Here is Bethesda, Maryland, we recycle: newspaper, paper (including coated ones), glass, metals, dense plastics, and at least some parts of electronics. In numbers published last year, the county makes a substantial amount of money from these materials, in addition to saving land-fill volume.
Cheers, Lawry On Apr 20, 2012, at 3:51 AM, Keith Hudson wrote: > The fallacy, of course, is that plastic bags are infinitely more green than > glass bottles. Whatever the variety of plastic, there's a bacterium somewhere > that will chew it up and deliver usable byproducts. If there isn't an > appropriate one immediately available then one will be customized sooner or > later -- bacteria are forever mutating, swopping genes and experimenting with > different formulas. Once glass is chipped, broken or dispensed with, it > represents lost energy, never to be recovered. It is hardly more recyclable > than the sand from which it was originally made. > > Keith > > > At 02:39 20/04/2012, Arthur wrote: >> Subject: Being Green Then and Now >> >> Being Green >> >> Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, >> that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good >> for the environment. >> >> The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in >> my earlier days." >> >> The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did >> not care enough to save our environment for future generations." >> >> She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day. >> >> Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the >> store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and >> refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really >> were recycled. >> >> But we didn't have the green thing back in our day. >> >> Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for >> numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use >> of brown paper bags as book covers for our school books. This was to ensure >> that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not >> defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on >> the brown paper bags. >> >> But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then. >> >> We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and >> office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a >> 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks. >> >> But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day. >> >> Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the >> throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling >> machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our >> clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their >> brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. >> >> But that young lady is right; >> >> we didn't have the green thing back in our day. >> >> Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. >> And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), >> not a screen the size of the state ofMontana. In the kitchen, we blended and >> stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything >> for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded >> up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back >> then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We >> used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we >> didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on >> electricity. >> >> But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then. >> >> We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a >> plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens >> with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a >> razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got >> dull. >> >> But we didn't have the green thing back then. >> >> Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to >> school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. >> We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to >> power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to >> receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order >> to find the nearest burger joint. >> >> But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks >> were just because we didn't have the green thing back then? >> >> Please forward this on to another selfish old person >> >> who needs a lesson in conservation from a smart ass young person... >> >> We don't like being old in the first place, >> >> so it doesn't take much to piss us off. >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Futurework mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework > > Keith Hudson, Saltford, England http://allisstatus.wordpress.com > > > _______________________________________________ > Futurework mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
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