Computer Recycling

Personal computers are quickly becoming as common in American households
as TVs and telephones. But unlike those appliances, computers become
obsolete at a much faster rate. And while many computer owners abandon
their machines after just a few years of use, others think they still
have a lot of value. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Steve Frenkel
reports:

Commentary – The Green Coordinator

Wal-Mart, with its sprawling parking lots and its abundance of plastics,often makes an easy target for environmentalists. But does being big haveto mean being bad? Big business can mean big money and a big commitment tothe environment. Great Lakes Radio Consortium commentator Julia Kingrecently saw a glimmer of hope in the vast aisles of a super Wal-Mart. Ordid she?

Tires Are Finally Cleaned Up

Last summer, millions of scrap tires sat piled together in a huge tire dump outside of Akron, Ohio. This week (7/13/98), the last tire will be removed…thanks to an E-P-A fund created to clean up the state’s tire dumps. But as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Vincent Duffy reports, funding for future clean up efforts could be in jeopardy:

Commentary – Recycling at Risk

In recent months, the country’s solid waste companies have been engaged in what amounts to a battle of the giants. As corporations like USA Waste and Waste Management merge and gain power, small, independent waste haulers are being swallowed whole. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Gayle Miller believes the frenzy in the solid waste industry spells bad news for recycling:

Commentary – Summertime Waste Reduction

With summer here, odds are you’ll be spending your free time in your back yard. Great Lakes Radio Consortium Commentator Bob Lilienfeld has a few ways for you to relax without putting a big strain on the environment:

Business Waste Exchange

All around the country, efforts are being made to get businesses to take each other’s waste, and turn it into usable materials. In the past four years, material exchange organizations in Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, and Ontario have aggressively pursued this angle in recycling. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Mieke Tonn visited one of these organizations and has this report:

Commentary – Fast Food Fiasco

Our increasingly busy lifestyles have made fast food a regular item inmost families. But as Great Lakes Radio Consortium Commentator SuzanneElston points out, the food may be fast, but the legacy it leaves, iswith us for centuries:

Commentary – Reducing Backyard Waste

With Spring upon us, the weather has allowed us to spend some time planting in the garden and cleaning up the yard. But did you know that yard waste accounts for about fifteen percent of total household trash? Great Lakes Radio Consortium Commentator Bob Lilienfeld tells us how to reduce organic waste coming from our lawns:

One Man’s Quest for a Clean Shoreline

In 1997, an Illinois man single-handedly cleaned fifty-miles of Mississippi River shoreline. This summer he’s aiming for more than four-hundred miles. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Herb Trix reports: