CVS & Their #5 Prescription Bottles - Tell Them They Can Do Better!

Recently I started saving all our #5 orange CVS prescription bottles. The labels come off quite easily, so I figured I would take up the major hurdles of recycling #5's with our local branch. Their response makes sense - it's illegal to REUSE a prescription container, since it could have traces of another medication in it. However, they should take them back. Since it's a chain with over 6000 stores (can you imagine how many plastic prescription bottles they go through, which are almost all dumped in landfill?), they don't encourage local initiatives.

They suggested I write cvs.com, which is exactly what I did. I encourage you to do the same - tell them to do both things written below: 1) switch to #1 or #2 plastic, more commonly recycled, AND 2) start an in-store recycling program. The email is StoreComments@CVS.com - let Kerri know they could do a lot better on this issue!

CVS/pharmacy^®

Thank you for contacting the CVS/pharmacy Web site about recycling our prescription bottles. At this time, CVS does not have a recycling facility or program for the prescription bottles. We are looking into options, including a recycling program or possibly changing our bottles to a plastic that can be disposed of in curbside recycling pick-up.

In the meantime, plastic #5 can be recycled at Whole Foods locations. If there is a Whole Foods location that is convenient for you, we suggest dropping your prescription bottles there when you are in the area. We also suggest removing personal information from the prescription bottles before disposing or recycling.

I appreciate the time you have taken to contact us. Thank you for shopping with CVS/pharmacy. We look forward to your continued patronage.

Sincerely,

Kerri StoreComments@cvs.com

CVS/pharmacy
Customer Relations
07963806

BetterWorld Books: Wendy's New Fav

My friend Wendy just sent me a letter she received - from a book, purchased through BetterWorldBooks.

(Your book(s) asked to write you a personal note - it seemed unusual, but who are we to say no?)

Holy canasta! It's me... it's me! I can't believe it is actually me! You could have picked any of over 2 million books but you picked me! I've got to get packed! How is the weather where you live? Will I need a dust jacket? I can't believe I'm leaving Mishawaka, Indiana already - the friendly people, the Hummer plant, the Linebacker Lounge - so many memories. I don't have much time to say goodbye to everyone, but it's time to see the world! I can't wait to meet you! You sound like such a well read person. Although, I have to say, it sure has taken you a while! I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but how would you like to spend five months sandwiched between Jane Eyre (drama queen) and Fundamentals of Thermodynamics (pyromaniac)? At least Jane was an upgrade from that stupid book on brewing beer. How many times did the ol' brewmaster have one too many and topple off our shelf at 2am?

I know the trip to meet you will be long and fraught with peril, but after the close calls I've had, I'm ready for anything (besides, some of my best friends are suspense novels). Just five months ago, I thought I was a goner. My owner was moving and couldn't take me with her. I was sure I was landfill bait until I ended up in a Better World Books book drive bin. Thanks to your socially conscious book shopping, I've found a new home. Even better, your book buying dollars are helping kids read from Brazil to Botswana.

BetterWorldBooks is a social enterprise - a new type of hybrid mission-driven for-profit business which shows much promise providing solutions to vexing problems. They make money selling books, and donate an [undisclosed] portion to their literacy partners around the world- some in cash to run the programs, and by donating used book to their literacy partners. The also have an environmental mission, to get unused book back into circulation, and to save books from landfills. They run book drives on campuses and accept donations from libraries. They will send you free shipping labels for book donations, even.

One mystifying aspect - maybe someone from BetterWorldBooks can explain their buyback deal?They say they will pay cash for your books. I input about a dozen books and they all came up as "donation" - meaning, I presume, that they would accept them, but not buy them. These were all relatively new books - quite a few from a class my college student child was trying to resell. So if they don't offer $$ for current books in print, I'm not clear on what they WOULD pay for.

Great concept, though. Surely a good way to purchase books, and support a lot of good initiatives. Wendy is quite sold, for sure!

