Rewards for Recycling

08/01/2026

Single-use coffee pods produce 56 billion units of plastic waste per year globally. That number is difficult to picture, so here's one way to try: lined up end to end, they'd wrap around the Earth multiple times over.

Most coffee pods are made from a combination of plastic, aluminum, and organic material fused together in a way that makes them nearly impossible to recycle through standard municipal programs. Keurig has a mail-in recycling program, but research into its actual use rates suggests the vast majority of pods end up in landfill regardless. The company originally promised all pods would be recyclable by 2020. It's 2026.

The inventor of the K-Cup, John Sylvan, sold his stake in Keurig in 1997 before the product took off. He has since said publicly that he feels bad about it. "I feel bad sometimes that I ever invented it," he told The Atlantic in 2015. The man who created one of the most successful beverage products in history regrets it because of the waste.

A French press takes about four minutes and produces zero waste beyond coffee grounds, which go in the compost. A drip machine with a reusable filter takes the same time as a pod machine. A pour-over takes five minutes and costs fifteen dollars to set up for life. None of these require a subscription, none of them generate 56 billion pieces of plastic annually, and the coffee doesn't taste like s**t from a pod.

Switch once. Never buy pods again.

07/18/2026

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Most countries see household waste as a growing problem, with much of it ending up in landfills. Sweden has taken a different approach. The country recycles so much of its waste that its waste-to-energy plants have, at times, needed additional material to keep operating efficiently.

To help meet that demand, Sweden imports waste from other European countries, including the United Kingdom, Norway, and Italy. In many cases, those countries pay Sweden to process the waste instead of sending it to landfill, creating an arrangement that benefits both sides.

The imported waste is burned in high-efficiency waste-to-energy facilities, where the heat released during incineration is used to generate electricity and supply district heating systems. Today, district heating powered partly by waste helps warm more than half of Swedish homes, while waste-to-energy plants also contribute a portion of the country's electricity production.

Sweden's approach is supported by a broader waste management system that emphasizes recycling, composting, and energy recovery before landfill disposal. As a result, less than one percent of Swedish household waste is sent to landfill, one of the lowest rates in the world.

Supporters say the system reduces landfill use, recovers energy from waste that cannot be recycled, and provides a reliable source of heat and electricity. Critics, however, note that burning waste still produces greenhouse gas emissions and argue that reducing waste generation and increasing recycling remain more environmentally beneficial than incineration.

Even so, Sweden's model has become one of the world's best-known examples of treating waste not simply as something to dispose of, but as a resource that can be used to produce energy while reducing reliance on landfills.

06/26/2026

The Liberty Bell is highly recyclable! It is made of 70% copper, 25% tin and it has small amounts of gold, silver, arsenic, zinc and lead.
(Even with trace amounts of arsenic, I think you should refrain from licking the Liberty Bell. Merely a suggestion.)

05/20/2026

The National Moment of Remembrance takes place at 3:00pm local time on Memorial Day. This is a chance to take a moment to pause and reflect on the sacrifices made by fallen US service members.

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard among the guns below.

We are the Dead. Shot days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

loved and were loved, and now we lie,

In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

we shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

~ John McCrae

May peace be with you.

05/12/2026

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Got any bottle caps laying around? Donate them to the Flint Children’s Museum for a fun art project we will need THOUSANDS! Thank you!

04/29/2026

Just for Fun … did you yawn after reading this? Let me know in the comments.

04/28/2026

Let’s spread some happiness, shall we? What have ya got in your camera roll that’s happy and cheerful?!? Post it here. All posts will go into a random drawing for a $15 Subway card! So come on! Show me some happy!!😃

04/06/2026

Give love to your spring dandies!! Don't poison them!
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Dandelions aren’t weeds by origin. They’re members of the sunflower family that were once deliberately grown for food and medicine.

The overlooked part is how thoroughly useful they were in everyday life.

Early growers treated them as a dependable crop, not a nuisance. The leaves were harvested young for salads or cooked like spinach, delivering a dense supply of vitamins long before supplements existed.

The roots were dried and roasted into a bitter, coffee-like drink, especially valuable during shortages. It was not a novelty, it was a practical substitute people relied on.

Even the bright yellow flowers had purpose. They were fermented into wine or used to produce natural dyes, turning a simple plant into something both functional and versatile.

Their ability to spread quickly was never a flaw. It ensured a constant, renewable food source that required almost no maintenance.

At the same time, their deep roots pulled nutrients up from below, quietly improving the soil around them as they grew.

What we now try to remove was once planted with intention and kept close for survival.

The difference is not the plant. It is how we chose to see it.