Going Green in Comfort

Computer keyboard (Photo by Chance Agrella / FreeRangeStock.com ) In January, I decided to get rid of some old computers and accessories the company my husband and I worked for had given to us and other employees following a major technology upgrade. I took our stuff and a computer my parents had been wanting to trash to a local e-recycling center and walked away with about $4 cash for all of it. I'd hoped for more than that, considering I'd given them three working (but terribly out-of-date) computers, but I was happy to get the $4 because it was a lot better deal than my husband and I got the first time we hauled away our e-waste. Back then, which was about 10 years ago, I had recently become aware of the dangers (leaking toxins) that come with leaving your e-waste at the curb along with the rest of your garbage, so I searched online to find a place within my hometown to take it. I came up with nothing. Not one business. Just as it was begi...

Keeping plastic out of landfills. (Photo by Geoffrey Whiteway, FreeRangeStock.com ) Recycling has been slow to settle in where I live. We have aluminum can recycling centers, but my neighbors and I would be hard pressed to find a recycler who would take our plastics and paper. That means that people like me, who prefer to drink soft drinks out of a bottle, wind up throwing a lot of non-biodegradable plastic bottles into the trash, and that's not good. According to a 2013 Huffington Post article , those bottles I've been putting into my local landfill have been absorbing "toxins that pollute our waterways, contaminate our soil, and sicken animals." And let's not forget the oil that goes into producing it. The same article urges consumers to envision a plastic bottle filled one-quarter with oil, which is about how much oil goes into producing each one. And the number of bottles I've been throwing away is not small. I am not a casual soda drinker. ...