Join My Village - Clicking for Poverty Alleviation

Many of you are familiar with The Hunger Site and its affiliates, where you click per day and sponsors donate per click. There is also FreeRice, multiple choice questions which generate food for the hungry. I've come across a new one, where answering 3 simple-minded questions unlocks $1 (you can do this once daily) towards JoinMyVillage. The way I figure, I waste so much time on line already, why not do something worthwhile, even if it seems a little cheesy?

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - What a Story!

William Kamkwamba is from a village in Malawi, one of the world's poorest countries. At age 14, famine forced him to leave school - his parents couldn't pay for both food and education. William poured through books at a local mini-branch library and, intrigued by a diagram of a windmill, proceeded to build one out of salvaged materials. Now 22, watch his interview with Jon Stewart. He's on his way! Check out his blog. (I didn't have a good label for this story - hope you like my posting it under "handmade crafts" :-)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Israel's Good News for Bee Colonies

Over the past few years, bee colonies around the world have been infected with a virus which causes colony collapse, creating a crisis for farmers and generally upsetting the ecology of pollination. Scientists in Israel have come up with an effective treatment, which you can learn more about here. The disorder was first diagnosed in Israel earlier in the decade. Some were calling it Israeli Colony Collapse Disorder, as if Israel were causing it. A quick google search shows that designation has, fortunately, disappeared, as the research has moved beyond the Israeli contribution to the diagnosis.

Geo-Tracking our Stuff... A Techno-Triumph

The world is full of new compound words, like geo-tracking and techno-triumph. As we become aware of more ways to be responsible consumers, paying attention to supply chains so we know where the stuff that makes up our stuff actually comes from, it becomes ever more complex. In a globalized world, things come from endless amount of places and travel through many stages. Ever shop at the beloved Trader Joe's, where every package says it comes from Framingham, Mass?

Here's a very cool story about supply chain tracking technologies and websites, where you can learn more about this whole process. Hopefully, when carbon is priced and traded, it will raise the cost of shipping things all over the world, and we can become more efficient, lowering emissions and wasting less energy on shipping component parts ridiculously far.

(hat tip to worldchanging.com )

Lazy Blog Post: Admire the Wesleyan Enviro Organization's Tag Sale!

This is so smart. It solves the problem of what to do with these items at the end of the year if you don't need them, or have no way to ship them home, keeps the stuff out of landfills,and gives the next year's entering class a change to consume lower on the stuff chain, by reusing! And the net goes to charity!

EON Raises $9,000 for Charity with Tag Sale

Sep. 22, 2009 by Olivia Bartlett Drake

Wesleyan's Environmental Organizers Network hosted a Waste Not! tag sale Sept. 5-7 inside the former Moconaughy Dining Hall.

EON collected usable items from students last spring and sold them in the sale.

Students stocked up on clothing, school supplies and furniture for the school year.

EON raised more than $9,000 for local charities.

Students walked away with bedding, books, kitchen supplies, microwaves and rugs.

All unsold items will be donated to GoodWill, Amazing Grace food pantry and the College in Prision Program. Left over electronics will be recycled. (Photos by Olivia Bartlett Drake)

Following David Pogue's Take Back the Beep Campaign re: Cellphone Messages

A few months ago, David Pogue, tech columnist for the NYTimes (yes, a few journalists are still writing for newspapers) made an impassioned plea for cellphone customers to rise up and protest the stupidity of being forced to waste 15 cellphone billed seconds every time someone wants to leave a message. You know you're forced to listen to a bunch of dumb suggestions, like "If you want to page this person, do yada yada yada", even though no one bothers with pagers anymore? That's all enforced cellphone revenue!
He has a careful list of all the different companies to complain to, for the right to simply leave a message after the beep, without listening to anything. Most everyone who uses phones knows what to do when they hear a beep.
As for me, I mostly use my cell to keep in touch with my adult children. Usually they call back without listening to the messages I've left, anyway. So my new strategy is to stop leaving messages just to say hi. They generally check for missed calls, and since I show up in that list, I've told them to consider a call with no message a Hello-I-love-you. If I DO leave a message, it is because I need to tell them something significant. This cuts down on the time we all waste on cellphones, and the cost, too.

