Recycling Photographs

I googled the question: Can I recycle photographs?
This is the answer I got from The Times Online by Anna Shepard. I liked her options to the problem, but do not agree to her thinking that film is dead. I love film more than anything, but we all get those crappy shots that are way too dark or too light, and if you pay someone else to develop your film you know that it is more expensive to get a couple of shots developed rather than the whole roll. So in my guilt of adding something to the trash I questioned what else could I do with these? This is what she had to say.

February 23, 2008

Can I recycle old photographs?

Anna Shepard Eco-Worrier

Recommend?

Q Is it OK to put old photographs in the paper recycling?

A No. Much like wrapping paper and the Yellow Pages, photographs cause problems at paper mills. In this case it is the chemicals used in the paper and the thin layer of polythene that coats a photo to stop it going wrinkly when it dries. These are classified as contaminants and clog up the recycling process.

My council suggested that I chuck them in my normal bin. But from my Google searches, which led me to frugal forums such as moneysavingexpert.com and recyclethis.co.uk , I have learnt that many people are opposed to chucking photographs in principle. They believe that there may come a time when a grandchild will be enthralled to flick through photos of any quality, even those of the back of people’s heads. I’m not so sure. I say cut them out and have a grand collage-making session; especially good if you have children – limbs and faces can be joined up to hilarious effect. Or you could try the old trick of turning them into a notebook to keep by the phone. This will depend on whether the reverse of the photo can be written on (some you may find to be too shiny for a ballpoint pen). Simply turn the photos over and staple the left-hand corner a couple of times.

With the digital age in full swing, piles of photos gathering dust will soon be a thing of the past. As we trade our traditional film-based cameras for skinny digital models, there will be less photographic waste. Films and the little capsules they came in will no longer lurk around the house. Instead we will be busy editing our photos on our laptops, maybe even airbrushing the odd blemish while we’re at it.

The Golden Half

This is the newest camera that I would LOVE to have. A new toy camera, but not Lomo (I don't think). Cuts your pics in half and is just so damn cute! There is a website to rent out designer purses, why can't there be one that rents out cameras. Who do I talk to about getting such a website up and running?!

Smartypants

Seattle is the #1 in terms of air quality, energy conservation, green building and over all smartness. I miss that city so much, the green space, clean air, fresh water all within the city scape, and all reasons why I blame my heightened health issues while out east. I feel that this kind of thinking has always been more of a way of life over there, and probably why most of the highly ranked cities were on the best (west) coast. Sustainable and environmental thinking had to become more mainstream and trendy for the east coast to even realize that these issue are important. I remember in 1st grade learning about recycling, water pollution and water quality! That was in the late 80's, a time when people where just starting to approach congress with these issues. I was living in an ivory tower for a long time, thinking that this was the way everyone lived; moving to Delaware helped me realize just how much the northwest is in its own world.
These cities should be praised for their work in thinking progressively, but it needs to become a normal way to live, not some rank that a city should strive for. Hopefully we soon will not need ranks and charts like these, because it will just be a boring normal way to live, but for now this is making me want to move back. (photo cred: lnz)

landfill

My birthday present was being taken to a location where electronics wait to be reincarnated, with a super fancy vegan dinner at Horizons after we cleaned up. These are some shots, and as always there are more on flicker.

Holgapalooza!

I am planning on entering this. I already have a few ideas for the main categories. This holga world is great. Its a community that I am unable to find locally. People are friendly and informative. I am really enjoying that the holga craze is going strong and I can not wait to see what I come up with and what others produce. I am approaching this as a learning experience; it will be the first time my photographs will be compared with others. Even an honorable mention will make me happy! Here is the link to Light Leaks Magazine that is putting it on and the link to the webpage for the Holgapalooza.