St. Petersburg Times: Woman Continues Search for Missing Dog

Filed under: Pets 911 - July 23, 2008

By Erin Sullivan

Every night, Malene Pashalidis searches for Tasha’s face online, scanning a half dozen different sites—petfinder.com, pet-detective.com, pets911.com and on and on. Malene’s husband, David, has begun to ease her into the idea that too much time has passed and maybe, she should just let Tasha go. But Pashalidis can’t. She wants her home. But if something terrible happened to Tasha, she wants to know.

“I need closure,” she said.

Pashalidis got Tasha 11 years ago in Crystal Springs. Her parents had a rental property there and the tenant left a dog and her 10 puppies there when she moved. Pashalidis planned to take only one, but as she walked away with her chosen puppy, she saw another who looked so pathetic—sick, tail between her legs, so tiny and skinny, slinking alone. So she took both home, sisters named Goldie and Tasha.

They were so tiny, Pashalidis could hold both of them in her hand. A few years later, Tasha gave birth to a litter of puppies; all of whom were adopted except one —a black and white girl named Reba— that Pashalidis kept. Tasha, who is gold and white, never did get very big; she always was fine-boned and only about 20 pounds. Pashalidis thinks she is a mix between a Chihuahua and a rat terrier.

Pashalidis’ dogs were there with her through everything —divorce, being a single mom, finding love again, battling breast cancer, remarriage— and so it was heartbreaking when her asthma worsened last year and her doctor told her to get rid of her pets. She just couldn’t and kept putting it off. But she became very sick, coughing constantly and short of breath.

So Pashalidis found one friend to keep Goldie and another to house Reba and Tasha, until she could find a medicine that worked well enough to bring the dogs back home. Reba and Tasha were staying with a woman who lived near Old Pasco Road and Dayflower Boulevard in Wesley Chapel. And during a terrible thunderstorm in February, both of them dug underneath a fence and escaped.

Pashalidis and her husband swooped into action—driving for hours trying to find them. They made posters and plastered them all over the area and, when those kept getting soggy from rain, they made huge laminated posters. Pashalidis drove around searching before work and after work. David went to the animal shelter every two days. Three weeks after they disappeared, Reba was found in a neighborhood several miles away near Curley Road. But Tasha was still missing.

David kept going to the animal shelter for months and, on weekends, he and Pashalidis would drive and drive looking for Tasha. Pashalidis searched online and posted ads on Craigslist.

Pashalidis can’t let Tasha go. She knows it’s been five months. But she feels that Tasha is somewhere, she hopes being taken care of by a kind soul who doesn’t know her owner is searching for her. She doesn’t know what to do that she hasn’t done already.

“She’s the sweetest little dog and so easy going,” Pashalidis said. “She needs to be home.”

Jackson Sun: Go green: Time to recycle in Madison County

Filed under: Earth 911 - July 16, 2008

Apologies to Kermit the frog. Being green isn’t so difficult.

Madison County, the city of Jackson, private businesses and Lambuth University are embracing the three R’s of going green: reduce, reuse and recycle.

County Environmental Program Director Brent Lewis said Madison has been recycling paper and aluminum for about 15 years. Cardboard is accepted at six of the 10 disposal sites. Old tires can be dropped off at two locations.

Solid waste convenience centers are posted online as open from 7 a.m. Monday through 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Pipkin Road and Overpass View, 1916 U.S. 70 E., 111 Smith Lane, 130 H.O. Forgy Drive, 3242 U.S. 45 S., 95 Passmore Lane, 199 Oakfield Road, 31 Bowman-Collins Road in Medon. Hours are posted as 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 1411 Tenn. 138 in Mercer and 1106 Mount Pinson Road. Additional staffing is scheduled for 1 to 6 p.m. Sundays. All convenience centers close at 5 p.m. November through January. Details and phone numbers can be found at http://tinyurl.com/6mqrje.

Paper can include junk mail, cereal boxes, magazines, books and cardboard, but check with each site before stockpiling. What one accepts, another rejects.

Glass is a no-go in Madison County. There isn’t a market for it. “Don’t waste more resources than you conserve,” Lewis said.

