A throwaway society
OK I did something bad today - I threw out my old electronics and contributed to the mounting pile of e-waste.But is that really bad? Arrived at the depot on Veronica St. five minutes after opening time and joined the lineup - 25 cars in front of me. All is going well until a van, driven by an older woman (approx 70yrs) who jammed a "Handicapped" sticker on the dash and proceeded to jump the line. This was possible as the first line came from the East, off Division. A staff member came around at that time to take license plate #s. I said to her "You need signs here, people are jumping the line (this was possible if one came at the gate from the West)." I was told that "You have to come from that side anyway!" I retorted, "Put some signs up then" Anyway cars were then directed from the line behind me and told to assume the position on the West side. Inside the gate and at the receiving station all was organised and I had only waited 40 minutes.
A very tidy operation. Goodness knows how long the lineups will be at the busy time.But the bottom line for me was that I had to dispose of functioning but obsolete equipment to declutter. If I had taken it all to the "Blue Box" nobody would have taken it either, because of its age. A very graphic example of waste. It is hoped that efficient recycling now takes over.
18 comments:
Holy Sow! Look at all those lined-up petro-polluting vehicles likely sitting there idling away, churning out toxins to pollute the air and contribute to global warming. I took my ewaste by bike. It can also be taken by little red wagon or other non-polluting hand-pulled foot-walked transporters, but who ever stops to think of how casually we pollute the environment with motor vehicles. Get rid of them and then talk to me about about harm reduction to the environment without the appearance of being a hypocrite.
I had to do the same thing recently, but keeping the hard drives until I can erase them. But eventually those will go to the landfill or get stripped for precious metals in China or India or what have you.
In my own nod to environmental awareness, I have now converted 3 outdated refrigerators (including a 1951 Norge)into home draught beer dispensers. That's 3 appliances saved from the dump -plus!- 50-or-so trips to the beer store each eliminated. As well, since there are no empties that can only be recycled 3-or-four usable times, there's no waste glass to be recycled. Draught beer is also unpasteurized eliminating one more expensive step in the manufacturing process. But the real joy of having draught beer at home is that I didn't even have to join Facebook to find out I had a hundred new friends!
Cheers, everybody!
Waste is one thing, but it's our rabid over consumption of too much stuff that's at the crux of the problem.
Perhaps when we begin running out of oil we'll understand that we don't need a lot of the junk we're buying, since we will no longer be able to manufacture, ship, or afford it anymore. Practically everything we do, make, and use, is based on petroleum products.
It's not just an environmental issue, it is very much an economic one too. Capitalism only works as long as we suckers keep wanting and buying the crap that is on offer. When we can't make the crap anymore because there's no resources left, what happens then?
I'm not a Doomer or anything, but I see dark days ahead regardless.
So Merk brews, and drinks, home brew. But at what cost? Cheaper yes but is the world deprived of his sageness at local hostelries? Perhaps we should take him up on his statement that he has a 100 new friends, how about we make it 200 and we get to drink his beer to boot!
I'll inhale to that, Berserklin Gruffley.
I'll inhale to that, Berserklin Gruffley.
These depots are held far too rarely. Who can attend on week days? Just retired or jobless people I guess.
I wonder why people just toss this stuff in the landfill, or worse, on the side of the road! The county needs a better system, rather than a few of these a year.
"I'm not a Doomer or anything, but I see dark days ahead regardless."
I'm not an optimist or anything, but I see more people living better lives throughout the world. The accomplishments of the 20th century: (in spite of a really really Great Depression, and two world wars) humanity extended its longevity, reduced infant mortality, expanded literacy. This ambition is naturally inherent in our species -- so it will continue through the 21st, spills, chills and thrills included.
Has anyone seen the manual for the future? Or are we condemned to learn as we go? I'm for learning.
And BTW Deb, all the work you (& colleagues) have done over the years for those in financial stress, has materially benefitted the welfare of humanity. There's billions of ways to accomplish this.
