Save the Planet?

Gone in 60 seconds

A week ago I was lamenting our to-be-demolished garage and confessing my hypocrisy at not reclaiming resources that someone else could use (Three seconds to reclaim ... time's up).  

The day I wrote the blog it was cold, windy, and included some stinging rain.  In other words, not a day I was outside pondering the fate of reusable resources in our garage.

A week of guilt can do wonders for your resolve.  A break in the weather didn't hurt, either.

I had to do SOMETHING!

Rescued

• Four feet of a sandstone retaining wall that would have been lost to the new footprint.  I can use to a) rebuild the wall once the new structure is in place, b) landscape around our maple tree or c) create a new tier to our wall for planting flowers or veggies
• A wall-mounted wooden cabinet
• Four sets of bicycle hooks
• Two motion detector lights and their four flood lamps (one a CF)
• Two indoor light bulbs (one a CF)
• Garage door opener and its track
• Eight decorator concrete blocks that can be used for landscaping (or find a home through FreeCycle!)
• A concrete clamshell garden ornament -- weighs a ton!

Recycled

• Aluminum rain gutters
• Old aluminum screen doors that had been relegated to the garage

Regrets

• The insulated garage door on the neighbor's half
• Old growth scrap lumber -- ever heard of 4" x 5" (actual) dimensional lumber?
• Six-month old cedar 4' X 8' board siding that had covered one face
• Structural lumber that could have been burned by someone with a fireplace
• Ancient roof tiles -- I didn't know they were clay tile until they crashed to the ground
• A holly bush (though there might still be a chance of rescuing it if I can find the right "muscle" and equipment to grab the root ball)

No time for second thoughts.  The garage was flattened less than 60 seconds after The Mustang took its first bite. 

A penny saved -- gets quite a range of reactions

I've been trying to take my own advice to recirculate coins I've been hoarding.  I counted and packaged my penny collection of the 1970s into 50 cents an envelope.  Since I don't have a CoinStar machine within walking distance, I thought retailer might actually appreciate pennies. 

Silly me.  I thought it might save them having to get the coins from their bank or crack open a roll into their cash register. 

Here's my experiences...best to worst...of trying to get pennies back into circulation two envelopes (100 pennies) at a time.

• The bank:  Happy to exchange for a dollar bill.  She didn't even count them.  I didn't bring my whole stash because I'd heard that banks often charge a coin-counting fee.
• Ten Thousand Villages:  "Oh, that's nice" when I said I was trying to get my pennies back into the main stream.
• The tea shop: Took the pennies.  Didn't count them, but used their scale to estimate.  Weighing one penny, he said I probably had 65 cents in the envelopes.  Makes me really wonder how accurate their scale is when charging for tea!
• The drugstore:  My bill came to $14.97, so I whipped out my 100 pennies.  She gave a sinister laugh, then a bit of a glare.  She counted them and let me keep 3 cents.  You could tell she wasn't that pleased since she'd likely have to count those 97 pennies over and over again.
• The newsstand:  I wanted to buy a lottery ticket with my pennies.  He wouldn't take them.  I pouted as I walked away feeling a bit humiliated.  Aren't pennies legal tender?

I still have 450 pennies left to recirculate.  Wish me luck!

Does a bad economy mean trashing the progress we've made?

Earlier this week I was disheartened to hear (NPR, "Falling Prices Take a Toll on Municipal Recycling") and read (DetNews-Green,"Bottom Drops out of the Recycling Business") about how the lack of demand for recycled resources is having a tremendous negative impact on the value of these resources.  And it's sure to have as great a negative impact on the environment as well. 

Recycling is probably one of the few ways most individuals feel they can participate and make a difference in our environment.  You feel good when you do it.  You're doing your part. 

So what happens now?  Recyclables that once were a revenue stream are now becoming a cost.  When PET (plastic bottles) goes from $300 to $20 a ton, its profitability plummets.  And when paper mills are charging recyclers to unload their post-consumer paper, profit becomes a cost -- and companies can't do that for long.  Some have already closed drop-off locations.

So where will your recycling go?  You know.  The landfill.  And that makes me want to cry.

Don't be afraid...It won't bite

I'm not sure how long ago I had first heard about the Dyson Airblade, but I finally had a first-hand experience in a restroom at the airport in Atlanta.

To dry your hands, you hang them down into the dryer.  As you slowly lift your hands, air blasts out from front and back to squeegie the water away.  Viola!  In 12 short seconds your hands are dry, and you've saved the planet the waste and resources of one paper towel. 

I have to confess, it was so fun, I put my hands in a second time.  I looked around to see if anyone else enjoyed my thrill but realized that no one had used the dryer ahead of me, and no one was queued up behind me.  Try it!  Really, it won't bite!

I'm hoping that as time goes by more people will become familiar with this resource- and energy-saving device (it's much more energy efficient than traditional air dryers). 

And when you do have an opportunity to use this hand dryer, make sure others see what you're doing so they, too, can help reduce the use of paper towels.

Still not sure how it works?  Check out the Dyson Airblade ad: