Loud music accompanied by arcade games, the whirring mechanics of seasonal rides, bright lights, greasy foods on paper plates with plastic bottled beverages abounding mixed with the sound of crashing waves, and a salty sea breeze; these are the things I think of when I think of the boardwalk.

All were present at the boardwalk as expected this season with one addition. Through this blur of lights, smells, and sounds, there were some green messages. They weren’t especially prominent, but I was happy to see them making an entrance onto the boardwalk sub-culture.

In Rehoboth beach’s Funland, a sign was posted stating, “Our tickets are GREEN and so are we! The 108 solar panels on our roof are working to reduce FUNLAND’s carbon footprint.” When contrasted with the energy intensive rides and amusements, I found the sign a bit ironic but still a good start, nonetheless.

On the side of the boardwalk closest to the ocean, I saw some informative signs posted about the importance of grasses in preserving and stabilizing delicate dune ecosystems.

I did not see recycling bins, and noted when I ordered a funnel cake (couldn’t resist) I was given a whopping 6 paper plates to hold it on. There was an excess of packaging, an overabundance of trash, and a multitude of trinkets and petroleum based prizes (likely to be imports produced with a lack of consistent fair trade or labor standards in environmentally unfriendly conditions).

Rather than focus on the negative, however, I walked away happy to see that the green movement is being acknowledged and considered on the boardwalk. Even in places like Funland, being eco-savvy might be gaining power, at least in the photovoltaic solar sense!

Irrigation Channels outside of Cairo, Egypt

On the Beach in Ventura, CA

In the Fountains of Madrid, Spain

On the Streets of New Orleans, LA

Water bottles, the annoying plastic vessels that seem to be invading our world have got my attention.
On vacation in Orlando a few weeks ago, I became increasingly frustrated at the lack of recycling options provided in our resort. With nowhere to recycle the 15 or so bottles that we had accumulated between the airport and our first day at the resort, I brought them with me to the home of a close friend who’d invited us for dinner on New Year’s Eve. I was dismayed to learn that neither my friend nor our resort participated in any type of recycling programs.

Thankfully, I’d brought a few aluminum bottles which we put to good use for the duration of our trip.
This difficulty led me to recall some of the photos I’d taken during previous travels when I became equally frustrated with this pesky plastic packaging that contained such a vital fluid. I’ve seen the impact of the bottles of water choking the irrigation channels outside of Cairo, to the beaches of Ventura, California. I’ve been disgusted at the trash and floating bottles in the fountains of Madrid, and on the streets of New Orleans. There seems little left untouched by this bothersome bottle blight.

Considering the situation, I am thrilled to announce our partnership with rethread, a graphic design firm with a mission. Their creative and stylish designs have a message worthy of wearing!

Enough said?

A fortune I obtained from a yummy cookie stated, “Good intentions without good actions are meaningless.” One intention I had over the summer with my children was to teach them about recycling. To impart this lesson, we collected aluminum cans. Since we rarely consume canned beverages, most of the cans we collected were from litter we found on walks or hikes and from summer festivities attended with family and friends. After amassing a large trash container full of cans from two months of efforts, we took our cans to the local scrap metal recycling center.

At the center, our cans were weighed, we heard about how various scrap metals were recycled and we watched the large metal crusher in action prior to adding our cans to a pile for crushing. In total, our efforts earned us $5. 98, and a glimpse into the value of recycling.

As we walked out of the center, I noticed a large bin of colored wires and vaguely recalled a chapter from the Fred Pearce book, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner where he discusses seeing some heinous recycling practices overseas involving children, caustic chemicals, and hazardous working conditions. Prompted by the recollection, I inquired what was to become of the container of wire. To my dismay, I learned they were to be shipped to China where (as the worker at my local recycling center put it so bluntly), “they can pay someone pennies on the dollar to do a job no one here would want.”

Yikes. This was not the feel good recycling message I’d hoped to pass along to my children.

Last week I had a nice breakfast with a former colleague in the nuclear industry and self proclaimed “Chemistry Nerd” friend of mine who shared with me the September 29, 2008 issue of Chemical & Engineering News. In it, there was an article entitled “Passing the Recycling Buck” by Jeff Johnson which stated that, “A government report and several recycling experts say it is likely that much of that hazardous electronic waste is going to wind up in developing countries where the poorest people in the world will pull the products apart under crude and dangerous conditions” (Johnson, 2008). While I know my aluminum cans are being handled responsibly, I’m not sure I can support many of the other practices of my local recycler. Johnson’s article suggests Redemtech as a company that has more responsible recycling practices in place.

I bring this up in the betterworldbuys.com blog because, though you can trust the products you buy with confidence at our site, we might also want to consider where our products can end up.
Although it seems like there is so much to do when we try to “go green” and make our small steps toward more sustainable living, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. When this feeling threatens to get the better of me, I recall the words of Father Zossimo from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, “Work without ceasing. If you remember in the night as you go to sleep, “I have not done what I ought to have done,” rise up at once and do it.”

Our collective good actions are better than all of our collective good intentions.

For additional information, click here to explore Redemtech’s blog.