Disposable
How do you get rid of something? If it's trash just throw it out. But, what constitutes trash? The dictionary definition of trash —worthless material. My worthless may be of value to another person. Artists recycle trash. They turn dross into gold.
When batteries lose their function a warning on the body of the battery warns the user—don't incinerate, throw out properly, recycle. The local fireman said, "Just throw it out." I do just that, but with trepidation. Will the battery end up in some land fill or will it be incinerated? And if it's the later will it cause an explosion?
Once upon a time Whole Foods allowed you to turn in your old batteries, but they stopped offering that service—probably because they couldn't figure out what to do with the pounds of batteries deposited in the bin.
I have three gallon paint containers in my basement. When the town collected hazardous material they accepted oil based paint, but drew a line in the sand when it came to acrylic paint.
The containers aren't empty. The lids are rusty. According to one site I checked, the EPA estimates that sixty-four million gallons of paint are left over—annually. When I close my eyes I see a parade of cans across the continental United States.
There are explicit instructions on how you can solidify Latex and Acrylic paint and then dispose of the paint with the rest of your garbage—if your town or city permits.
One site I checked suggests donating the paint. I can't imagine the Salvation Army wanting my seven year old rusted can of plum paint.
Then there are all those electronic gadgets. We had a store in town where you brought an item in, weighed it, and paid by the pound for disposal. I had an old scanner that refused to scan when it reached the age of six. I placed it in my car, carried it into the store, placed it on the scale and paid twenty dollars.
Perhaps, in the future, we will ascribe a life span to every item and when that time is reached the item will self-destruct. That's not so far in the future—we now have self-destructing emails. All your words are expunged. I can envision the paint cans diminishing in size—a virtual Gulliver's Travels in modern dress.
When batteries lose their function a warning on the body of the battery warns the user—don't incinerate, throw out properly, recycle. The local fireman said, "Just throw it out." I do just that, but with trepidation. Will the battery end up in some land fill or will it be incinerated? And if it's the later will it cause an explosion?
Once upon a time Whole Foods allowed you to turn in your old batteries, but they stopped offering that service—probably because they couldn't figure out what to do with the pounds of batteries deposited in the bin.
I have three gallon paint containers in my basement. When the town collected hazardous material they accepted oil based paint, but drew a line in the sand when it came to acrylic paint.
The containers aren't empty. The lids are rusty. According to one site I checked, the EPA estimates that sixty-four million gallons of paint are left over—annually. When I close my eyes I see a parade of cans across the continental United States.
There are explicit instructions on how you can solidify Latex and Acrylic paint and then dispose of the paint with the rest of your garbage—if your town or city permits.
One site I checked suggests donating the paint. I can't imagine the Salvation Army wanting my seven year old rusted can of plum paint.
Then there are all those electronic gadgets. We had a store in town where you brought an item in, weighed it, and paid by the pound for disposal. I had an old scanner that refused to scan when it reached the age of six. I placed it in my car, carried it into the store, placed it on the scale and paid twenty dollars.
Perhaps, in the future, we will ascribe a life span to every item and when that time is reached the item will self-destruct. That's not so far in the future—we now have self-destructing emails. All your words are expunged. I can envision the paint cans diminishing in size—a virtual Gulliver's Travels in modern dress.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home