Re: Recycling

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/6/2002 7:14:08 PM Eastern Daylight Time,

rpartovi@... writes:

<< This is the first I've heard of this. What kind of sludge are we

talking about? You're going to have to substantiate a claim like that.

Please give us a reference. >>

Will do. It's been since I was studying Chemical engineering in school a

loooong time ago so I'll have to do some research. The sludge is produced by

washing, reconstituting, and refining the metal back to useable aluminum.

Ditto for paper. Both processes generate a tremendous amount of sludge or

waste water that must be filtered/treated/diluted/disposed of.

[Guest guest]

With all due respect to people who are Black, Jewish, Latino, Asian, Native

American, Full Figured People, etc., if a term was used to offensively describe

them why not just be respectful of them and not use it.

The term mentally retarded I think has been used offensively too and it's not

fair to people who are mentally challenged. I have known people who are

and its not right. I hear many times people say " This is retarded or You are

Retarded. " I mean what is that about? I'm not someone with a mental challenge

but someone with a heart who " I don't have to walk in someone shoes to feel

their pain. "

A word is a word true, but how it's used is another thing.

Helen

[Guest guest]

That's my take on it. Even though I've personally chosen to work on

getting over the word midget, I do not desire to promote it as a

label to the world at large. My primary reason for wanting to be de-

sensitized to the word is for the sake of my average sized daughter,

who recently entered elementary school this year. I do not wish for

my daughter to overreact when she hears the word (as the Sawisch's

son did), or to feel ashamed or embarrassed about her mom.

But this raises a question though: how does one learn to not react to

this word, whether it is said with or without ill will? I ask this

because shear resolve did not work for me. When I initially read

Len's article over a year ago (Summer 2003 issue, page 23), I

recognized the need to address the issue, which was reinforced by Dan

Kennedy's book explaining the view of other LPs, that by using the

word you take away it's power. But almost a year went by, and I

noticed my reaction did not change with any significance – I still

grimaced upon hearing the word, and we know all too well that

children pick up on body language, and/or what's not said. As a

result, I found that I needed to play around with the word out loud –

such as calling my mini-dachshund a fidgety midget, or using it in

silly rhymes with my daughter. I've also used midget in a handle on

a particular dwarf-related website – I realize this may have been

insensitive on my part - but by my typing the word, forcing me to

read it, it truly has helped me in becoming de-sensitized to the word

(I will now re-think of other avenues to accomplish this, as I do not

wish to offend my fellow LPs).

If any of you have other ideas on what worked for you in raising your

child, I'd love to hear about it.

> From last year's annual debate on the M-word:

>

> Something to consider is whether those of us who appear to be on

opposing

> sides of the " m " word debate unnecessarily perceive those " sides "

as being

> mutually exclusive. In other words, does accepting the word " midget "

> without being offended mean that you shouldn't discourage its use

as a

> label for people of short stature?

>

> It seems that, other than the obvious pot-stirring antics of a few

> professional antagonists (hi Danny!), the two camps are NOT in fact

> anti- " midget " vs. pro- " midget " , but anti- " midget " vs. " get over it " .

>

> Len Sawisch's op-ed piece from last year's newsletter suggests

the " get

> over it " approach, and from the 'avoiding high blood-pressure'

perspective

> this is certainly sound advice. The word won't be going away

anytime soon,

> so why kill yourself getting angry about it?

>

> On the other hand, the word clearly strikes a viscerally negative

reaction

> in many of us, including me. Does it matter whether it is a learned

> response, a conditioned response, an natural desire not to want to

be

> singled out and mocked, or some complex combination of similar

factors?

>

> No, it doesn't matter. It's justification enough that most little

people

> don't like it, and that's a fact that isn't going to go away any

time soon

> either.

>

> It seems that a more holistic approach to dealing with the M-word

is going

> to involve the realization that these two viewpoints are not

opposites,

> that they are each just as valid as the other, and that they can

coexist.

>

> Yes, we should try to desensitize ourselves to the word, and yes, we

> should educate people who are ignorant about dwarfism that the word

is

> often not well received.

>

> But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

>

> Dave

[Guest guest]

Well, there are three things you need to do to successfully compost:

1) Have a compost bin.

2) Compact everything as you add more stuff.

3) Turn its contents over every once in a while.

I put in most of the yard's shredded leaves at the beginning of the

year and get peat-like soil by next fall.

Our city chips all brush and offers the woodchips for free at their

public works center.

Tom

And most peoples' yards aren't big enough to let everything rot and

provide shelter and food for birds, beetles, mushrooms, etc. Snakes,

rats--too close to the house! I let a little rot naturally but

there's too much to let it all do so. Unless you have a tree chipper

and mulcher. They should have places where you can go and bring your

branches and leaves and they'll mulch them. They could then sell the

mulch and make money and the homeowner would have a free solution.