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Recyling for Yoga

As a follow-up to my Monday newsletter article, I've signed up with GRC Wireless Recycling and expect to receive a mailing kit and posters from them by the end of the week. Cell phone use is growing exponentially (6 million new users a month in India alone) and the thought of another mountain formation on this island, made entirely out of cast-off phones is... ghastly.

GRC will accept all phones and batteries only, no chargers or accessories. The "memory" in these phones will be erased during the reactivation process that utilizes approximately 60% of those collected. The remaining 40% is considered non-viable and they're shredded, smelted and refined.

The goal:  Offer free and/or discounted Prenatal Yoga classes funded through a cell phone recycling program, ASAP.

Photo:Private Sector Development Blog

October 15, 2007

"We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world - or to make it the last."
-John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Today is Blog Action Day. Over 14,000 blogs, Kona Yoga included, with an estimated readership of 12 million, have committed to posting about the chosen subject: the environment.

I had some time to think, in between three take-offs and landings on my way home from West Virginia on Friday. Conveniently, American Airlines dedicated their weekly inflight magazine as The Green Issue and I was re-acquainted with architect and designer, William McDonough's inspiring work.

About seven years ago, I read an article about McDonough and his involvement with the Center for a Sustainable Future on Coconut Island. I was looking into the possibilities of building a cold storage warehouse out at the Natural Energy Lab that would utilize deep sea water as the cooling agent. One of McDonough's associates responded to my e-mail and asked me to give him a call. He listened intently and offered support, as well as the name and number of a Hawaii contact. The warehouse project was eventually shelved (pun intended) but McDonough's mission has expanded and thrived.

He has co-authored a book, Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way We Make Things, which is in itself a statement: It is printed on a synthetic 'paper,' made from plastic resins and inorganic fillers, designed to look and feel like top quality paper while also being waterproof and rugged. And the book can be easily recycled in localities with systems to collect polypropylene, like that in yogurt containers. This 'treeless' book points the way toward the day when synthetic books, like many other products, can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality-in cradle to cradle cycles.

What William McDonough and his associates are achieving could be labelled as "win-win to the nth degree". It's a chain of good that I would like to emulate, even if my attempts add up to only a simple win-win-win.

A few pages flipped in the same magazine brought me to an ad for the recycling of used cell phones as a fund-raising method. Win-win. Was there a way to add another win?

I've been thinking of ways to offer prenatal yoga classes to those unable to afford them. We have had so many happy birthings and long-lasting friendships result from our classes but we're not at the point (yet) to be able to offer free classes. A recycling program that would help to happily usher a new human being into the world makes ecological sense.

This week: check our blog for a daily progress report on cell phone recycling and our yoga scholarship program. Feel free to make your comments and suggestions. Mahalo and Aloha!

View the results of The Blog Action Day.
Photo: MyThs

Blog Action Day

This coming Monday is Blog Action Day. Over 9700 bloggers (the number grows hourly) have committed so far to answer the question:

What would happen if every blog published posts discussing the same issue, on the same day?
One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.

The Environment is the chosen issue. That one day is October 15. We are one of thousands of voices.

Why don't you join in on the action? Watch the video (1min 8 sec) on YouTube, pick a way to Go Green, choose an environmental issue to blog about on Monday or pledge to lower your personal climate impact forever.  Sign-up at BlogAction.org.