Humanity can take a much-deserved bow from time to time.
Ben seems to think I drink "home brew". I don't -whether or not that means beer you brew yourself or otherwise. I drink Canadian Lager or Export Ale brewed by Labbat's. The important distinction, I think, is that I'm not, by any means, a Real Ale fanatic. I enjoy mainstream beers brewed by Big Breweries. I'm not a beer snob. I AM a price snob. If I can drink real draught at $2.50 for a 20oz pint in the company of friends at home or elsewhere (note to Ben: Are you aware of the proliferation of Private-Invitation-Only-Clubs springing up locally to counter both outrageous prices and deadbeat company? You might want to look into it.) why would I want to fork out up to $7.00 for a pint in some sports TV-stuffed pizza joint, over-run with obnoxious hockey brats, when I can listen to Django and discuss Lapham in an atmosphere far more condusive to adult company than those noisy joints can ever hope to provide?
Then there's The New Puritanism: The Mothers Against Everything and the .05 Roadside Seizure With No Benefit Of Due Process Law teaming up to make sure you stay home and -ahem- shut the fuck up.
And so I shall. But by God I'll not be deprived of The Nectar Of The Gods -decent draught.
See you Thursday night at Martyn Joseph's thing at St. Peter's...
Better you sit in your basement hooked up to your home made substance abuse apparatus than try and kill the rest of us sober drivers. I'm sure the obnoxious hockey brats will not miss another obnoxious drunk.
Nothing like bile from a sanctimonious and self righteous prude first thing in the morning to start off the day.
Probably drinks de-caf, and only one cup at that. With bitter artifical sugar to get the face pinched up just right.
Good personal put-down of anonymous, Deb.
So why the big whine when I put down your comments -- makes you look like a hypocrite.
Throwaway comments are always recyclable -- I abuse them all the time.
Sanctimonious, I think you should look in the mirror Deb O. Your socialist bile would have us all in the situation Greece is in now. Their subsidized life is coming to a grinding halt.
Ah, the boldness of our Anonymous, taking shots at me from the safety of the curtain of secrecy.
Why s/he thinks I am somehow connected to the economic meltdown in Greece is beyond me. How does Anon. presume to think s/he knows what my beliefs are anyway?
Guess Anon. didn't bother watching the video of Billy Bragg posted by Mr. Burd. If s/he had, they'd be taking shots at Ben instead of me. Bragg's performing a very serious socialist song there, and for Ben to post it tells us a great deal about his politics.
Take a look, there are other great performance videos on there too. Just be careful not to get infected with the socialism bug while you're listening. Heaven forbid you wake up tomorrow and find you care about other human beings.
I was in Kitchener last fall and was given a tour of The Working Centre:
http://www.theworkingcentre.org/
One aspect of which was their computer recycling room (more like a basement). People donated computers which were then refurbished and then resold for a token amount to folks that couldn't afford them otherwise. They do the same with bicycles.
It's taken a long time and hard work for these folks to get to where they are but I really admire what they have accomplished. My kind of raving communist in fact! I wish we had something like this around here.
Laurie, thanks for the post about the Working Centre. Back in the 1980's it started off as one of about 15 Unemployed Help Centres in Ontario, who were supported by local Labour Councils and the Ontario Federation of Labour.
Starved of funding first by the federal government, then Provincial, they scrambled to stay open and many didn't survive.
Cobourg's own Help Centre was one of them, started and led by our own Ben Burd and others from the Labour Council here. As one of the first managers of the Help Centre, I recall the helpful meetings the OFL hosted so Help Centres could get together and share expertise and funding ideas. Even then the Kitchener operation was well organized and appreciated by the community.
Our own Help Centre has done equally well by securing funding to operate the Northumberland Legal Centre which has helped thousands of low income residents with their legal problems since it was opened in 1992.
This is exactly what low income people need to improve their lives: justice (not charity).
Good to know this stuff, Deb. Thank you for your work in this regard.
Post a Comment