So many of our electronics products come in this ridiculous “theft-proof” hard plastic packaging;  and then you try to open it, and you realize it’s adult-proof too, since 30 minutes later you haven’t gotten your product out but your hands are as raw as sushi.  And do the headphones really need to be encased in 3 layers of plastic?  No. I guess the tradeoff with Apple headphones is, they are easy to unpack.  They just don’t last. 

We’re not going to become a more sustainable society until we stop using packaging that both destroys our environment AND our poor hands.  Some companies have figured out how to do this already, so I’d encourage everyone to try to patronize them when you have the chance … for the sake of our general well-being!

Also, if you are looking at the live version of the blog you’ll notice a very distinct new look.  I liked this WordPress theme for its simplicity but I need to get that blue splotch off the top of the page.  Baby steps!

Technology is playing a big part in the way green design is promoted nowadays, and we’d be missing out if we didn’t pay attention to this phenomenon.  Blogs connect to Twitter, which connect to mobile phones, which connect to Facebook, etc.  We can harness this technology to not only promote green design, but to educate people about it as well.  We’ll be talking about some of this when we host a panel discussion at GreenBuild in November in Phoenix, AZ, so you can look forward to further discussion of this topic here in the months leading up to the conference.

Until then, have a Twitterific day… or something.

This is why I called earlier and asked if I could purchase an extension on my AppleCare contract, which is due to expire at the 3-year anniversary of my purchase.  AppleCare is a service that makes repair of your Apple product very easy and cost effective, should you have any need for it.  However, upon calling, I was told, in all seriousness, that Apple doesn’t offer extensions on the AppleCare contracts because “the technology in the products evolves so quickly that Apple suggests you just buy a new computer if the old one breaks.”

What?!?

I mean, come on.  That’s about the least environmentally friendly thing I can think of, and from a company for which I have a lot of respect.  And sure, Apple’s new line of MacBook Pros might be the world’s greenest family of notebook computers, but buy a new one?  Really?  If a USB port stops working, or something really easy like that?

Fortunately Apple does have a recycling program in all of their stores, whereby you can take your “old” Apple product in and they will recycle it for you. Great idea, but where’s the incentive?  All they do is take the old computer for you.  There’s no discount that you get for taking the computer in, at least not that I know of, and not that they advertise.  If we are going to get people recycling on a mass scale, to where it’s normal practice and not the exception to the norm, then there needs to be some sort of incentive program.  Offer a hefty discount on a new product in the same line, or at the very least, offer extensions to the AppleCare program.  Because the real problem is, no matter how “green” their new line of notebook computers is, these are still NEW products…and new products generate a carbon footprint, and use new materials that may have been garnered in a very labor-intensive way.  Think of it this way:  pretend you have a car for 3 years, and something goes wrong with it, like an automatic window stops working, and your dealer tells you to go and buy a new Prius.  Sure the Prius is a very fuel efficient car, but does this even make sense?  When you know that your fix on your current car is more cost effective, and besides that, you’re buying a new vehicle which is, itself, one day going to be a part of the waste stream?

Let’s make recycling make sense. I hope that when Apple takes those computers back, they actually reuse or dispose of the materials inside properly.  But they need to pass on some of the “green goodness” to their faithful consumers, or else we’ll never get the hang of recycling like we should.

But as got older, I started to realize where all of my stuff was coming from, and how all of it was made, and neither of these learning experiences was very comforting.  Add to that my instincts for “harvesting and hoarding” that I got from my grandparents (who lived through the Great Depression), and voila – I am now a packrat.  I’m not untidy – I’m quite organized about it actually – but I just have way too much stuff.

So I’m purging.  Again.  It seems as if I’m always purging.  I’ve written previously in other places about ways to get rid of stuff, or repurpose it, so that you don’t contribute to the waste stream any more than necessary.  But what about those things that you can’t just give away?  For instance, CDs?!?

I have a lot of CDs.  I mean, who doesn’t?  And I don’t just mean music CDs, I mean CDs that you’ve used for projects or to backup your computer.  I’m not quite willing to part with my music CDs yet (and I’m trying to figure out when I will be ready to do that) but all of those backup CDs I just don’t need anymore.  I only need a few DVDs for storage, not a stack of 100 CDs, but I surely can’t just throw them all away.  They have important stuff on them, don’t they?  Like all of my work!

All of this is really leading up to my latest idea, which is to take these CDs and turn them into a mobile.  I love mobiles!  They are so cool.  Obviously I’m not the first person to ever have this idea but the real challenge will be what to put on the fronts of them to make it look tasteful.  Here’s one I found on the internet in a Google search; I like it but I think I’m going to take it farther than this….

If anyone has any suggestions for what to do with my CD mobile, let me know!

50% of US workers don’t power down their PCs at night, and yet, the report also finds that over 60% of employees feel their company should be doing more to reduce energy consumption.

And what’s the big deal with turning your computer off at night?  Well, just two years ago, the computers left on overnight in US workplaces cost businesses somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.72 billion in annual energy costs.  That’s an enormous amount of money, and therefore energy, to devote to computers that aren’t actually doing anything at the time.  And despite a renewed focus on energy efficiency, that number may have gone up to $2.8 billion this year.  What gives?  Do people still believe the urban legend from years back that proposed that more energy is actually wasted by turning the computer off and on than if they left it on overnight?  Perhaps, and that may have been true at some point, but the fact is that now, turning OFF your computer when YOU go to sleep will save you energy.  Yeah, it may cost you a few extra seconds the next morning, but personally I’d rather save the money.  Who wouldn’t?

Exhibit B:  Not so much.  This is the old battery from my roommate’s 17″ MacBook Pro.  One day it just … started expanding.  Then she left it in the sun and it … kept expanding.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all about Macs.  I love Macs, and I’m writing this post on my Mac right now.  But I feel there’s still a long way to go with our consumer electronics if we have to worry about parts of our computers – or even cell phones or MP3 players, or anything else – bubbling up or self-destructing in some way.  I’m not going to lie – I don’t feel comfortable handling this battery.  Yet, here it is, in my kitchen, expanding every day.  I even found a very “relevant” mug to compare the size of the expansion to:

Mind the gap!