Category Archives: Eco Friendly Home

The Need to Recycle Electronics is Getting a Lot of Attention

I spotted yet another article on how we need to make electronics more recycleable. This one was on Wired’s website. And it’s quite true. There’s so much innovation, but little interest in taking care of the mess created as people buy new electronics whether or not the old are any good.

Worse is how many break down in just a few years.

I think this is one of those topics we really can’t afford to let go of. Electronics are a major part of modern life, and I don’t expect or want them to go away, but we need to think more on the long term impact.

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Is Greening Your Christmas a Bad Thing?

Christmas

Saw an interesting article over on TreeHugger, discussing a very disappointing article in the New York Times. It’s pretty much just discouraging people from thinking green at Christmas, as though it’s a rather selfish, potentially unAmerican thing to do.

Perhaps the most annoying quote of the entire article:

Still, to some ears, the call for less excessive consumption during the holidays sounds almost un-American.

“The point of the holidays for many people is the joy people get in giving,” said Kenneth P. Green, a resident scholar on environmental issues at the American Enterprise Institute. Environmentalists who scold their families are simply making “ritualistic gestures that won’t solve the problem,” he said.

Silly me, I thought there was something more. At least, that’s what I learned in church, as well as being the major point of How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Perhaps I need to reread it. Maybe the presents were the point after all.

I do think there are a lot of ways to green a Christmas, and I’ll be going over a lot of green gift ideas in the days to come. Some will be greener than others, but I do think we can have fun, give good gifts and still think of the environment.

This is certainly more challenging in some families than in others. My inlaws, for example, are decidedly not environmentalists. Wonderful people in so many ways, but my father-in-law in particular is fond of the term “eco-Nazi”. Anything too blatantly “green” isn’t going to please him. We don’t talk politics much.

I’ve been improving my own habits and those of my husband, although we’re certainly not as green as we could be yet. Just this morning I stopped my husband from buying a ton of THINGS from a clearance website. Yes, all very cool gadgets and toys, lots of fun, and if I weren’t so interested in saving money and the environment I probably could have gotten into more mischief there than he wants to. But I’ve learned to control those impulses somewhat better, and nixed several items on him.

Overall, I’d far rather give my family the lesson that things do not make for a great Christmas. The people you care about do. It’s more relaxing, generates less trash, costs less money and can be a whole lot more fun.

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Are Any Gadgets Green?

I love looking at gadgets. The sheer range of stuff fascinates me, although I very rarely buy any of it. Only reason I even have a cell phone, for example, is because my inlaws insisted on buying one and paying for the plan. They didn’t want me to have a car breakdown with the kids inside, and no way to call a tow truck.

But when you think about it, most electronics are far from green and are mostly luxuries. They’re awfully nice to have, but not so vital as some feel.

But a few do have at the very least interesting purposes. The Kill-A-Watt, for example. If you’ve ever wondered about how much electricity your gadgets are using, it allows you to find out. It can be great motivation for unplugging battery chargers and other electronics when they aren’t in use. Many continue to use at least a little power so long as they’re plugged in.

While not what most people think of as a gadget, surge suppressors and power strips can have a green function too. Shutting them off allows you to completely power down the electronics connected to them. Once you’ve used the Kill-A-Watt to recognize the things you need to unplug more often, these can simplify matters by allowing you to just turn off one item.

If you use batteries at all, a good battery charger is a great gadget to have. Solar is better yet, although looking at reviews on Amazon a lot of them don’t look as promising as one might hope. A good battery charger is high on my Christmas wish list because while my own usage of batteries is fairly minimal, I do have kids and haven’t completely escaped the electronic toy phenomenon.

Solar ovens are also pretty interesting gadgets. I even found instructions on how to make one from a windshield shade, but you can buy some pretty nice ones if you don’t feel up to making one. Solarcooking.org has instructions for a variety of homemade solar ovens. It’s another gadget I have my eye on.

