Are you helping to shrink your carbon footprint?

Editorial: Are you helping to shrink your carbon footprint?
Michael Gold, Editor
HISTORIC CITY NEWS

Historic City News is, and we track it. In recognition of America Recycles Day, I wanted to let you know a couple of things that we practice here at the office and at home, in the hope that you will find merit in what we are doing, and follow suit.

About 55 percent of the total municipal solid waste stream in Florida is generated by commercial waste. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection reported that, according to the most recent data available, less than half of commercial waste is being recycled.

And, by the way, in 2008, the Florida Legislature established a statewide recycling goal of 75 percent to be achieved by 2020; however, recycling can be like dieting — you have to get a plan, make a commitment, and put down the damn Twinkies.

In my office, a concerted effort is made not to print anything. I mean it — read it, file it electronically, and move on. Ask anyone who knows me, especially employees, I freak when I see someone getting ready to print off a stack of e-mail, or print out letters and form documents that we use in reporting the news. It’s almost always unnecessary, and, it can make you feel smart to find creative ways to avoid printing.

At home, I can’t tell you the last time I mailed a letter or sent a paper check to someone through the mail. That’s why God and Al Gore invented the Internet, you know. We pay everything online and find that its easier to keep track of what you’ve paid, and what you’ve missed, if you complete your previously manual transactions into electronic ones.

The crowning jewel, and one of the things we do together that makes me most proud, is the production of Historic City News, itself. No print edition. No print newsletters. Just a bunch of 1’s and 0’s zipping through the cybersphere on their way to your laptop or tablet, or maybe your smartphone or other portable media device. This is the future of news reporting and the exchange of information and ideas in our digital world.

Like we say, Historic City News is saving the environment one issue at a time. We will continue to keep you up-to-date on local news without creating a mountain of landfill waste or poisoning the environment with ink contaminants. If for some unknown reason you miss the smeared ink and newsprint of a printed paper, take a ride out to Tillman Ridge. Its where it all winds up anyway, and they have tons of it.