No electronics for now

My dearest daughter,

I'm saddened to learn that you're distressed about your digital life. That you're "the only one in the entire third grade who doesn't have an electronic."

I'm sad because when I pick you up at extended care, I see groups of you huddled around a hand-held device. I'm sad because you think that somehow you're missing out because you don't have an iPhone 5 or a iPad or other digital tool.

Yes, mommy has an Android. And yes, she's stuck using it a lot. For work. This is what happens when mom runs social media. But most times I resent having that device. I resent the fact that it interferes with my life, that I need to run to the phone when I get an alert to make sure it's not a complaint or burgeoning crisis.

I miss the days when I was unplugged. When I wondered aloud "Why do I need to have a cell phone?" When 30 channels had nothing on, and then I moved on.

But it's not about me. This letter is about you.

If I have the news on, I can happily work on laundry or dishes and listen in the background. But even a commercial is cause for you to stop whatever you're doing. And yes, I realize some of your homework is now computerized but I don't like you fighting with your brother for game after game on abcya.

There's an awesome world to explore. In nature, in books, in relationships. And when you're hiding behind a device - whether a TV, a computer or a game player - you're hiding from the world. You're hiding from conversations, from craft, from life.

When you grow to the ripe old age of 39, you'll realize that you don't recall the shows you watched on TV or the games you played online. You'll remember the fights you had with your brother playing Sorry, the worms you dug for with your neighbor in the garden, the friendships you made at soccer.

So baby, let's stay unplugged, for just a little bit longer.

Love, Mom.



Linked to Motivation Mondays at alifeinbalance.net.

GPB: Powering down for people

A few days ago, following the coal miners' accident, a bishop in West Virginia commented:

"Our country should realize that West Virginia pays too high a price when we turn on our electricity...As one of the greatest suppliers of electricity in our country, we must reflect on what producing this energy truly costs."

On today's Green Phone Booth, I'm posing the question: Is the "inconvenience" of cutting back on our electrical use worth saving a life?

Join the discussion.

Silence is golden

An overnight power surge took out our alarm clock and our surge protector, which meant that the router for our cable, Internet and phones were out most of of our day.

At first I felt strangely wierd. The TV I could live without. The Internet meant I couldn't sneak in some work time. But the phones? I felt disconnected in more ways than one.

While our morning meant church and errands, our early afternon posed some questions. Sadly, we'd gotten into the habit of letting our oldest have quiet time watching a TV show while her brother was napping. No such luck today, and frankly, they were wired and wearing on my nerves. (I think the sad fact I accidently typed "wierd" instead speaks volumes too!)

Then creativity hit. I sent my daughter upstairs for some mandated "rest" time in her room. Just read a book or listen to music, but you had to be in your bed. And I whipped up a batch of my great-grandmother's Christmas cookies. (I say that like it's no big deal, but the dough was practically falling out of the mixing bowl, the batch made so much.)

Company snuck downstairs, peeking around the corner into the kitchen. Not yet, I insisted, and she trotted back up the stairs.

I worked in an unusual silence. No music was blasted, no TV noise was on, no telephones rang to interrupt, no "Mooommmmm...." repeated over and over again.

Finally, after nearly an hour of baking and a dusting of powdered sugar covering me after my attempt at making frosting, we were ready to go. I presented my little chef with her own bowl of frosting, which she proudly dumped every holiday sprinkle known to man inside before coating a handful of cookies with her concoction - which was then unceremoniously slathered in more green sprinkles to make the "green sprinkle mountain." I heard stories of her imaginary friend and her excitement over the holiday. Best of all, we talked - uninterrupted - something that rarely happens in a family of four.

At the end of our adventure, our kitchen was trashed, but I'll tell you this - it was a wonderful afternoon. I was almost sad when my husband came home and brought us back to the 21st Century!

Another reason to unplug your appliances

Unplugging your appliances seems like a hassle. Sure you can save energy, but you have to re-plug it in...

