Collecting E-Waste: Awesome... or is it?

I came across this article...  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/05/opinion/sunday/where-do-old-cellphones-go-to-die.html?_r=0 and basically read it only because, unfortunately, I already knew this. I know where old cellphones go to die. I know where most e-waste goes to die. But after seeing an e-waste collection at the last Earth Day in a nearby small town, I had to wonder how many people bother to think about it.

Yay! Someone's taking my junk!

Everyone rejoices when they hear about an e-waste "recycle" day. See, because here in PA, they earlier this year passed a law saying you could no longer throw TVs etc. into the trash. From all I see and hear, this is just one big inconvenience to most. Because we don't stop to think about what happens to things we throw away. We just throw them away and stop thinking about the immediately. Oh, it's all well and good when we buy things and they are new and wonderful, but when their usefulness has come to an end, these wonderful things are now just a nuisance. I call it the Christmas Tree Syndrome. As the holidays approach, we go out to a live tree lot with great joy and enthusiasm to pick out that perfect spruce. Everyone's happy. The kids are happy. We happily and lovingly tie them to the roofs of our cars and happily take them home, where we happily take them inside and happily decorate them. Mirth all around. Oh, how we love them so. Then, shortly after the holiday, what do we see? Sad, dried-out, dejected, discarded trees at the curb. Bits of sad tinsel still clinging to some limbs. Needles continuing to fall out all around. Because, the usefulness is over. We don't care anymore. Something that brought us joy no longer has a purpose. Now, it's someone else's problem. And, oh, man, they had BETTER come and get that tree. It's my right as an Uh-meer-i-cuhn to get that tree picked up darn-tootin' I pay my taxes.

And now... damn it's just so damned inconvenient to have to actually THINK about where that discarded no-longer-amusing just-too-big TV has to go. We were happy enough when we bought it, but now it's just a damn nuisance. Phones? Who cares. I want a new one. I lost it, I broke it, I dropped it in the toilet. All which just really means it's still trashing the planet somewhere out there. I don't care. I don't see it anymore.

So, yeah, when we went to the "free e-waste recycling" at a local Earth Day event, I was pretty horrified at the amount of SHIT people were unloading. With no more thought than, "Damn, stupid I had to drive this all the way down here, WTH." Do we care where it's going? Do we know? Do we give it a second thought? How about a first thought? Do we think about WHY these things shouldn't be in a landfill? Most of us don't actually live near landfills, so we don't think about those either. I've become friends with the local municipal waste expert. He's a really cool guy. Oh, the questions I hear him get. And, bless his heart, he answers so patiently. I stand in awe.

By and large, unfortunately, I see time and again that people don't really care WHERE it goes, so long as it goes somewhere. Makes me think of the Motley Crue song, "Hey, don't go away mad, just go away." So these collection days become more a scene in people being inconvenienced, rather than people doing the right thing. Would it matter if they SAW where these things go, and the horrible conditions surrounding what happens to these things? If they could smell the toxic soup that other humans breathe after we throw things out? If they realized what would be leaching into the Earth if we just continued to pile them into landfills?

Well, you already know my answer.

I got nuthin'. This is just a rant. I know what the solution is: stop buying so much. But that won't happen. Yeah, I must know where my phone is at all times, but I stick with a cell phone and replace it only while kicking and screaming that I don't want a new one! Ugh, I have to learn a whole new gadget. Hell, yeah, it's awesome, but seriously, I will keep a phone as many years as I can. Same with computers. TV? Ours is big and heavy but it still works and it throws off some heat and OH those new thin ones sure are sharp... but no. Ours still works. iPads? iPhones?? Replacing them every time a new one comes out, just cuz it has to be the newest, not because the *old* one broke? THAT'S some serious denial about what's happening out there in, oh, you know, REALITY.

But, geez o' man, those e-waste collections are SO inconvenient. Can't I just throw it away? And who cares?

For your perusing pleasure...

