108 Years of Science Fiction

Time's Article from 1999, notes how issues like recycling are absent from Science Fiction.

Science fiction cordially ignores many vital technologies, such as, say, garbage recycling. Recycling is hugely important, but it has zero science-fictional thrill.

Perhaps we won't be quite as wasteful in future, but if you take a look at Star Wars (Episode IV) They've got a trash compactor scene... and in Episode I, Watto appears to be reusing and reselling used engine parts and scraps in his store. The expanded universe also refers to people salvage combing space debris for profit. Don't forget the Jawas, who 'scavenge' the desert and resell parts and even whole droids! StarWars.com offers up its own report.

This dynamic box, hopefully, continues to display examples contrary.

Greening up the Holidays

Handmade gifts and questions about the Christmas Tree. Yup, you know that eventually, not matter how long you keep your artificial tree, it does eventually end up in a landfill. True. There are lots of really good arguments that will send us off for a REAL tree (next year).

Here are some great articles at Earth911.org about the Holidays.

Keep a box of spent batteries

Image via Wikipedia

Battery Recycling! Now here's a bit of info for you on what to do with these batteries that you know you shouldn't be tossing into the trash.

Lookup a recycling center near you!

Earth911.org has given itself a really nice sprucing up and looks gorgeous.

Our batteries died in our cordless phone and I went out to buy new ones. Well I brought home the wrong kind. They're expensive little suckers. Mrs. SF Daddy went out and just bought a new set of phones! (Not as great for the environment.) So now my errand of returning the wrong batteries is expanded to also collecting up the old phones and either recycling them, or finding a person who can REUSE them. Finding people is easy for us, but a great way to get rid of the 'still usefull' stuff you don't need anymore is FreeCycle. People in your area will come to your house and take it from you. No money exchanges and it's beautiful.

FreeCycle "Our mission is to build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community."

Related articles by Zemanta

• Top Five Things We Can Do to Recycle (brighthub.com)
• Top 5 Reasons To Recycle Your Electronics (slideshare.net)
• How Do Rechargeable Batteries Work? Recycling Battery Life Span (brighthub.com)

Seeing The Phantom Menace for the first time.

Image via Wikipedia

I pray you'll bring sanity back to the Senate.

J is six and today we watched Star Wars Episode I. Here are J's comments.

Never tell a Jedi, "You're under arrest."

Who was that white lady? (Watching the pod race.)

What kind of fabric are their clothes made of? (Anakin and his mother's on Tatooine.) Information about the costumes. And another article.

I'd bet the fabric would be something synthetic since it's a desert planet, but here you could go for a linen or bamboo fabric.

Yoda: " I sense much fear in you." to Anakin.
J: "Yoda's a good senser."

Queen Amidala: "I pray you'll bring sanity back to the Senate."
J: "She prays? She believes in God."

Yoda: "May the Force be with you."
J: "And also with you. (giggle) Church." (That's Daddy's joke, now she knows the reference first hand.)

Queen Amidala: "Jar Jar, I need your help."
J: "Oh! Gungans have fine armies!!!" (J puts it all together and remembers what Jar Jar said earlier in the film.)

Don't just chuck that Recyclababble Container

We've been trying to master composting. We have the leaf piles, a rotating barrel, AND a worm farm. The back yard isn't messy because of these things, it's still the kids' toys and a real need for a good mow to blame for that.

We're sending all the trash out to the recycling center, but it's those #1's that are getting refused. No.1: PETE (polyethylene terephthalate).

The discussion started at Tree Hugger is a good one: Talking about it.

There's more on #1: National Geographic Green Guide on plastics

It's off to Google for solutions...

The Polyphonic Spree "Running Away"

Now I'm hooked. This was a breath of fresh air last night and this morning. A loves it too, I'm betting J will go nuts.

There's more at YouTube...

Flying Green

We can all say we're going green, but there are a lot of folks that still need to catch up. We're using cloth shopping bags, driving a hybrid and replacing light bulbs.

These girls are also getting more modern chores: Feed the worms (the kitchen scraps), and take out the Recycling. We recycle so much stuff it's almost a shame that we have to pay extra in our county for trash collection at all. We only have 2 bags a week for a family of 4.

Sci Fi for kids

In the quest for nerding them up, I'm doing well with J, but the littlest one "I don't like Star Wars".

I need to let go a little and leave the toys down on the lower shelf again. I just had gotten fed up with stepping on Yodas. The little ears hurt your feet, you know.