Recycling unwanted electronics

(I'm borrowing this content from a blog post I wrote for work)

Did you know - Americans dispose of 2.25 million tons of e-waste each year? That would fill enough 18-wheelers to stretch from Chicago to Los Angeles. And according to the most recent EPA data available, only 10% of cell phones and 18% of TVs and computers and products are recycled.

Electronics are full of precious and rare elements that are wasted in a landfill. In fact, rare earth metals have garnered particular attention over recent months over concern that our economy is too dependent on China's 96% share of the world's rare earth supply. In addition, the mining of rare earth metals is costly to the environment.

So, what can we do? Here at the Ocean Spray headquarters, our waste disposal company E.L. Harvey, collects e-waste for recycling. At home, there are a number of options available to us as consumers, including trading in old electronics for gift cards from certain retailers, or simply utilizing one of the many electronics recycling programs out there.

For more information on recycling electronics, visit: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/technology/personaltech/06basics.html?src=busln.

I made a big pitch at work yesterday. The details are still being ironed out, but the purpose was to make adjustments in my current position that would allow me to be spend more time at home with a new baby while maintaining a high level of performance at work.

As with all negotiations, you don't get everything you want, but you learn to give up what's not essential in order to hold onto what is. And I'm still optimistic that my boss and I will agree on an arrangement will work out well for me and for the company.

What I didn't anticipate are the emotions that came with this process. This is the first significant and tangible change I've made in my life to prepare for someone I haven't yet met (with the exception of her little feet inside my body). Sure we have the stroller and all this furniture and I've gained a lot of weight, but this is different. After all these years of b-school and the rat race, to release the reigns of something that I created and own is a bitter pill to swallow. The hubs sweetly reminded me last night that I'm just making some room for my *new* job, which is just as important and will be just as rewarding.

In any case, this experience has taught me that my identity cannot be rooted in what I do professionally, or even who I am as a mom. I hope that as I go down this journey, my self-assurance in that will be stronger.

I'm almost famous!

Here I am on public radio in Western Mass talking about the impact of something that the Gov did that is making my last 3 weeks at work not the walk-in-the-park that I had expected. Basically he ix-nayed some state funding that my agency needs in a big way, and we are doing everything we can to get it restored.

Not the greatest soundbyte or tone of voice, but that's cool. It was my first time.

This weekend, my work friends and I attended the wedding of my former boss Kristin and her partner Natalie. This was my first lesbian wedding, and probably not my last. I do live in Massachusetts after all.

The wedding (and subsequent clambake) was held at Larz Anderson Park just a few minutes down the road from where we live. It was a beautiful ceremony, and I am touched that they invited me to be a part of this important day in their lives.

Rivkin McSwain Wedding Photos

More than anything I appreciated spending virtually the entire weekend with the girls from work. We have been through so much together in the past year - the departure of a beloved leader, each us individually stepping up to the plate to move the work forward, and the transitioning of authority to a new person. We have weathered more challenges and experienced more professional growth than we could have ever imagined or asked for. I also could not have asked for a better group of women to work with, and if this were Jr. High, I would pick them for my team any day.