The greenest gadgets often aren’t as high tech as what most people think of when you say gadget, but to me many are every bit as interesting.

One could push the point and say that even an MP3 player is in a sense green, or at least possibly greener than buying CD after CD. The hard part to figure out with them, of course, is durability and the chronic temptation to upgrade. But they’re becoming compatible with many car and home stereo systems, and so potentially replace not only CDs, but CD players themselves. Don’t overdo it on the accessories, and recharge the batteries, and it’s not too bad.

Few choices are perfect when you think about the green angles, but some are definitely better than others. Tempting though they may be, try not to overdo it when it comes to buying gadgets and other things just because they’re fun.

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What Really Happens to Recycled Electronics?

Given my preference that old electronics be recycled, it was quite disappointing to read this article the other day on CNN about what really happens to most ‘recycled’ electronics. As they say, it’s not what you would expect. A lot of them just go to other countries, with the unusable parts still ending up in landfills.

old electronics

I don’t really have a problem with usable electronics being reused. That’s a good thing. But mixing reusable with unusable and shipping the problem out is not acceptable.

Eight states so far have the right idea, in requiring manufacturers to recycle their old electronics. That needs to just be common practice. I’ve said before that I would love to see electronics stores be required to take the old electronics back. Nice, easy locations for people to get to. Perhaps a surcharge on purchases to help with the expense of doing this if necessary, and a rebate for returning products as a motivation.

It is important to note that companies like Apple, Dell, Hewlett-Packard and Sony now do take back their electronics for recycling. If they’re doing it right, this is a wonderful development.

As with any solution, it’s going to take time to get things going right. On the other hand, I do have an old, broken down Dell we hadn’t decided what to do with yet….

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The Benefits of Kids Playing Outside More

I just love sending my kids outside to play. Not only is the backyard a better ‘babysitter’ than the television, it’s much better for the kids to play outside. I can send them outside to play and often get 2 hours of quiet, while I’d be lucky to get a half hour using the ‘electronic babysitter’.

playing outside

That’s one of the simple ways to get kids to interact with at least a little nature. It’s not much, but it’s something, especially since we garden with our kids. It helps to keep them aware of nature.

I’m feeling pretty lucky in where I live right now. Even though the weather is cooling off most days (still having some hot ones), it’s beautiful for being outside too. No rain yet, no snow likely ever.

I don’t worry too much about perfect weather, though. I don’t mind my kids jumping in rain puddles if that’s what they feel like doing. If it’s cold outside I just encourage them to dress appropriately.

Even just backyard play encourages a sense of exploration. I see my kids digging for worms, finding bugs and generally having a good time. For some reason they find scrubbing down the outdoor table and chairs my inlaws gave us utterly fascinating. It happens regularly.

There is such a difference in behavior if kids don’t get to play outside enough. Some call it ‘Nature Deficit Disorder‘. My kids are much better behaved if they spend time playing ouside creatively rather than staring at the television. Whether or not it’s a common thing I will leave to individual parents.

The benefits I see from having my kids play outside a lot include the aforementioned better behavior as well as more creativity. If you like, you can think of outside play as one big, open ended toy. Even on playground equipment kids can use their imaginations, but you can often see far more if they’re just playing in the dirt.

The recent fires have put something of a damper on hiking. Some of the places we like best burned, and I think are still closed. It’s a pity, since I do think that getting out in nature beyond the backyard and playground has a benefit too. Unless, of course the backyard is like the one at my grandparents’ place in Oregon, as seen in the photo. The chance to see wildlife is really special and just doesn’t happen in most yards.

Playing outside also gives kids a chance to take chances. I love that. It can be hard to let my kids run about, and I do keep them in site, but being allowed to be independent helps them to develop. I try to watch enough to keep injuries minor, but getting hurt is another part of growing up.

I know in a lot of places winter means it’s harder for kids to play outside for more than a short time, but I think it’s important to allow it when possible. Just think about what you did when you were a kid.

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