Lend to MicroFinance Clients, but Keep Your Funds Fluid!

Microplace sent a really interesting offer to my inbox: lend money to the world's poor, hardworking micro-entrepreneurs, at a modest profit - but take your money out when you need it!

Microplace, run by Calvert's socially responsible financial services along with Ebay, has been offering this opportunity to be a mini-microlender for about a year, but this is the first time I've seen the option to do so without locking your money in for a specified time period. I think this is a neat way to stash short-term funds, knowing they're being used by women to help climb out of poverty. (Note that it's still better to invest for a longer time period, so the Microfinance Institutions don't constantly need to chase capital.) If you don't know when you'll next need a sum which can safely put away for awhile, this is perfect.

Generally at Microplace you designate your desired interest rate and chosen time frame. (This is different than Kiva, which pays no interest, though the borrowers do, of course.) To take advantage of this offer, you need to specify "Repayment Anytime".

Laundry: Eco-Strategies

Laundry is an extremely resource-intensive pursuit: each load we throw in the wash consumes detergent, any additional inputs people opt for, water, electricity to run the washing machine, gas to heat the water (if you don't go with cold water) and ditto for the dryer, which is fueled by electricity and gas. And of course laundry consumes a lot of time, too.

Wash Day was a very literal depiction, in times past. Standards for housework escalated with the advent of "labor-saving" devices across the home, and laundry is no exception. My mother grew up in a prosperous 1920's household where each diner was assigned one large damask napkin FOR THE WEEK; monogrammed napkin rings served as ID's for them. People didn't throw clothes into the hamper just because they'd worn them once or automatically toss towels and linens in after a single use. The easiest thing you can do to save resources and time is simply be more selective about how frequently you wash items.

One of the most liberating things I learned from my mother-in-law (a frugal immigrant from Germany) is that it's fine to change bed linens every other week; she totally goes for the least laborious approach. Changing sheets biweekly does not seem to shorten lifespans or result in the Board of Health citing you for Bad Housekeeping. Likewise, if towels are assigned and freshly showered people use them, who says the towels are dirty?

Now, for the laundry. First, reduce packaging by buying detergent in a large container, and if it's "x2", that means it's concentrated, so use just HALF of what you did with the older product. My experience is that for normal loads, you can use less than they recommend. After all, their job is to maximize the amount of detergent they sell you. I never use fabric softener at all; to me it's just injecting a whole lot more chemicals into the system.

The new front-loading washers use way less water, a worthwhile upgrade if you're in the position to buy one. The clothes are more wrung out, too, so it cuts drying time. They use specially formatted detergent, in even smaller quantities than conventional washing machines, providing for even more resource reduction. I find cold water cleans just fine; other members of my family think that warm water does a better job with specific tasks. Another advantage of using cold water: clothes are less likely come out different colors or sizes than they were when you put them in!

Line-drying takes more time but has many virtues. It consumes no energy other than your own, and it reduces wear and tear on clothes and linens, so they last longer. Some people enjoy hanging their laundry outdoors; since we are paranoid about pollen, we hang everything inside. There are a variety of clever racks and gizmos to accomplish this task, though all one really needs is a horizontal pole and an extra set of hangers, along with some clothespins, perhaps. When the garments or items are mostly dry, but still just a tad moist, I run them through the dryer for 5 to 10 minutes. The wrinkles disappear - NO IRONING!

Clotheslines are actually illegal in some locales; it seems that they look too primitive for the likes of some suburbs and condo associations. If you want to join the fight for line-drying, check out LaundryList.org.