America’s next top model

I am not a regular viewer of America’s Next Top Model because the phony world of modeling isn’t something I identify with much. I did just watch the show though on replay because it was the best available option on Sunday night. ABC has gone with an all drama lineup that promises to take things to such extremes that it is a soap opera, NBC is all Football (ewww), I don’t get CBS here and PBS is all war all the time now. So that left shopping at Old Navy with ANTM. I thought that the anti smoking initiative was a positive step for these models who usually smoke like chimneys. And I have always thought that Old Navy was a great place for basics like jeans, t-shirts and tanks. (although all of their clothing are made overseas and a lot are made in China) It was nice to see the models embrace it even though it was not a high fashion designer. I end up mixing old navy pieces with all kinds of stuff and it always works out. Anyway I just wanted to say that I wasn’t as turned off by watching models catfight as I thought I would be, but then again this week was low on catfights.

Recycle your old cell phone

I think everyone is aware of the fact that a lot of the modern convieniences we enjoy today are really bad for the planet. I don’t think anyone had any idea what we were destroying when industrialization took hold and we kept finding better ways to live and do things through technology. We just accepted that cars made it easy to get places quickly, plastic bottles kept things fresh without breaking when dropped and cell phones allowed you to call someone from anywhere. It was progress right? And we all enjoyed the dawn of the new technology era not knowing what we would leave behind or how it would affect the planet.

Cell phones for example. You might not think this is a problem because you don’t buy a ton of them and they’re really small right? The cell phone companies sell about 33 Million phones in the US per QUARTER. This leds us to a total of 132 Million cell phones every year. (And this grows every year) And every time they sell a new one an old one goes out of use. Where do they go? Because many are outdated or broken the majority end up in the garbage. This is bad news for our landfills. Cell phones are not biodegradeable in any way since they are made from plastic and metal. They just sit there for an eternity. Wouldn’t it be better to collect them and recycle them? Maybe at the store when you are buying a new one? To trade it in for 5 bucks off and then they make sure they are sent to a recycler? I think that would be a great idea and far more sustainable.

Wirefly offers cell phone recycling and they are the only cell phone selling company I have seen that does this. I have personally have had 4 cell phones since 1999. 3 Nokias and 1 Treo. I am still using the treo but when it wears out someday I will send it in to be recycled. It is far better than it laying around in my home or piling up in a landfill that is overflowing already.