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Showing posts from March, 2011

Recycling, and Social Change

Need another reason to recycle? Sometimes it's easier to just toss a recyclable into a nearby trashcan than to wait until you find a recycling bin, but here's a good reason to wait and dispose of it properly: "Paper takes up 40-50 percent of the volume in American landfills. Despite the growing commitment to local recycling programs, the amount of paper is steadily rising--up from 35 percent in 1970. The rest of a landfill consists of in descending order of volume, construction/demolition debris, metals, plastics, other materials, food and yard waste, and glass." That quote is from my Archaeology textbook, Archaeology: Down to Earth by Robert L. Kelly and David Hurst Thomas (4th edition, published 2011 by Wadsworth CENGAGE Learning). A lot of the stuff listed there is recyclable and shouldn't even be in the landfill. We could save a whole lot of space for actual garbage by recycling things that are recyclable--especially paper! On another note, in core class toda...

Hello, Spring?

You know those days that just feel like a particular season? They have some quality that reminds you of the typical feeling you get during that season? Well this morning it feels like Spring outside. When I woke up this morning, I opened up my shades and saw sunlight in the redwoods, and just now as I walked back from the dining hall, I could hear myriad birds chirping. It's a homework day, but it would be nice to explore the forest. As I walked back into my house, I saw a group of students in hiking boots and shorts gathering to leave for a hike. Unfortunately, I have to sit in front of my laptop today and listen to the lectures that I didn't attend for Archaeology class. But I'll keep the shades open and maybe venture out to the Stevenson Knoll for some sun later... I'll leave you with a poem by Rabindranath Tagore: Who are you, reader, reading my poems an hundred years hence? I cannot send you one single flower from this wealth of the spring, one single streak of go...