Plastic is another tricky item. Code 1 and Code 2 plastic such as milk jugs, 2-liter soda containers and salad dressing bottles can be dropped off for recycling at fire stations No. 2 at 550 Westwood Ave. and No. 5 at 50 Vann Drive, said John Mehr, who is administrative assistant to city Mayor Jerry Gist. Both have bins for paper, as well as the Board of Education Transportation Department building at 59 Harts Bridge Road. The locations are zoned north, midtown and south for residents’ convenience.

Plastic shopping bags can be returned at Wal-Mart centers and some Kroger grocery stores for recycling.

Hub City Waste Paper is on Meadow Street off the U.S. 45 Bypass. It is open from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. weekdays, and will pay for paper and aluminum. Call 422-4297.

“Glass is just about a dead item,” manager Lewis Young said. “The problem with glass is that there are not many places that take it. You can’t make anything on it.”

Plastic has a market, but “there are so many different grades,” Young said. “Another problem with plastics is contamination,” such as soda left in a bottle and caps left on. The bottle and caps are not the same grade of plastic.

Mehr also urged caution at the city’s plastic drop-offs. Anything other than Code 1 and Code 2 plastic will ruin the melt. Look on the base of the item to be sure it’s an acceptable type.

Hub City plastic primarily is byproducts from industrial and commercial locations.

“It’s on an item-by-item basis,” Young said. Could be stretch wrap, oil bottles or polystyrene. Call the office to determine whether something you have is usable. A new machine is expected in a few weeks at Hub City that will allow the business to process more types of plastic.

“There’s very little that’s not recyclable,” he said. “Is it feasible to recycle it? We have to pick and choose what is. The problem is finding the market.” Then there’s the logistics of storing enough to transport.

“Fuel is killing everybody. Our costs have doubled. We go river to river and state line to state line,” Young said.

As Madison County official Lewis said, the delicate balance is conserving more than is consumed.

Hub City owner Melvin Young has been preaching recycling for decades in several states. “He started a trash/recycling business in Flint, Mich., in the early 1970s,” Lewis Young said. Other homes and enterprises have included Arizona, Florida and Missouri. West Tennessee ventures started about 1975 in Chester County and moved to Jackson in 1980 at the current 12-acre site.

“It’s our children and grandchildren who will suffer most,” Melvin Young said.

Recycling is catching on. “We all are becoming more environmentally conscious,” Jackson coordinator Mehr said. “The buzz is around town. People are calling, and they get excited” about options.

“Five years ago, we were laughed at,” Lewis Young said. “Two years ago, you didn’t see ‘Go green’ signs like are on the bypass now.”

“When purchasing things, look for the least amount of packaging,” county official Lewis said. “Go with more concentrated washing detergents. Reduce at the source.”

Another tip from Lewis is to donate items to thrift shops, Goodwill or Salvation Army. Clothes, shoes, working appliances, housewares and more are accepted, evaluated and either put on display or shipped off to other markets or charities.

Other outlet is The Freecycle Network. Jackson has a group of almost 1,000 members who give away and get free materials so they have an extended life and stay out of landfills that much longer. Members numbered 982 in early July. Visit http://tinyurl.com/5whqhh.

“One thing each individual resident could have is a compost pile,” Lewis said. Dumping discarded food, egg shells, coffee grounds and other decomposable items such as yard trash into a designated spot saves landfill space and eventually breaks down into plant nourishment.

Jackson Energy Authority is doing its part by processing leaves and tree trimmings at the wastewater treatment facility at 167 Miller Ave., off Hollywood Drive.

Environmental applications supervisor Mitch Pigue said compost is sold to the public for $20 a cubic yard and wood chips at $15 a cubic yard. Call 422-7541 for details.

The Web site earth911.org directs citizens to reuse or recycling outlets for electronics, cell phones, used motor oil, tires, paint and many more products.

In celebration of Earth Day on April 22, the Student Government Association at Lambuth University teamed up with campus food provider Sodexho to launch a recycling program.

“SGA feels that the recycling program will be successful and sustainable because of the overwhelming push from both students and faculty for Lambuth to join in on the fight for our environment,” LaBrandon Dates, Lambuth SGA Secretary of Communications, stated in a press release.

HeraldNet: Recycling Old Media Materials

Filed under: Earth 911 - July 13, 2008

Question: I buy more music and movies online and my CDs, videos, cassette tapes and even some DVDs are now just taking up space on the shelf. How can I recycle old media materials?

Answer: Consumers shouldn’t toss old CDs or videos into the trash. They could contain chemicals and metals that don’t belong in a landfill.

Check with a local library, school or community center to gauge whether they might have use for them. Beyond that, it’s smart to ask a local sanitation department if it recycles such items.

The Environmental Protection Agency points consumers to various resources such as earth911.org, which lists services that handle the recycling of various materials. Earth 911 offers more than 2,900 locations that handle media such as CDs and DVDs. The plastic from CD containers, for example, can be used to make new containers or even create the casings that cover street lights, according to Trey Granger, spokesman for Earth 911.

He said consumers also can consider new uses for old media. Scratched CDs, for example, can become drink coasters or wind chimes.

“They’re largely made of plastic, which is very recyclable and is important to do because they’re made of oil,” Granger said.

Also companies such as GreenDisk make a business of collecting what it calls “technotrash” from around the country. Mickey Friedman, chief operating officer at GreenDisk, said consumers are starting to ask more questions about what to do with the electronic detritus building up in basements, garages and attics.

Consumers and businesses can send old media to GreenDisk for processing. The company will handle up to 20 pounds for about $7 and charges 30 cents a pound after that. Under another plan, GreenDisk will send a “technotrash can” — a container that can be filled gradually with a range of electronic waste. Once it’s full, customers send the container back for recycling. The company covers the cost of the return shipment.

Fort Worth Star-Telegram: No Web

Filed under: Earth 911 - July 10, 2008

Dear Jerry: After reading your column about cell and cordless phones, I started following Microwave News ( www.microwavenews.com) to decide whether I should consider them safe.

Although it was difficult to give up wireless communication, I threw my phones into the same box that contained a batch of our previously used phones. My wife is following suit. We try to be socially responsible. In that regard, we hope you can suggest a worthwhile recycling source where we can donate the phones.

—Paul D., Omaha, Neb.

Dear Paul: I am listing three nonprofit organizations that retire wireless phones by re-using and recycling them. They serve the causes that interest you and your wife. The first helps women requiring shelter. The second protects the environment. The third does both.

1. Call To Protect is a program that collects wireless phones to benefit domestic violence victims. To obtain phone drop-locations in your area or postage-paid labels for mailing your phones, call toll-free 888-901-7233 or visit www.calltoprotect.org online.

2. Earth 911 is, by name, self-explanatory. For phone drop-off locations, call 800-253-2687 or go to earth911.org.

3. The Good Deed Foundation, while refurbishing some phones for resale, reprograms others so people at risk (battered women, senior citizens, etc.) can use them in a 911 emergency. To obtain free containers (postage-paid) for mailing your phones, call 845-688-2318 or visit www.gooddeedfoundation.org online.

There are many additional phone recycling resources. Essentially, all are contributing positively to the environment.

KSFY-TV: New Life For Your Old TV

Filed under: Earth 911 - July 7, 2008

By Drew Sandholm

As required by U.S. law, television stations will broadcast on a digital signal only. That means many of you will be tossing out your older, analog set. KSFY explores e-cycling options.

In Sioux Falls, Millennium Recycling hosts free electronics recycling from eight until noon on the following dates:

Vince Anderson of Millennium Recycling says the number of older sets dropped off has doubled in just a few years. They take thousands of pounds of sets every month, but none of it goes to waste.

“Everything can be recycled and other people’s junk is other people’s gold,” said Anderson. Everything a television is made of — plastic, wood, copper, metal, and even the wires are recycled at Millennium or sent to another location for recycling.

These helpful links have information about recycling old TV sets outside Sioux Falls:

WEWS NewsChannel5: Keep Dogs Indoors During 4th Of July Fireworks

Filed under: Pets 911 - July 4, 2008

The sights and sounds of fireworks can cause many pets to run away.

According to Pets 911, the Fourth of July is the No. 1 day of the year for lost dogs.

