Cobblings from My Memories

I'm reluctant to give up comfortable T-shirts. It's rare to find a shirt that fits you just right and is super comfortable at the same time. It's even better when, as you retire shirts from the public, the truly good ones live a long afterlife as shirts to do yard work in, generally be lazy in or just sleep in.

So it's with sadness that I have to send this shirt to the cotton grave. It's been a good one, but holes are starting to form and it's just time to say goodbye, which is a concept I wish Steven Tyler could grasp, but alas he must continue to make music that barely appeals to deaf dogs, let alone music consumers.

This shirt does hold a special place for me, which is why it's hard to give it up. This was one of my going-away gifts when I interned at the St. Pete Times back in 1999. The reporters and copy desk folks pretty much hung out at two bars on regular basis, either The Garden (my personal favorite, where the bartender Bill always had two screwdrivers waiting for me at 1 a.m. after my shift was over) or The Press Box over in Tampa where all the media types hung out.

So getting a T-shirt from The Press Box was a nice gesture considering I was just an intern (and one of 15 at that), yet somehow they took to me and I made friendships that still last to this day with the likes of Donna, Ecton, Todd, Gerry, Liz and many more. I was lucky enough to have done so well at the internship that they left me a standing offer to come back full-time once I graduated, which I quickly accepted. So this shirt has history behind it and reminds me of many great times, making it a bummer to give up.

Thankfully I still have my other keepsake the staff gave me, a priceless Mugato doll. One Saturday morning Todd, Ecton and I spent three hours editing stories and talking about Star Trek and debating who the greatest comedic alien they ever threw into an episode (we settled on Mugato and the Gorn as the best ones). This is what happens when you work the night shift on Friday night (until 1 a.m.) and then have be back into the office for the Saturday morning shift (7:30 a.m.) and everyone's feeling a little punchy.

So in the end I must part with this shirt. But I do know it will live on, since I found a company that will accept unwanted or tattered shirts and recycle them. So somewhere that Press Box shirt will be still out there, which is cool.

Greening My Mother

It's been awhile since I've greened my mother, so it's time to bring back this popular feature, which is more about passing along green/eco tips to everyone, but putting my mother in the spotlight because ... well ... it's always enjoyable to poke fun at my mom. She knows it's from a place of love.

This time I'm here to talk about toothbrushes. You see, a company called Preserve has created a nifty little system where you can buy their toothbrushes – made from 100% recycled #5 polypropylene (same that is in old yogurt cups) – but when you are done with it, you mail the toothbrush back to them in the package you bought it in. It's already prepaid, so it's a great way to complete the circle of production instead of just tossing it in the garbage. And these toothbrushes are available at Whole Foods and Target and other stores, so it's not hard to come by and they are not expensive at all.


This is one of those rare occasions where I will not be walking the walk because I am hopelessly addicted to my Braun rechargeable toothbrush, but I know many of you use standard toothbrushes so this is a great way to make a simple switch and make another great stride toward a better world.

My Paper Challenge: April and May Edition

I have slacked off on reporting the continuing results of my paper challenge, but at least I didn't slack off on actually collecting the paper and weighing it. So now you are getting two months' worth in one post.

April's count was 3.58 pounds.
May's count was 3.88 pounds.

Seems like I am starting to get a handle on all this paper. If I can keep it under 4 pounds per month, that is on track to best the national average of 41 pounds of junk mail per year, because more than 50% of the paper I am recycling is not junk mail. After getting rid of a majority of my junk mail, now more than half of my paper weight comes from efforts to find paper to recycle from bills and other press releases I get from game companies and such. I am recycling more than 41 pounds of paper per year, and that is way better than it just be junk delivered to my house that I don't want. I think it may be time to start expanding my paper challenge outreach to others besides myself. My first two tasks will be my mom (and why note, she just looooooves it when I pick on her) and, oddly enough, my wife.

You see, my wife has only partially embraced my green obsession. Yes, she definitely is on board for the most part, but there are times when I see her (without meaning to) toss paper and recyclable materials into the trash can and then watch me fish them out later. It drives me nuts. I thought being a good example in the household would convert her, but instead it's like she's regressing. Some shock therapy might be in order. Or maybe I have to buy her dinner or get her some flowers. Hell, I don't know, she's a woman.

So instead of spending my time trying to convert some of my friends, I now am going to have to buckle down and get the wife full engaged on the issue. Of course, she fears that we're going to become like some of these people whose only next step is to kill each other. I think we can do this without the divorce, but thanks for the confidence-builder, honey.

My Paper Challenge: March Results

Months ago I gave myself a challenge: Collect all the recyclable paper I received and weigh it to determine how much of an impact my paper consumption was affecting the environment. That makes it sound like a daunting task, but it's not considering I can't really scientifically say how my paper consumption screw over Mother Earth. But I was determined to find out anyhow, and see what I could do to trim it back as a matter of making a difference.

I first did this test in December, and the results were mixed. I had churned through nearly 8.5 pounds of paper. I was hoping that this was high, since December is a huge month for video game deliveries, press releases and advertisements for the holidays. I decided that since it was a (theoretically) heavy month, I needed to see what some other typical months were like to get some better statistics.

So I started back up again in March. I collected as much as I could remember to, and I think I did a good job, but I will post later about a rather disappointing realization that hindered or skewed my efforts. Anyhow, without further ado, my March weight in recyclable paper ... 4.76 pounds.

OK, three months later I nearly halved my paper intake. Not bad at all, if I do say so myself. I've definitely been more vigilant about harping on game companies to not bother with the press releases in the packages they send (I get 4 other versions of them through e-mail, so I get the info already). Now it's just a matter of continuing this study and seeing how wildly up or down December and March were. I've already started for April, so you'll hear back about this soon enough.

