FIDO Goes Green!!!

Fido Canada has released a new phone, and its green!! No not only in colour, but in what is said to be carbon emissions.

Motorola's W233 is what FIDO is given me as a choice for trying to do my part for the environment....oooh and its cheap too....kinda what might be expected with a bare-bones phone of this sort.

So what are my thoughts??? Well, apart from carbon neutral phones...which I'm reading up on as I type this, I find the concept intriguing. Motorola produced the casing of the phone from recycled water bottles and off-set the production CO2 with credits purchased from CarbonFund.com. Given my personal interest with mining and Africa, I can safely say it would be nice if the metals inside were certified "ethically" produced (so no DRC metals!).

I know I know, I might be wanting more then Motorola is willing to give at the moment, but a girl can dream.

I think its an awesome move by FIDO, who I am more likely to switch to so as to get access to this phone....That's right Solo, kiss my $50/month goodbye. But there are a few things to consider.

The W233 may be the only phone I know by name, but it is certainly not exempt from a bit of critical analysis. Which brings me to my next point. Given the crazy amount of waste in the cell-phone business, new phones coming out all the time and people upgrading; is a green phone really green when you consider the fact that you need to ditch your old phone, in order to get this new one?

I'm all for recycling and being green, but maybe the idea is to reduce crap we have, not upgrade to more stuff just to say your "green" while creating more waste for masses of the poor the world over to have to "disassemble" and make a shitty living on. If you don't know what I'm referring to check (google) where most electronic waste is shipped to and what is done with it.

More so than anything, given people's excessive need of many electronic items, the smart thing would be to produce a phone that is made of recycled products, and eliminates the need for a camera/mp3 player/tiny computer. The W233 does not do this, if anything by getting this phone you must also buy all the above separetly (especially if you depend on your phone for pic taking). The idea is to simplify life by getting less crap, but when you do get stuff try and combine everything so that you have a 2for1 or 4for1 deal. Kinda like an awesome much improved version of the Apple iphone, only made with the idea of the Mototola W233.

I congratulate Fido and Motorola, and if I'm going to switch my plan I may consider the W233 and Fido (as my provider) for that matter , but I may be more willing to do this if some or all of the above suggestions are met.

What it comes down to kids, is the commercialization of environmentalism. Its all good and dandy that companies want to be green, but maybe just maybe the whole economic system needs to switch from a waste-economy (cradle-to-grave) to a cradle-to-cradle system.

Any electronic purchase is a purchase of "want", so lets work to limit the "want" and when a "must" is encountered, we make that purchase a smart one. If the W233 came out last year when I signed-up for my Solo account I would of gotten it, but now I may just do something more green and get a smart-phone and pay off some of the carbon emissions online myself. Seems more like something I might do, if I need a new phone, this is kinda a touchy subject as I usually keep my phones for about 4 yrs. But I do need a digi. camera and my cellphone plan isn't so awesome that I want to keep it, so stay tuned for my search of a digi.cam/cell phone (2for1 deal) both awesome in price and utility.

This brings me to Samsung's Blue Earth phone; a smart phone of sorts with solar panels on the back to help with charging. A brilliant idea, and I believe it has a camera too!!! Now let the green cell-phone makers wars begin!!! Its all about competition, and we need more of it to get amazing products that are smartly designed.



until another day,
yours truly,
-anna

I Hate Smores!**

I don't know why people like these things: melted marshmallows, chocolate, and some sort of biscuit....and incredibly sweet for my taste.

Who ever came up with this had a good thing going with chocolate, or maybe a quality biscuit, but to add a marshmallow was sin!! SIN!!

I feel like its taste is still in my mouth, and I had a bit of it 10 minutes ago!!! ooooh how I wish I wouldn't of!

To all you out-there in this wide world of the web...look not at smores as something to consume, but something to never again make! If you crave a tasty treat grab anything but a smore, because these things are a big bore!!!

**all opinions expressed within this blog are mine, and you do not have to share them although it might benefit you if you do :)

STOP using Sunscreen!!!

For the love of corals...Stop Using Regular Sunscreen!!!

Yes, I have been known to not wear sunscreen, I've also been known to have a nice lobsterish red tint to my skin at the beginning of summer....think of delicate red roses :)

I have always gone semi a-natural, and sunscreen has always been the "crap...I forgot...oh well next time".

Well well, I've been redeemed. Apart form the wrinkles I'm told I will have, I have also been saving coral reefs. Now, I'm not one to brag all that much, but its just amazing that I've been an environmentalist without even knowing it lol. Apparently, new research show's that 10% of the worlds coral reefs are in danger of bleaching due to the sunscreen that washes off from swimmers.

Now, fear not...not all sunscreen is bad, the mineral kind is Ok...apparently researchers in Australia tested 4 regular kinds and all had the same effect thanks to some buto-something chemical. Yes yes, I forgot its whole chemical name, but you can't blame a girl from not catching all the details when she's perusing the radio-waves. Anywhoo, I'm here as the friendly messenger. Keep ya sunscreen off the corals!!!

Thanks,
and as always much love,
-anna(r)

The Cruel World of Writing Papers

It always come's down to this, for the first 2 months I take my sweet-ass time in researching and reading relevant things for whatever independent studies I'm doing. Then in the 3rd month I panic a bit and read a bit more, and then 1.5 weeks till the due date I try and take all that reading, at which point I remember 30% of and punch-out a paper.

I know the above sounds wonderful, what student doesn't do this, right? But, in my case I like to think I'm a master at it, and push it to more like 3 days before something is due. So in case you ever find yourself procrastinating and reading reddit.com, then take solace in that I probably read it 3 times and way too many blogs to count, then made food twice over...went to the gym, watched some commercials on tv (I never seem to get a show when its actually on), and then checked my email a gazillion times before I wrote my 1st page..stay tuned to what I like to do when I get to my 5th page.

Oh the wonders of grad school :)

cheers to long night 24 hrs before something is due!