Category: recycling

QUESTION: Time vs. Quality of Life


A couple weekends ago, we (OK, my wife) bought furniture for our porch. They come in these large cardboard boxes. Once upon a time, these boxes would have ended up in the garbage, but there I was cutting up the boxes, making them ready for the recycling. It took time, over a half hour for all of the boxes. It was a tradeoff between by time and the quality of life I want to maintain.

I’m recalling the local experiment the local paper Times Union did with test riders bus riders. One of the riders said, “I don’t know how anyone could subject themselves to that. (I excoriate them here.)

So the question is simple in structure: What do you do that could be done faster but that you feel is important to take on in a slower manner? My wife makes brownies from scratch. Maybe you participate in a gardening project. There’s a “slow-cook” movement that you might be part of. Perhaps you sew, knit, crochet. I was going to note that we compost, but I just don’t think of the time we spend separating the compostables from the other items as that substantial, though it does reduce the amount of trash we put out weekly.
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Miss Wasilla for 1984, Sarah Palin.

ROG

ROG

Creative Recycling QUESTION

We do try to reuse stuff in our household, not let things go to waste. Just last night, we had tickets for the Albany Symphony which our friends, a couple at our church, could not use, and we were fortunate to get a babysitter.

The evening started with a lovely Italian dinner; some of that food we will eat again. The music, Memories of the Old Country featured Stephen Dankner’s Out of Endless Yearnings: Klezmer Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra, which “brilliantly combines symphonic sound with traditional Jewish folk music.” The composer called it rather like a “Cellist on the Roof.” So the klezmer theme was recycled. The concert also included the familiar Schubert “Unfinished” Symphony, Shostakovich’s Cello Concerto No. 1, and Bartok’s Rumanian Folk Dances.

Many of Lydia’s early clothes we got from others, and we’ve passed along her clothes, toys, and equipment when it’s in good condition.

But here’s a new one for us: we’re getting a Christmas tree today, used. Other church friends of ours cut it down a couple weeks ago, but they’re going out of town through the holidays, so they’d just be tossing it.

Recycling a recent theme: What’s the oddest, and/or most creative ways you’ve reused an item?
ROG

ROG

Plastic QUESTIONS

Certainly, you’re aware of all the problems with plastic. I was recalling some news story some months ago about how even the very efficient recycling system in San Francisco can’t deal with plastic bags and end up throwing them away. And, of course, plastics are made of petroleum, adding to the demand for oil which helps raise the price of gasoline.

Bottled water has been banned by several municipalities to try to hector people not to add more plastic bottles. But recently, my wife told me about a story that washing and reusing plastic water bottles carry a risk as well, the solution for which is to buy more bottles of water made of plastic (?!).

So, the question is simple: how do you minimize use of petroleum-based products? It can be anything from carpooling to reusable canvas bags. And do you think sometimes that stores make it difficult to refuse a bag because of their policies?

Recycling cost/benefit.
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Getting catalogs that you throw away or recycle without even looking at them?
Sign in at Catalog Choice.org
Raid your recycling box for all the catalogs you want to stop
Look up the catalog company names on the website
Enter your name the way it appears on the catalog
Enter the customer number
Do this for each catalog and within 10 weeks, they’ll stop coming to your door.
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Got an e-mail from the Central Administration of SUNY, which read:As you know, the State University follows Executive Order No.142 which requires all state agencies to reduce the amount of waste by separating recoverable materials from regular solid waste. Consistent with this order, blue recycling bins are currently located in all office areas throughout the building to dispose of paper products.
GREAT! So, I called the contact to clarify a point. I discovered that, since we’re in a private building, rather than in a state building, the landlord does not have to follow the same rules. Another reason why I hate the place I work.

ROG

ROG
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