It is because big crowds, loud noises, and flashing lights cause many dogs to get excited.

Veterinarians said it’s not uncommon for owners to have their dog sedated on the Fourth, but it’s best if you can keep them indoors.

”They should keep them inside in a locked room or closed door,” said Dr. Bobbi Griffith of Craven Animal Hospital. “Not to have them out in the yard because they may try to dig out. They may try to jump the fence and run away.”

Yuma Sun: Going Green Neither Democrat or Republican

Filed under: Earth 911 - July 2, 2008

There have been a rash of letters as of late bashing global warming, efforts of consumers to go green, legislation that seeks to improve our quality of life and environment, etc. Interestingly, it is all blamed on pesky crazed environmentalists and liberal democrats.

The editor of this paper exhausts gallons of ink trying desperately to convince Yumans that global warming is a hoax that is pushed upon the general population by these same pesky liberals.

The overwhelming majority of scientists across the globe agree that global warming is a true and honest threat that can no longer be ignored. It is not a liberal idea, a Democratic thought, a crazed theory, but a scientific fact that affects this entire world.

Republicans are stinging because Al Gore has received so much notoriety for bringing this to light, but had it been a Republican who brought it to light, it wouldn’t have changed the facts. Facts are facts and you can’t put a D or an R after them and expect those facts to change. What we can do is change the way we react to those facts.

Here is where the word “green” comes in. After reading the rather strange things that come out in the letters each week, it occurs to me that many people do not know what “green” means. It means, taking everyday actions that have a positive impact on the environment and self.

The key word here is, “positive.” The way to go green is ask first how it will help you. Will it save you money? Will it make you healthier?

For example, if you switch to CFLs instead of traditional bulbs, begin unplugging appliances when not in use so they are not draining vampire electricity, purchase an Energy Star front loading washer instead of a top loader and your water and electricity bills decrease. Then you have just done things that are great for your pocketbook.

An added plus is the washer is easier on your clothes, and all of these things are better for the environment.

Now, if you throw away your traditional toxic cleaning supplies and opt for plant-based non-toxic cleaning supplies for your home, then you have just made a very healthy choice for your family by removing very unhealthy toxins and substances that can cause asthma, headaches, neurological diseases, cancer, etc.

The air quality in your house is often five times worse than the air quality outside. In making this change, you have made a positive change for your health, but it is also a positive change for the environment. What is going into the air is not toxic and therefore not adding to greenhouse gases, and what is being washed down the sink will not contaminate the groundwater. Furthermore, your house is just as clean as it was before!

Going green is just a circle of life thing. It is common sense. It isn’t liberal, or conservative. It’s just smart, socially conscious, economical and healthy. Some good Web sites are thegreenguide.com, ecofabulous.com, earth911.com, greenyour.com and akagreen.com

—
ERIN HORNER
Yuma

Publix GreenWise Market: Eclying Electronics

Filed under: Earth 911 - July 1, 2008

You love your brand-new laptop, but ever since you hauled the hunkering old desktop out to the garage, it’s been gathering dust next to the bubble-jet printer and broken VCR. You know you should do something with all this e-junk, but you’ve heard that dumping electronics is bad for the environment. Instead of letting your outdated equipment languish in limbo, why not look into upgrading, donating or recycling it?

Take Out the E-trash

Rapid changes in technology mean we’re constantly replacing computers, printers, cell phones, video game consoles and other electronic devices. All that obsolete equipment piles up. In fact, the United States generates 1.5 billion pounds of e-waste a year, or more than 171,000 pounds an hour.

Many consumer electronics contain hazardous materials such as lead, mercury and hexavalent chromium. “These are dangerous chemicals that can contaminate soil and drinking water,” says Anne Reichman, a program director at earth911.org, a consumer environmental portal.

Some electronics also contain valuable raw materials that can be harvested and reused. “Gold, copper and other precious metals can find their way back into the manufacturing process. Electronics have a much greater potential out of the landfill than in it,” says Kristina Taylor, manager of environmental communications for the Consumer Electronics Association.

