do a rain-dance, or do something. Now that some rains have arrived, we would like to make a comment on how thankful we are and how wonderful it is that many dying plants “sprang to life” so to speak.
We see flowers where we saw none before and some out-of-season... and everything is so much greener now. To us, it could be a reminder of that saying which goes something like “those who have been near death have a renewed appreciation of life” and these plants show it.
Till next week, do have a great one...
Gloria and Ollie are local citizens concerned with the environment and helping others. Ollie is a graduate of Leadership San Marcos and they both received higher education at TxState University and worked on staff before retiring. For questions or comments, please call 353-7432 or e-mail them to omaier@TxState.edu.
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A poem written from the grackle’s point of view
We have a winner in my bird poetry contest — Dee Tusch of San Marcos.
- A Word About Recycling - July 25, 2010
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Life’s Like That-July 25, 2010
It has been a while since I have written about The Steel Magnolias.
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Magpies blessed with big bird brains
Each week hundreds of people call or visit the San Marcos Public Library to find information.
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A Word About Recycling - July 18, 2010
Today again, a variety of things from around our nation and up north. First from the E-waste Recycling eNewletter, we’ll go to Pennsylvania.
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Life's Like That - July 18, 2010
Today I want to share some thoughts about how to deal with anger. Most of us have experienced what happens when you place a pan of water on the stove, turn the burner on, and then forget about it. It is not a bad illustration of losing one's temper. First, it gets hot; then it comes to a boil; next it boils over on the stove; and then it evaporates.
- Chamber Window - July 18, 2010
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A Word About Recycling - July 11, 2010
Today we will mention some relatively local recycling items. The first refers to an item noticed in the latest issue of the electric co-op magazine. It stated that PEC will accept burnt-out CFLs for recycling.
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Life's Like That - July 11, 2010
I am a southerner; what's more, I am a Texas southerner. It has been said that we are a breed apart. We have our own idioms, our own personality and an independence that stands against all comers.
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Yellow-billed Cuckoo often heard but rarely seen in Central Texas
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