So, we’ve bought our first “new” items outside of groceries. Dan needed a new belt and we didn’t have the energy/patience to go looking for a good one at a thrift/consignment shop. We also must confess to buying a new RealSimple magazine – the tipping point was because we had a coupon! And today Dan bought a book at the dollar store. We have found our weakness for buying often coincides with a “great deal”- such as a cool book for a “just a buck” or having a sale or coupon to give us a nudge. I guess we should add the fact that we bought a “new” desktop computer this weekend as well. Technically, it is a refurbished computer- so I suppose we could stretch that to calling it “used”- but really all that means is that somebody else bought it new, used it very briefly (or not at all) because it had a problem and was returned to the company to be refurbished and resold. So here’s the beginning of a list we will keep for the year and it will be interesting to see what makes it onto the list and how LONG the list becomes- even when trying to put forth an effort to not buy “stuff”: Belt, magazine, book, computer.
Our computers the past few months have given us quite a bit of trouble. In October my laptop crashed and we had to buy a new hard drive for it. A few weeks ago our desktop’s video card went kaput. We bought a new card for it but there was also something wrong with the pci express slot that it goes into. So, now we are left with an unusable pc tower. Luckily we were able to rehab my old laptop hardrive and use it as extra storage space. However, we are faced with what to do with our dead tower. There are the occasional electronic recycling events that are organized in the area that we can save it for. However, I have recently read in various places that some of the electronics that are gathered to be recycled are then shipped overseas where people dismantle the products without being properly protected from the various poisonous elements (of course this report is often also of people that are poorly paid and/or including a child labor force). So, now I have to consider how to track where our products go to be recycled and whether it’s an efficient (all that shipping across the globe seems like plenty of unnecessary pollution)and ethical recycling process? I like being conscious of the impact of my actions, but can’t we simplify this people? Aren’t there a ton of electronics geeks out there that can rehab our various computer waste nationally/regionally/locally and resell it cheaply to those who can’t afford the newest technology? OR, better yet can’t we make computers so that they’re less disposible? Dan has said that many companies collect unused electronics and refurbish them as charity for schools- this makes more sense to me overall -so we’re looking into this, I’ll post what we find out.
I also need to make a correction from my previous post. A friend who works with wood assures me that the website I linked to in the “bookmark’ site is misleading. Only a small fraction of the wood used in furniture/building etc. in the U.S. is from illegally logged forests. In light of this, I should also say that I am certainly not an expert on the broad areas of concern that I will write about in this blog. I appreciate any additional expertise or information people can give me. Please be aware that I am merely recording the negotiations I am trying to make every day within the vast sea of information and conflicting opinions (and even statistics) on these issues. There are many different interests that can lead to the various representations of how we are (mis) using our resources whether it be forests, oil, water, crops etc. Corporations have an interest in obscuring details of the production process for their capital benefit (or personal conscience) and environmentalists desire their voices to be heard over the din of a much more flashy and desireable commercialism (often feeling like their cries are falling on deaf ears). And with each seeing so much at stake, they often collapse the complexities and details into something they think the general population will better understand , or highlight the truths that benefit their larger goals. But I think we can agree that we are using up finite natural resources and that we need to rethink our current practices (at a personal level as well as governmental). This blog is merely my personal exercise in trying to raise my awareness and make appropriate changes for the health of the planet, my family and the other families around the world involved in our web of commerce. Obviously, by posting this thought process I also hope it raises questions for others or provide info/links/personal solutions that others may also explore or adopt. (and also get feedback from others with more information!)
Hopefully my devoted readers have not missed all the good stuff going on the comments sections- here are some highlights:
A link to a film i’ve been eager to see: http://www.flowthefilm.com/
And, some further answers to your vampire ettiquette questions: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090117190311AAjN8H0 (miss ettiquette is me)
Today however is a day for hope and change. The excitement is palpable today. Happy day.
The Obama Administration’s official agenda on energy and the environment: http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment/
And here’s Obama appropriately dropping the F- bomb (really) while less officially talking about his ideas on energy and environment: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/11/obama-forget-the-f-ing-light-bulbs-its-the-collective.php
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