Repair and Reuse

Before looking into recycling equipment, check out options for repairing or donating. Consumer Reports’ greenerchoices.org website has a “Fix It or Nix It?” chart that can help you decide. “Your first choice should be upgrading your existing equipment by adding more RAM memory or an extra hard drive,” Reichman says. “Buying used equipment is also an option. You might not need the latest and greatest model, and someone’s old version can save you money and save the equipment from the landfill.”

Several nonprofits, such as Goodwill and the March of Dimes, accept certain old electronics for reuse or to refurbish and sell. However, be sure to call your local branch and confirm that they will take your donations before driving over. The Giving Works program (givingworks.ebay.com) allows you to sell your equipment on eBay and donate the proceeds to the nonprofit of your choice. Or check within your community for organizations that need used gear. Schools, churches, nonprofit groups and community agencies are all good bets. “Passing your old stuff on to others is a win-win,” Taylor says. “Just make sure it’s still in good working order. Most nonprofits don’t have the technology staff to repair old products.”

Recycle

If your old electronic device is past its prime, recycle it, but look for a responsible recycler. The nonprofit Basel Action Network (ban.org) reports that some recyclers export e-waste overseas for improper disposal.

“Ask basic questions like, ‘Are you handling the items in the U.S.? What happens after I turn them in to you?’” Reichman says. “The problem [occurs] when U.S. recyclers send the products overseas and they’re improperly dismantled, putting workers and the environment in danger from the toxic chemicals inside.”

“Consumers are the best catalyst for change in how electronics are recycled,” Taylor adds. “Ask questions, and if the recycler doesn’t give good answers, find someone else.” To search for a recycler in your area, start with the following websites: mygreenelectronics.org, eiae.org and earth911.org. Some cities recycle electronics within their solid-waste departments; others have seasonal recycling dates. Where e-waste isn’t handled at all, you may be able to find a private company.

Many electronics manufacturers and retailers also run their own recycling programs. “It’s a natural progression to recycle your old equipment at the place where you’re buying new,” Reichman says. “Many retailers are taking the initiative to be good product stewards and to educate their customers about recycling.” Find a list of e-cycling partners, including Best Buy, Staples, Sprint and more, at epa.gov/e-cycling.

After finding a good home for your obsolete electronics, rest easy knowing that you’ve saved the world from a few pounds of e-waste.

Scrub It Clean

Before donating or recycling your old computer, make sure your hard drive is completely data-free to guard against identity theft. “The one thing hard drives do really well is hang on to data,” says Billy Rudock, a tech support engineer with hard-drive maker Seagate Technology. “Unless the files are completely erased by overwriting the hard drive, the original data will always be there.”

Tom Merritt, executive editor at cnet.com, recommends Darik’s Boot and Nuke program, a free download that wipes the hard drive to Defense Department standards. “It takes awhile, so let it run overnight,” Merritt says. “If you don’t want to do it yourself, a computer store can do it for you for around $20–$50 per drive.” Some recyclers will scrub or destroy the drive and certify that the data is erased, but Anne Reichman, program director, earth911.org, says it’s safer to do it yourself.

Christian Science Monitor: “Free Sharing” Sites Expand on Internet

Filed under: Earth 911 - July 1, 2008

By Gregory Lamb

A few years back, Deron Beal worked for a recycling organization in Tucson, Ariz. He’d drive an old pickup truck around to other nonprofit groups, and say, “I found this old desk or this computer. Can you guys use it? I spent [most of my] time calling or driving around,” he says.

That changed on May 1, 2003, when he sent off an e-mail to about 30 friends and a handful of nonprofit groups. Those who needed something should just e-mail everyone else. Those who had something to give away could tell the others about it, too. Freecycle.org was born.

Today the free online give-and-take organization has more than 5 million members in 4,500 local groups in 85 countries. It’s by far the largest, but far from the only, organization dedicated to using the Internet to match up people who need something with people who are happy to part with it.

While the rules governing how swaps are made and what kinds of things may be offered may vary from group to group, one thing is constant: Everything is free. No money changes hands. On Free­cycle.org, direct “I’ll swap you this for that” exchanges are not allowed. Goods must be freely offered, no strings attached.

What can be posted on these free give-and-take websites? Nothing illegal, of course, and items must be “family friendly”—no pornography, no alcohol, no tobacco, no weapons and no drugs, including medicines and vitamins. Those who abuse the policy get one warning. A second offense results in banishment.

