The second image was taken after an extreme spring storm in D.C. As we face a heat index of 115 degrees today, it seems weather patterns have changed dramatically due to climate change.
The third image is me in a Zipcar queuing at the monthly toxic waste collection event at Fort Totten to dispose of a bag of old batteries that were starting to leak. No, in spite of extensive online research, I could find no other way of safely disposing of the batteries. And yes, I do use rechargeables as far as possible. They used to only hold this event twice a year and managed to cause gridlock in spring 2008, so this is in fact an improvement.
What egregious un-green experiences have you had lately?
Posted on Friday, July 22, 2011 under Environment | RSS
The phone book picture makes me sad. It’s fairly low on the list of things that are going to kill us all immediately, but needless use of paper always bugs me. I hate getting junk mail–I see it in the mailbox and mentally multiply it by 100 million and divide by OH MY GOD THE POOR TREES. All of this is stuff filed under “that way lies madness.”
Yes, the phone book thing is maddening. I have witnessed people under 30 turning them over and over, peering at them like they are glowing alien eggs, asking, “What do they DO?”
Other un-green things that drive me nuts: the ad inserts stuffed every other day into the mailbox. Who even looks at those? Ditto the rolled-up ad pages hurled into people’s driveways and left to rot. And the multitude of menus from local eateries left up and down the street. But the free local newspaper tossed out of a van each month – that I love. Even though everyone else on the street leaves theirs to decorate the sidewalk.
I agree with all of the above – add in the semi-laminated business cards and flyers for cheapo car insurance and repairs. And speaking of phone books, a few months ago I opened up our apartment trash bins to find them packed with brand new phone books – it appeared that the delivery guy decided that he didn’t feel like delivering them, and so he just dumped them all surreptitiously. That seemed even un-greener than just delivering them to their respective places, although in thinking about it, it really wasn’t, because less gas was involved.
I found out recently that you can actually opt out of receiving phone books – just call the company that prints them (there’s usually an 800 number somewhere on the cover) and tell them to cease and desist.
I find the short story below just horrifyingly wasteful. Nice use of resources, Bono…
St. Louis, MO (KSDK) – Busch Stadium is finally starting to look like a ballpark again instead of a concert venue.
Crews spent Wednesday laying down new sod on the field. It was cut in Colorado and shipped to St. Louis on refrigerated trucks.
The grass was removed last week to make room for the stage for the U2 360 concert that brought 53,000 people to the ballpark.
The field is expected to be ready for baseball when the Cardinals return home on Monday.
I make stuff out of colored plastic that will be around in storage closets for years. … and my dealer takes it to exotic locations using tons of jet fuel. i really don’t think rich people really even give a shit about this kind of “green”… bono included. he’s REALLY rich.
remember the “paperless” future computers were supposed to deliver?
and all this east coast touchiness around this issue is so precious, ASIA! they aren’t even rich and they REALLY don’t give a shit. They just want air conditioning.
Lane, that last comment made me chuckle in my precious way.
Tonight our basement flooded. Two years ago we used stacks of newspaper to stop the water. This year we used towels and rung them out because we no longer get the paper. I have to say I was looking at those phone books with a bit of longing. We are greener but under water – ironically from an extreme storm.