eWaste and an Annie Leonard eNcounter

from "The Story of Electronics" by Annie Leonard and The Story of Stuff Project

But first, the encounter. I ran into Annie Leonard, creator of the Story of Stuff, at the dog park not long ago. Okay, less ran into and more sat near her. But, it was still apropos because we "dog-parkees" have spoken of her on more than one occasion. If you're not familiar with Annie, and even if you are, you can check her out in the NY Times, for which she has written, or in this feature in Time Magazine from '08.

Annie first became the subject of park chatter when a couple of the dog parental unit-types were fired up over enviro-and-social justice issues. Penelope's (a cute chocolate lab) parental unit drives an electric car similar to Annie's, and since she happens to live in our 'hood, he explained, we might just notice her e-auto parked 'round the corner sometime.

Ever since, Jack (my big, black prince of a labra-dane) and I have walked the 'hood a plenty, hoping to sniff out an inkling of Annie's teeny eCar and charming craftsman (which appeared in an SF Chronicle article in 2009). I always thought I'd have lots to bark at Annie if I spotted her. No clue about what exactly, but I thought it would be good to find out.

Turns out, not that much. I was howling away to this new lab's parent about her friendly pup's uber-confidence & thinking she looked so familiar (the parental unit, not the pup) ...so familiar that I asked if she was a regular.  Not yet. Or, was she a dog trainer? (she does bear an uncanny resemblance to a serious dog trainer that sometimes frequents). But no, not her.

We carried on talking puppy when it hit me: "you're Annie," I said in my polished nonchalant tone. She looked at me, mildly bewildered at the familiarity, and ever so slightly caught off-guard. "Yes, she paused. Do I know you," she continued.  I explained that I meant to say "you're Annie Leonard" but I left off the Leonard. What I did not explain was that I had thought it better to act casual by purposely dropping her last name. EHHHHHHHHTT!!! goes the buzzer. Nevertheless, she warmed again, and appeared to be more flattered than annoyed, so I babbled on again, like a fan trying to act casual, again. I'm still not sure how that went over.

By the end of the encounter, though, I had some encouragement and some tips on vermi-composting, which I needed--because in fact, I've given up trying...my own composting. Of late, I simply scurry off with my little food scraps pale in the dark of night to a neighbor's green bin (for city composting) . Why don't we have our own green city bin?...because we're supposed to be making our own compost, of course. But the fruit flies won the first round. Maybe, I'll give them a run for their fruity money again in spring. Oh, and the neighbor's bin, that's V's. V knows I use her bin a bit, a bit of her bin that I've been in. But I still scurry in the night. With the recent shame of failure and all, it just feels right.

The other gift I came away with was the desire to revisit Annie's website. And I'm so glad I did. The SoS project has been producing new stories regularly.  I watched the Story of Electronics, then visited the learn more page. What useful information! Seriously, I've been saving up my eRecycling in an old trunk. But now I know more about what to do with it, and what will happen to it once I pass the eWaste on. Where we donate it matters. I didn't know that. Here are some other great, related links: e-Stewards, Dell Re-Connect, and last but not least, Make it Fair.

You're probably ahead of me here. People often are. But, I'll go ahead and ask anyway. What's your eWaste plan? Do you have one in place?
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