Electronics Dump

Most Americans throw away rather than recycle outdated devices. Below, the percentage of electronics, by weight, that wound up in landfills or incinerators in 2006-10.

 http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/05/05/sunday-review/0505-garbage.html?ref=sunday

Suck Til It's Flat?

I kid you not. That's their tag line. Yoplait GoGurt, now in color changing tubes for Despicable Me 2, now in theaters!

You could have already guessed that I am NOT a fan of these things. They leave me kind of speechless. They are the kind of thing I might have wanted to try as a kid, but that my Mom was too smart to waste money on them. (The grammar on that sentence twisted my brain too, sorry.) Little plastic tubes of yuck. May we recycle these tubes? NOPE! Into the ocean they go. Forever and ever, amen.

Kind of gross-looking when you see it that way, huh?

So, yeah, I hate these, but now they have super-fun color-changing tubes for the latest promotion. Dare I even ask what extra chemicals had to be put into the plastic to make them change colors??? Dare I? These things are SO heavily marketed. I'm not sure that they sell so well because of it and they have to keep making new versions and products because they are so popular or if that's to make sure they stay selling... I don't know. I just know these are one of the most irresponsible products out there Of all the plastic shit to get your kids to *suck on.* Seriously. In searching images, I found plenty of pictures from other blogs with children and BABIES happily sucking on these things.

I mean, horrifying, right??? Is it me?

What are we doing???? Can we please STOP already??? Now, I know, I know, we've had Otter Pops and all those frozen plastic tubes of brightly colored high-fructose corn syrup with amazing dyes for decades. Hell, I used to buy them. I know better now. I cringe that I ever did buy those. I'm sorry. But we keep on keeping on with this crap, instead of learning.

And back to the chemicals... WTH makes the plastic change colors? Were these chemicals licked on by kittens? I'm guessing not. Should we think about that for a second? Maybe? I don't know? 

Magical wonderful color changes aside, these things are just plain bad news for the environment and therefore kids. Sure, sure, I am positive they shut the little bugger (NOT the word I wanted to use) up for a few seconds so you can check your Facebook account in relative peace, dreaming of a life where you stopped at 2 kids, but can we please think ahead just a tiny bit? Stop for a moment, and think of a sci-fi future where all these stupid little plastic wrappers rise up out of the landfills an oceans and choke our kids' kids. Cuz that's what happens in my happy brain. Maybe it will someday, thanks to these unknown chemicals. This product is so new, I really couldn't find much about it even on Yoplait's site. I did have to have a chuckle, though... they have a section on their page called, "Tips for feeding your toddler." I didn't click on it, because I guessed that the advice was not "Don't feed them Yoplait in plastic shit." Just a guess. 

Convenient Smoothie, Juice Not Included

In line with the "Are you kidding me" theme of the week... Did you know you can just buy a plastic container with *some* smoothie *stuff* in it, keep it in your freezer, then just add juice and shake when you want a smoothie?

Dole makes "Dole Shakers - fruit & yogurt kit." Yogurt, with pre and probiotics. (I'm working out in my head how these live cultures survive the freezing while staying potent. I guess they hibernate. I'll go with that.)

It's not a packet, a plastic pouch, or an additive of any kind. It's an actual giant-ish plastic THING that you happily discard after one use. ??? Is it me?

I mean, at the very least, if you are in such a hurry, mash up your FRESH fruit before-hand and put it in the freezer and make your own. I'm guessing that is just a little too "not-easy." So, these are healthy and relatively inexpensive. But the waste-plastic is mind-boggling to me! Unless you plan on reusing every single one of these for something else (even possible???) - then there is NO excuse for this kind of waste. Oh, and don't even say, "Well, we thrown them in the recycling bin." We know where that gets you with me. We know the truth.

This is a plain simple, downright, completely irresponsible product. PERIOD. Completely and totally. Just absolutely horrific. They cannot be condoned. This is another one, if you see someone drinking this, feel free to slap it outta their hands then slap them upside the head.

Why, yes, I do practice a lot of restraint when out in public, why do you ask?

Ridiculous.