Beyond those practical limitations, the variety of items can be astounding: clothes, furniture, toys, computers and other electronics, and baby items are popular. But so are more unusual items from hair dye to manure to pieces of broken concrete (euphemistically referred to as “urbanite”).

“Waste not, want not” and “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure” have found new life online.

The original goal of Freecycle.org was ecological, Mr. Beal says. By reusing items, fewer new goods need to be produced, saving energy and raw materials. “We always try to promote reuse first over recycling,” says Trey Granger, a spokesman for Earth911.com, a website based in Scottsdale, Ariz., that provides information on local recycling. “That would always be the preferable option.”

Beal calculates that Freecyclers keep about 500 tons of stuff out of land­­fills every day. In a year, he calculates, that’s equivalent to a stack of full garbage trucks five times the height of Mt. Everest.

But today, say Beal and others involved in online give-and-take sites, people are also looking harder for ways to stretch dollars. Freecycle.org continues to grow by 10,000 to 15,000 members per week, Beal says. “I think that’s in large part a reflection of the economy right now.”

“I think people are reusing their things and not going out and buying new things,” says Linda Carrabba, who runs a local Freecycle group in Holliston, Mass., about 25 miles west of Boston. Her group, with about 1,000 members, is adding new ones, she says, and “It’s definitely more active. Way more active.”

Lately she’s seen an upswing in women requesting clothing that could be worn in an office. “It sounds like women going back into the workforce looking for business attire,” she says.

Freecycle and most of the other give-and-take groups maintain a simple system for posting messages. Members send a message either with an “offer” to give away an item or a “wanted” message asking for an item. When a transaction is completed, they alert the group that the item has been “taken” and “received.”

Often more items are being offered than being sought. But that may be changing. “I think the number of requests for items is going up. And people are not giving things away as frequently—maybe they’re holding onto them longer … or they try to sell them on Craigslist or something like that,” says Robin Brown, co-founder of ReuseitNetwork.org. “People are also more concerned about how far they have to drive to pick up something,” says Ms. Brown, who lives in Altamonte Springs, Fla. The give-and-take concept mostly involves trading within a local group, usually within one town.

She and four other former Freecycle volunteers founded Reuseit about a year ago in an effort to have more local autonomy. Reuseit now has nearly 300 member groups. “We had some differences of opinion on the management and direction” of Freecycle, Brown says, so “we decided to strike out on our own.”

So did Eric Burke, webmaster for Free­­sharing.org, another online sharing group with 250,000 to 300,000 members.

Mr. Burke saw how powerful the give-and-take concept can be when he moved to Anderson, S.C., and found his new backyard strewn with junk, including about 100 hard hats left by the local power company and a mobile home. He listed everything for free online. “I said ‘come and get it,’” he says. “Within six months nearly everything was gone.”

The hard hats were taken by a local teacher for an art class. Car seats and old tires disappeared. “All the aluminum went first, because that’s easily scrap­­­pable,” Burke says. “The I-beams from the mobile home got hauled off, and a guy built a barn out of them.

“It ended up clearing my backyard. It benefitted 50 or 60 people who came through and picked what they wanted. And it kept a certain amount of stuff out of the landfill as well.”

Most give-and-take groups can be used by charities as a way to ask for items they need. The large Freecycle group in Boston, with more than 11,000 members (London is the world’s largest, with 40,000 members) asks charities to list themselves in a separate part of the website from individual requests, says Mike Martell, who oversees the group along with a “co-owner” and five “moderators,” all part-time volunteers.

Beal says he hopes a revised Freecycle website, which he plans to have up and running by the end of the year, will be able to highlight requests from charities, as well as contain other helpful new features. In a quick poll of his local Tucson, Ariz., Freecycle group, Beal found about 90 charities who were making use of the site.

What amazes some observers is that most of the time the number of items offered exceeds the number being requested. To Beal, that’s “a life-affirming thing. The fact that Freecycle works means that we as [humans] are basically good and giving. Otherwise it would just be a greedy free-for-all where everyone is trying to get something for nothing.”