Archive for December 3rd, 2007
Recycling as a last resort?
Is recycling a ton of consumer waste something that an individual family should brag about?
The Curby program has proved wildly popular with some Nashville residents who brag of having up to three of the green, 96-gallon carts to fill with paper, aluminum and other recyclables for monthly pickup …
In Nashville, Curby came to homes automatically, and the convenience has made it a recycling method some love. “We have three containers and they’re usually full,” said Paul Brown, a retired minister in the Green Hills area. “I think the program ought to be used, if it can be.”
I am a frequent recycler, and I want to see our citywide recycling rates increase. Wouldn’t it be better for all of us, though, to find ways to divert as much of our household garbage as possible, from both the trash can and the recycling bin? Consider what one blogger and many others have to say about recycling as a last resort:
When I first started this project, I quickly learned that recycling was really not the be all and end all. It takes up a lot of energy, causes pollution and only uses a small percentage of the material, landing the rest in land fill. Our society uses it as an easy way out- the more you recycle the better, but it’s not so. It’s best to just not get (or even better, create) the packaging in the first place. Recycling is good as a last resort, after reducing and reusing, but we use it as a salvation. This is old news. I’ve talked about it before and people as a whole are becoming more aware of the recycling myth.
I support continuing our current Curby program, but I see it as a beginning, not a long-term solution. Though it might be politically untenable at present, I’d love to see our city follow the path blazed by Austin, if not Seattle (as mentioned in The Tennessean story linked at the top of this post). Why shouldn’t we charge people by the amount of waste they generate? Isn’t that capitalism at work?
Vandy enters Top 25, engages in DVD slugfest with Vols
As expected, the Commodores have indeed cracked the AP men’s college basketball Top 25. Vanderbilt is #23 in that poll and #25 in the ESPN-USA Today poll.
The most entertaining part of this news is the comment thread on The Tennessean story about the ranking. Sure, the battles between the ‘Dores and the Vols are (sometimes) intense on the basketball court and the football field, but the gloves really come off when Web-savvy fans debate which school is more pathetic for issuing commemorative DVDs of its accomplishments. As The Office’s Jim Halpert might say, there are no winners to this argument, but oh yeah, “There are losers.”
Domains for sale, including Buckdozier.com
I wouldn’t expect former political candidates to keep posting new content to their Web sites once their campaigns have ended, but a little site maintenance might be in order. If you’re visiting the sites of Nashville’s former mayoral candidates, you’ll be treated to a blast from the recent past:
- DavidBriley.com is still promoting an “election night celebration” scheduled for August 2.
- BobClement.com touts the former Congressman’s “visionary” leadership and his two “new” election ads. His December 2007 calendar, which appears to be automatically generated, is entirely blank.
- Karl Dean’s Web site is, perhaps more understandably, frozen in time on a memorable day for the new mayor: Sept. 21, the day Dean was inaugurated. A banner at the bottom still reminds site visitors that early voting begins August 22.
Whether by design or by default, Howard Gentry’s and Buck Dozier’s domain names have apparently expired. A web hosting provider has reclaimed Dozier’s site and filled it with ad links for apartments, dating sites and nursing jobs — all in Alabama, strangely enough. Gentry’s site seems to have vanished with little or no trace, despite the fact that his campaign’s Emma account has continued to send out what appear to be automated opt-in confirmation requests as recently as last week.
There’s little incentive for candidates to continue managing Web sites long after their campaigns have concluded, whether they ended with celebration or concession. Still, it seems to me that a new and generic splash page, or at least removing the site altogether, might be in order.
