Cells for Cells

Recycle Cell Phones to Help Families Battling Cancer

Stuff Worth Sharing

Driver Texting and Talking on Two Cell Phones While Driving Over 70 mph

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Texting Talking and Driving 1 These incredible pictures are of a man talking into his cell phone with his left hand while texting with his right hand while driving 70 mph on the highway.  Shame on you, driver!  You are a danger to society.

My friend, who was in the passenger seat of my car, took these pictures.  I was focused on passing this guy safely as he was swerving all over the highway.

All Distracted Driving Needs To Stop

Every day that I get into my car, I feel like I have to battle for my life.  Every day I see distracted drivers swerving or driving in a dangerous manner.  This has got to stop now.  Even my next door neighbor was a recent victim of distracted driving.  She was rear-ended by a driver who had dogs in his lap while eating a sandwich.  This dumb driver rear-ended my neighbor at a red light!

Please Take The Pledge To Never Text And Drive

Take the pledge.  Make that promise to yourself.  The website www.ItCanWait.com has a host of tools and resources to promote this idea.  ItCanWait.com seems to kids targeted to kids.  So if you have kids who are driving, you can point them to ItCanWait.com.  However, in my experience, it is adults that I see swerving while texting.  Gosh, can you just use your plain old common sense to keep that promise to yourself, to your family, to your friends, and to your fellow drivers.  Just stop texting and driving.

Just Wait Or Pull Over

If you absolutely need to see that text message (Come on!  Is that text really THAT important?) just pull over.  Safely pull to the side of the road and jump all over that important text.  Better yet, wait until you are done driving and put your car in park, then check your messages.  That way, you won’t have any chance of causing an accident from your distracted driving.

Lives Destroyed By Texting And Driving

This 34 minute movie by the famed film producer Werner Herzog is a must see.  You may not be aware of the devastating consequences of the simple act of texting while driving.

 

 

The O2 Hurricane Canless Air System: A Cool Way to Be Green

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John Scherer, CEO of Canless Air System

John Scherer is the CEO of Canless Air System www.canlessair.com.  In this interview, John answers questions about the journey of the O2 Hurricane, about being more green, about the role social media plays in his company, and a few others.

This is probably one of the coolest inventions I have seen in a long time, how
 did you get the idea for Canless Air?  The inventor contacted me in May of 2011, he’s been working on it for 12 years and wanted me to be the spokes person. 

The more I got to know about it, I knew I had to buy it, develop it and market it myself.

How did you know it would work? I didn’t, that’s when you roll the dice, there’s never a guaranty. But if you believe in something, just act on that instinct. Frankly, this is one case where I wasn’t at all surprised by the positive reaction.

How long did it take to go from idea to your first sale?  It took about ten months of me pushing pushing pushing, designers, engineers, suppliers and me learning about manufacturing the whole time.

 We continue every day to find ways to make it better. That we’ll never stop doing.

What was the biggest mistake or misstep you took and how did you correct it? The Misstep was matching the battery to the charger, we quickly identified the problem, matched them correctly and went back to the market. Rarely is anything perfect coming out of the box, it’s the ability to react quickly and adjust that is key in product success.

 


What advice do you have for inventors or entrepreneurs? Continue Reading

Lowering My Electric Bill: Real Results with the Kill-a-Watt Meter

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You can lower your electric bill with the Kill-a-Watt meter.  Last month, I wrote about how the Johnson County Library is providing the Kill-a-Watt meter to library patrons for free.  You can borrow the Kill-a-Watt meter just like you do any book.  Log into your library account, place a hold, and pick it up when it is ready.

Although the press release claims potential savings in the neighborhood of 10%, I found my savings in the $5 per month range.  Additionally, becoming aware of how expensive it is to run my Solar Comfort Infrared Heating System in the winter, will help me better manage that device to maximize savings.

As an exercise in knowing which of your electrical devices use the most power, borrowing the Kill-a-Watt meter from the JoCo Library is a must for anyone who calls themselves “Eco-freindly.”

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Uber-Useful Way to Lower Your Electric Bill: Power Sucks at the Johnson County Library

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Do you wonder why your electric bills keep going up and up?  What can you do?  Well, The Johnson County Library, in conjuction with the Jo. Co. Health and Environment Department are providing the uber-useful Kill-a-Watt device so that residents and business can locate energy waste.  Who would have thought you could lower your electric bill with a trip to the library!

According to the press release, “The average household spends up to 10% on their energy bill each month powering devices in the standby mode; that means they are off, but still sucking power. Some common devices that contribute to the “phantom energy” are computers in sleep mode; power cords plugged into the wall, but not connected to a device; and electronics with a digital display such as DVD players. The modern household has an average of 27 electronic gadgets, and they all add up.  Residents who check out the Kill-A-Watt energy meters can identify the power sucking devices in their homes and make small changes that will save on their electricity bill.”

I have already reserved my Kill-a-Watt meter.  I am super curious about which electronic devices in my home suck my power.  Some quick off-the-top-of-my-head calculations indicate that I could save $20 – $30 per month by identifying and UNPLUGGING some of my power sucking devices.

Here are more details via KCTV5

KCTV5

Recycling Failure: 1.211 Billion Plastic Baggies Every Year

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According to Gartner, world-wide cell phone handset sales were 1.211 Billion in 2009.  And, the number of cell phone subscriptions are now 4.6 Billion.

Can we assume, that included inside of each of those 1.211 Billion new cell phone boxes, is a recycling baggie just like the ones pictured above?

Warning – Math Problem Ahead – 1,000,000,000 is a Big Number

Now, consider that the percentage of cell phones being recycled today, fall somewhere between 1% and 10%.

If we generously assume that all 10% of cell phones recycled are done so through the baggie program, then we are left with well over 1 Billion plastic baggies that will probably end up discarded in our landfills or our waterways and oceans.

This well-intentioned baggie recycling program is a complete environmental failure.  Creating more waste, in the name of environmental good, is a shame.

Cells for Cells is Part of The Solution

When we first launched Cells for Cells in 2007, we provided a simple cardboard collection box to all of the companies that wanted to recycle with us.    We distributed hundreds of boxes throughout Kansas City and received back very few.  Even though cardboard is easily recycled, we realized that we were creating a lot of cardboard waste.  So, we changed our process, and now Cells for Cells encourages everyone to re-use a cardboard box when you ship your devices to be recycled.  The cardboard, in turn, will be re-used or recycled.

Cells for Cells partner, Freightquote.com took a standard office paper ream box and created this work of art:

Yes, You Can Recycle Plastic Bags or Baggies

Although most curbside recycling programs do not allow for any sort of plastic bag recycling, there are solutions.  I have seen plastic bag recycling containers in some of our local grocery stores.  I think that Wal-mart might have plastic bag receptacles, too.

Here is plasticbagrecycling.org.  They have a state-by-state locator to help you find out where you can recycle your plastic bags.

Yes, You Can Recycle More Than Just One Cell Phone

I have an opinion that the baggie program teaches the public to only recycle one or two devices at a time.

Why not try to fill a box with old cell phones from family, friends, neighbors and co-workers?  No matter what program or charity your cell phone recycling program supports, you still have the option to do more than just recycle.  Become an advocate.  Make it your mission to have your entire office recycle 2 or 4 or 10 devices per person.  Re-use a cardboard box and make a difference in the environment and in the program you support.

Funny Recycling Bag

Additional Reading

8 Tips for Making Mobile Phone Recycling Easier

Plastic Bags are Killing Us – Salon 2007

Capt. Charles Moore on the Sea of Plastic