Let me give you a reason to reconsider.

Today my husband, who was working on a few projects at home, walked by the coffee maker -- only to see it was sparking! (And it wasn't an old coffee maker.)

I shudder to think what would have happened if he wasn't around. Clearly God was looking out for us!

So if being green isn't a good enough motivation, consider having to replace your home!

Electronic waste recycling this weekend in Indy, Bloomington

It's time to finally do your spring cleaning!

IUPUI and IU Bloomington are hosting "e-Waste Recycle Days" this week, and are opening drop-off sites to the public this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Drop-off locations are IU Bloomington at N. Dunn and E. 17th St. and the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

There is no fee to drop off materials (see list of what's accepted below), and you are not limited on quantity. (Read FAQs here.)

According to the site:

130 million mobile phones alone were discarded in 2005. The National Safety
Council projects that nearly 250 million computers will become obsolete in the
next 5 years, amounting to an estimated 3.2 million tons of eWaste. Researchers
have estimated that nearly 75 percent of eWaste is in storage.

MATERIALS ACCEPTED AT THE EVENT:

Computer Systems and Accessories

• CRT Monitors
• LCD Displays
• CPUs
• All-in-Ones
• Laptops
• Servers
• Switches
• Hubs
• UPS Systems
• Keyboards & Mice
• Speakers
• Hard Drives
• Optical Drives
• Wires and Cables

Handheld Devices

• Cell Phones
• Pagers
• PDAs
• Two-Way Radios

Home Electronics:

• Microwaves
• Audio & Video Equipment
• Televisions
• DVDs
• VCRs
• Stereos
• Camcorders
• Cameras
• Radios
• Games Systems

Office Equipment

• Fax Machines
• Photo Copiers
• Printers
• Scanners
• Surge Protectors
• Telephones
• Typewriters
• Adding Machines

MATERIALS NOT ACCEPTED:

• Hazardous Materials of any type
• Batteries not Integral to Computer Systems
• Contaminated Equipment of any type
• Cracked or Broken CRT Screens
• Smoke Detectors
• Household Appliances
• Hairdryers
• Styrofoam
• Cardboard
• Paper
• Light Bulbs

Learn more by visiting http://indiana.poweron.com/p/default.

Cutting out the CD habit

CDs are a fact of life in my world. As a Web person, I routinely get submissions of photos and other multimedia (even Word files) on a CD-ROM, particularly since my employer is paranoid about zip files.

While we can download music, watch movies online and store photos on Web sites, we just can't break the cycle of saving data, software and just plain "stuff" onto CD-ROMs.

According to Douglas Karr, who writes a marketing technology blog I read:

According the EPA’s poster, Lifecycle of a CD, 5.5 million CDs, their packaging and
millions of other music CDs are tossed each year without recycling. CDs and DVDs
are made from Aluminum, Gold, Dyes, various other materials - but most of all
Polycarbonate and Lacquer. Polycarbonate and Lacquer are generated directly from
crude oil.

The stats continue, every month 100,000 pounds of CDs and DVDs go obsolete as well. There’s no efficient means of recycling the materials either!

According to the Oil Industry itself, about 1.1 gallons of every barrel (42 gallons) of oil goes to petrochemicals.

So obviously the problem is not just the discs themselves but the habit we've caused. A few days ago I wrote about what you can do about those old CDs. But what can you do to break the cycle and keep new CDs from entering your life?

• Research to see whether the software is available as a download instead of purchasing a copy on CD. Even better, consider using Web-hosted software such as Google Documents instead of purchasing a copy of Microsoft Word.
• Consider "on-demand" movies or viewing them through online services.
• Karr writes: "Switch from backing up and transporting data on CDs and DVDs to USB Drives. USB drives hold more data and are portable, faster, and don’t wear out...Buy yourself a large portable drive for backing up your work and transporting it back and forth to work."
• And, for the diehards, Karr suggests eliminating your CD or DVD drives the next time you upgrade your computer.