Apple expands recycling program to cover ALL products

Apple has long offered gift cards in exchange for old Apple products that have some commercial value…but they’re now expanding that recycling program to include ALL Apple products, even ones that are worthless.  They won’t be giving out gift cards for your own junk, but they WILL recycle them for free, you just drop them off at any Apple store.

Apple is also touting some recent environmental advancements they’re making, such as:

  • Including both data centers and corporate campuses, 94 percent of Apple’s energy is from renewable sources
  • Apple is working with suppliers to recycle water with a new Clean Water Program pilot
  • All Apple cables used in China are now PVC-free
  • Apple has signed the CERES Climate Declaration
  • Energy initiatives at facilities in Cupertino have saved enough energy to power 1200 homes per year
  • Over 1000 shared bicycles will be available at the new ‘spaceship’ campus
  • Over 90 percent of material Apple recycles is from products other than their own

(via AppleInsider)

Mini makes car for Tron fans

Tron_miniMini is going to be building a limited run of a fan-designed special edition Mini Cooper, an $8900 package price that gives the awesome Tron-themed look shown here. It’s basically a cosmetic package…some LED lights and interior trim options…and unfortunately, doesn’t glow like the real Tron vehicles. But hey, I still want one…

Configure your own here

Alpine to produce aftermarket CarPlay stereo this fall

Rumors are swirling that Alpine will be shipping an aftermarket CarPlay-enabled car stereo this fall!  That’s great news, though I was hoping to use CarPlay as the justification to go out and buy a new Ferrari (not really, but one can dream…).  Price is expected to be in the $500-700 range.

Amazon launches Fire TV

Amazon Fire TVAmazon has entered the TV set-top fight with their new Fire TV, a small box with most of the features rumored to be coming in the next AppleTV – voice control (the remote has a mic), apps, and a heavy emphasize on gaming (well done, Amazon, for beating Apple to the market with this!).  You can read more about it at Engadget or pick one up for $99 at Amazon today.

What to tell your kids when others call them a nerd

In this video, Wil Wheaton offers some of the best advice I’ve heard for kids who are being called nerds or otherwise made fun of at school.  The video itself is a bit old but worth watching for any kid going through this at school.  Perhaps the best quote:

“When a person makes fun of you, when a person is cruel to you, it has nothing to do with you. It’s not about what you said. It’s not about what you did. It’s not about what you love. It’s about them feeling bad about themselves.”

Wil recently commented on this video on his website, including some quotes from the parents of the kid who asked him this question.

Continue reading “What to tell your kids when others call them a nerd” →

UN issues more warnings on climate change…will the US listen?

The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a new report concluding that climate change is already having a big impact on agriculture, human health, and water supplies, and are warning that these effects will get more severe over time.  The IPCC warns that governments and businesses need to take action immediately against these growing risks, though I fear that even the business-friendly GOP will be more focused on short term profits and gains than long term sustainability.

This is a follow-up to a report last year saying humans are to blame for global warming.  You can read more at the New York Times.

Good news for whales

The International Court of Justice ruled that Japan’s whaling program in the Antarctic is not for scientific purposes, and has revoked all permits previously given for that.  Japan has stated that they will abide by the ruling, though I remain skeptical that this means the whaling ships will not return to the southern seas next winter.  But, it’s a great step in increasing protection for whales worldwide.  Thanks, Australia, for standing up to Japan’s illegal actions and helping to bring this case to court!  Also thanks to Sea Shepherd for minimizing Japan’s effectiveness in whaling while this court case dragged out.

The fragility of our electrical grid

Concerns over the fragility of the US’ electrical grid were only reinforced when the Wall Street Journal published this report detailing out our power grid could be knocked out by someone taking out out nine key electric-transmission substations (there are 55,000 total in this country) and also one transformer manufacturer (to delay reconstruction).  It wouldn’t just be a minor disruption either…it would take an estimated eighteen months to restore functionality.  Our substations are hardly secure either, protected mostly by fences and cameras.  Proof of that came last year when someone used rifles to knock out 17 transformers in a San Jose substation; they never were caught.  Kinda amazing that all our technology could be wiped out so easily, plunging us into, well, it’s hard to say what would happen…certainly not as bad as the TV show Revolution, but easily an economic depression of unprecedented magnitude.  Your neighbors with grid-tied solar would be equally out of luck – those systems only provide power when the grid itself is energized.

You can read more about this in the WSJ link (paywall!) or at Treehugger.

Is our civilization doomed?

imagesA new study by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center argues that a combination of socio-economic stratification (haves vs. have-nots) and resource consumption are likely to lead to the collapse of our civilization.  Other studies (like this and this) have come to the same conclusion, putting the timeline in the 15 year range.  Can we avoid this?  The SESYNC‘s study states that,

Collapse can be avoided and population can reach equilibrium if the per capita rate of depletion of nature is reduced to a sustainable level, and if resources are distributed in a reasonably equitable fashion.

Given how our current society is doing the exact opposite, forgive me if I’m a bit pessimistic…

You can read more about this latest study here.

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