My Paper Challenge: Solutions

I'm about to restart my paper challenge. Going to hold on to another month's worth of recyclable white paper, newspaper, magazines and stuff so I can see how I am doing in reducing my consumption and impact.

Before March gets here, I am going to give you all some solutions I have used to help cut things down. They are simple, super low cost and, in the best American way, do most of the work for you. This way, you can continue being lazy. Like me.

Last year I subscribed to a service called GreenDimes. They have since changed their name to MailStopper, but that name actually best describes what they do. For $20 a year, they help you maintain a database of all the junk mail you get and help eliminate it for you. Sending e-mails, letters and phone calls to remove you from lists. It's a hugely beneficial service, and I have been pleasantly pleased with how little mail I get now. And $20 is nothing and the return is fantastic. Just passing along some statistics, here are some numbers they have posted:

343,011 members thus far
1,368,524 trees planted (they automatically plant 5 trees in a forest preserve in the midwest and northwest just for joining)
2,836,230 catalogs have stopped arriving in mailboxes
19,463,690 pounds of junk mail have been stopped

It takes about 90 days for the catalogs and mail to noticeably begin to decline. I'm a big supporter and if you want an easy way to cut out the garbage that is just a waste and you're throwing away already, it makes a difference.

Another service along the same lines is available at 41pounds.org. I am not familiar with this one, but a couple friends have mentioned it. Either way, make a difference and go for it. If someone has any questions about how this stuff works, let me know. But it's really quite simple, and making things easy helps get everyone to take that first (or 11th) step toward do-gooderness.

My Paper Challenge: Results

Yeah, so I am a couple months' late turning in this report. If you missed out, you can read up what this project was all about here. But put simply, I saved an entire month's worth of paper that could be recycled so that I could see how much of an impact I was making in my efforts to go green.

I did this back in December, and I'll admit that I did it then because it was a busy month for gaming companies to send me stuff and Christmas cards and all that jazz.

It took me awhile to actually find the time to weigh it, since I didn't have a scale at home and had to lug it all to work and weigh it on a postage scale we have. The weight results: 8.36 pounds.

I went through nearly 8.5 pounds of paper in one month. For you math idiots (like me) out there, that comes out to just over 100 pounds in a year, assuming I sustained that each month. But now comes the point when I have to dig through it all and find out where I can cut down on some of the usage. Are there bills I still get that I can go paperless on? Am I still getting credit card solicitations that should have been cut out by taking my name off the mailing lists? Who are the bad seeds that are cluttering my life that I don't need.

Not sure how low I can get it, but I am interested in the journey, and any amount of paper cut out can't hurt. I'll post some solutions I have used and heard of soon to help you all out as well. Also, I think I'm gonna make this a year-long challenge. I'm going to start in March and do a monthly tally, because I do realize that one month does not make this an entirely scientific study. And you know me, I'm all about science.

My Paper Challenge: Video Games

So I'm about two weeks away from the end of my paper challenge. If you missed the original post, here it is. Anyway, as part of the project, I said I would give updates on how things were going.

One of the biggest paper contributors in this challenge thus far has been the video game companies that send me their games to review. That picture on the right is no joke. That is my mail nearly every day. Inside each of the 6-8 packages is a bunch of stapled press releases that mean absolutely nothing to me. It's breakdowns of what makes the game so "fun" and a "must review" kind of title. As if that is really going to sway me. About 85% of the time, I can tell upon opening the package whether its a game I am going to review or not.

Not that I am a dick about what I review. But when I get six games a day, and only review three a week, the math is against me and the game companies at every turn. Seeing all this worthless paper included in the packages just doesn't make any sense. If other reviewers are persuaded by this stuff, then I don't know what to tell you. The amount of paper these companies could save by skipping these included press sheets is staggering. Plus, you must remember that I get all the EXACT same info through the companies, whose reps e-mail me nonstop, which makes more sense than printing it all out.

Besides griping about it here, I have started making inquiries to the PR reps about not including the paper in mailings anymore. We'll see what comes of it. Maybe it's the start of getting changes made.

My Paper Challenge

Another thing I want to keep everyone updated on is my constant conversion and conversion of others into the eco/green way of living. I had an epiphany about three years ago that this, in my opinion, will be the biggest challenge facing the world in my lifetime. So now I spend tons of time researching more effective ways to help green my office, my home, my friends (besides painting them green) and anything else I can affect. I'm done just reading about it; it's time to starting helping others affect change. And that can also be done by example.

My office recycles white paper and magazines/catalogs. It's great. My last employer sucked at the whole recycling thing, and they were a newspaper company for pete's sake. No surprise, they are collapsing each and every week. So sad.

So now each day when I come home, I sort through the mail and gather up all the catalogs and junk mail me and the goddess get, and instead of pitching it I toss it all in my bag and chuck it into the recycle bin at work the next morning. It takes no extra time, no extra effort, and it makes a huge difference.

How much, you may ask? Well, that's what I am going to find out. For the next month (Nov. 18-Dec. 18) I am going to collect everything I would recycle and keep it in a box. On Dec. 18 I am going to weigh it all and see how much it comes out to. I've been recycling so much this last year or so, but I've never really paid attention to how much it really is. Figure it would be fun to see how much one person (or two, since I'll count the lady's things also) makes in terms of junk mail. Just in case you were wondering, I will keep you posted periodically on my progression and also pass along any tips I find that can help us all make a difference.