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compostable pens

Packs of compostable pens have been popping up at grocery stores around here lately. At first I thought, “nice, one less disposable plastic item.” Which is true, but here’s the rub:

they’re not radically re-thinking pens. The ideal pen is made from metal or wood and has replaceable ink. The ink is really the only thing that wears out, not the whole pen.

The other objection I have is the packaging, there’s no reason to have any, it’s a pen.

And as a side note on Fuji “enviromax” batteries: Disposable batteries aren’t environmentally friendly. Use rechargeables, duh.

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One’s comfort zone refers to the set of environments and behaviours with which one is comfortable, without creating a sense of risk. A person’s personality can be described by his or her comfort zones. Highly successful persons may routinely step outside their comfort zones, to accomplish what they wish. A comfort zone is a type of mental conditioning that causes a person to create and operate mental boundaries. Such boundaries create an unfounded sense of security. Like inertia, a person who has established a comfort zone in a particular axis of his or her life, will tend to stay within that zone without stepping outside of it. To step outside a person’s comfort zone, they must experiment with new and different behaviours, and then experience the new and different responses that then occur within their environment.
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To step out of the comfort zone raises the anxiety level engendering a stress response, the result of which is an enhanced level of concentration and focus. White (2008) refers to this as the Optimal Performance Zone - a zone in which the performance of a person can be enhanced and in which their skills can be optimized. However, White (2008) also observes that if the work of Robert Yerkes (1907) is considered in which he reported ‘Anxiety improves performance until a certain optimum level of arousal has been reached. Beyond that point, performance deteriorates as higher levels of anxiety are attained’, if a person steps beyond the optimum performance zone they enter a “danger zone” in which performance will decline rapidly as higher levels of anxiety or discomfort occur.
Returning from Derrick Jensen’s talk at UVM. I was going to try to resist swearing on this site in case children were reading, but I think I’m going to give up on that. Derrick’s talk was a bit of a mind fuck. There are so many things to think about, I feel like I need to integrate them all into my platform. I also need to sleep so I’ll leave just one tidbit tonight, which I came across while wikipeding sustainability and that is the quote above. I think this may be the most important thing for creating a sustainable society. Because everyone’s comfort zone is based on an unsustainable system everyone will have to leave their comfort zone eventually. So you might as well willfully leave your comfort zone and start helping build a better world than idly bask in your comfort zone until inevitability comes to drag you away kicking and screaming.

Recycle North (ReStore)

My heart was broken today when I visited Recycle North. I encountered 3 boys throwing VCRs, video game systems and other quality items into a dumpster. I asked them what they were doing and they explained they were volunteering and were told to throw all this “broken” stuff into the dumpster. I went through some of the stuff with them, finding many un-opened (plastic wrapped) cassette tapes and other items which either looked fine or still had working parts. The boys helped me pull out some good stuff.

I went into the store to enquire about the orders these boys had received to throw out perfectly good things. The woman first explained that, no she could not let me take any of the stuff out (even though I hadn’t asked). Next she tried to explain that everything was broken to which I explained to her, no, it’s brand new. She had no answer for me.

At the risk of sounding totally nuts I will tell you I almost cried. The mecca of recycling in Burlington, the one place where you should be able to expect that everything that could possibly be recycled, is being recycled. But no. They are actively throwing out brand new things. Not only that, but they have an explicit policy of not letting anyone take any of those things.

It’s 2010. Just because you don’t know how to repair something, how to use parts of it, doesn’t mean it’s “trash.” Trash should not be part of our vocabulary. ESPECIALLY at the “ReStore.” We need to not only reach carbon neutral, but trash neutral.

Open-source environmental protection

Thinking about some of the things proposed. This idea really got me thinking. If we could enforce a law forcing companies selling new (not used) items, to include the cost of recycling the things they are selling. Reflecting the true environmental cost of an item in the monetary cost. I think this would encourage the use of more sustainable materials and building things without planned obsolescence.

List of Plastic-Free Changes

a great list of ways to reduce plastic in your life.

An informative and entertaining video about the giant garbage island in the pacific ocean. Just because Vermont isn’t on the west coast doesn’t make us immune to this issue. I think there needs to be some sort of deterrent to using plastic.

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If the 20th century was about optimizing everything, I bet the 21st is about de-optimizing certain things. By de-optimizing, I mean making decisions about what is important, what is useful, and what is a distraction. Then, making the distractions less accessible, harder to get to, and more difficult to embrace.

Frank Chimero: De-optimizing, VIA

I would add one more; de-optimizing as in what is sustainable.

(this post was reblogged from viafrank)

Recycling/Efficiency

The 3Rs, reduce, reuse, and recycle, are ordered according to their importance. Recycling is all too often the first strategy that people turn to. Too many items which can still be used are thrown away or recycled. Efficiency education needs to be highly emphasized in the public school curriculum. Educated staff must work at all town dumps to assess what can be recycled for materials, what can be reused after salvage and repair and finally what can be recylced. An integrated recycling program encompassing bicycles, computers, books and other goods is essential in every town. Waste/recycling collection will be done by bicycle where possible. E-waste will be included in municipal collection.

-recycling news

references:

Re-Store in Burlington VT

Waste Hierarchy (wikipedia)