More from Doctorow

Well, not from Cory Doctorow personally, although, if he checks out the occurrence of his name on the internet, I'll at least wave "hello!"  Actually, I didn't want to title this post with Doctorow's new addition to the English language:  Enshittification.  I do not, however, mind calling it to mind by name-dropping.  And now, that I have blurted out the term, I'm ready for another rant about the enshittification of my world. 

😡

And here it is.  I am really annoyed with Pentel.  I have a number of pens hanging around, and I do tend to use whatever is handy, so none of them are going to waste.  However, I really like gel pens.  And, well, I really like to write with turquoise ink.  In the days when I used a fountain pen, that little bottle of Skripto ink was my favorite, and I used it for years.  These days, for whatever reason, I use fountain pens rarely and must depend on pen manufacturers to meet my need for turquoise.  

So I bought pens from Pentel.  And I bought refills.  It's bad enough to be using a plastic pen, I know.  Using refillable pens is the least I can do to try to mitigate the waste of this mode of writing.  

Imagine my frustration when I found that Pentel's pens can't be opened to replace the ink.  

Now I know that there are instructions out on the internet to help us poor clods figure out how to open the pen.  What I want to know is:  Who designed a pen that needed such instructions?

And just as importantly:  Why are they lying?

I've tried to wrap the barrel with materials that give me more traction.

I've tried using pliers.  

It won't open.

Now you might think that an old lady might just be too weak to open these pens.  I'm not too weak to open any of my other pens, so, again, I ask:  Who would design a pen to be so difficult to open that not even tools can be used to open it?

And why?

Is this yet another case of corporations designing products to promote waste while they rake in more money?  Aifinkso.  And so this is another corporation that will be checked off my list.  No more Pentel for me---even if it does mean I will have to reduce my use of turquoise ink.  I'll use up what I have, break 'em down for recycling, and stick to pens that do open for refills---if I can find any that will take standard sized refills.

😡And why are the refills not standard-sized?

The Ethics of Printing

No yellow, no print; no chip, no print;
I've had enough!

Long, long ago, in galaxy far . . .

Well, back when I got my first desktop computer (IBM PC, two floppy drives, 128K RAM) and a dot-matrix printer, the whole set up, including the word processing software to run it (WordStar, baby!) cost $5000.  I had to take money out of my retirement account to pay for it because it was, actually, a major life investment.  And it paid off.  I ran two non-profit organizations with that computer, and my husband completed his bachelor's degree just before his 50th birthday.  Major life investment.

Since then I've gone through several changes in operating software, multiple word processing programs (does anyone use WordPerfect anymore?), and a few printers.  I'm about to say "enough!"  

Where this is headed is the same place that Cory Doctorow is going with his "enshittification" writings.  (He did start talking about this well before the new book, so it's not like there weren't warnings.)  For me, it's the printer.

The fun thing about those old dot matrix printers is that, if you were cheap (I like to think of myself as thrifty), you could re-ink the ribbon and keep using it for years.  Nowadays, we have printers with ink "cartridges" that you just pop in when you need 'em.  They even print in color.  But the cartridges are getting more and more expensive.  And while they can be recycled, they are not easily refilled and reused.  HP is among those who have set their equipment up to check the cartridges for embedded chips that indicate that the cartridges were manufactured by HP.  No HP chip, no print.

I just had to order new cartridges for my HP Officejet Pro because the yellow cartridge ran out of ink, and the printer would not print without it.  Not even in plain old black (of which there was a plentiful supply remaining).  Ordering meant that I had to interrupt my work to deal with the problem.  I checked a local office supply store and Amazon and decided that I would order the overnight delivery from Amazon because I was just too tired to drive to the store and get the yellow cartridge.  Amazon promised to have it at my door by 8:00 a.m., so I went for the whole thing and ordered the entire set of four cartridges.

Amazon, however, failed to deliver.   Around 11:00 the next morning, when the notification indicated that the cartridges would in fact be delivered the next day, I went to the office supply store to buy the yellow cartridge.  Interestingly enough (not), when I got back home, the package from Amazon had been delivered.  Later than promised, yes, but earlier than their faulty notification system indicated.  

I popped in the locally purchased yellow cartridge and went back to work.  But the whole incident grated.  The price of the set of cartridges is more than the cost of a new printer (admittedly a cheap one).  The whole set up is just that:  cheap equipment, expensive operations.  This happened with Adobe Acrobat.  It is happening with Windows (now they want us to throw out our old--still functioning--computers to upgrade the operating system).

I've had enough.

I am shopping for a new printer now.  This old one is starting to have some problems with the duplex function, so I am expecting that it will be wearing out soon.  The non-yellow cartridges still have some ink in them, so I will use the printer until it stops working or another cartridge runs out of ink, but, when it stops working--for whatever reason--I'm hauling it to Best Buy for recycling.  I will also buy a NOT-HP printer, because I am through supporting their business model.  And I will get a printer that uses ink tanks instead of ink cartridges.  

I still try to use less paper, avoiding printing unless it seems absolutely necessary.  I print on both sides whenever I can--and, when I clean out old files, I use any single-sided sheets that I can find for printing drafts.  But paper is not the only concern in printing, and the (next?) biggest concern for the environment seems to be the plastic waste that is generated because of manufacturing practices and the business model.  I broke with Adobe.  Now it's HP's turn to lose a customer.  I'm looking at Microsoft and Google next.  Amazon needs to be on the list as well.  

Yes, I am setting myself up for more work.  More trips to the store, less convenience.  I may actually have to learn new ways to use the computer, but I really am tired of being used to make billionaires richer while they turn the planet into a garbage dump.  I'm just going to have to go to bricks and mortar stores, shop around, and appreciate the experience of being a customer, not a cash machine.

System Upgrade

Not quite a self portrait, but you get the picture
Image by Canva

 As we move on from the Information Age to the Age of Artificial Intelligence (assuming that that is what the powers that be will call it), I find myself in the midst of a disturbing number of system upgrades.  For me, it started with Windows.  Mind you, it actually started with DOS.  I was very excited about the new user interface (UI) that came with Windows.  I can recall thinking, at one point, that we didn't actually need to upgrade from Windows 3.0.  I was quite happy, functioning quite well, getting my work done.  And then came a series of upgrades, some better, some not at all better, until we came to Windows 10.  After all of those system changes, I really don't understand why I am stuck on Windows 10.  Perhaps it is that Windows 10 has been a pretty good system; perhaps it is that I am just used to it now.  An important point--for me--is that I, in fact, have a lot of money invested in Windows 10 via the various pieces of electronic equipment I have that run on that OS.

Now Windows insists that I must upgrade to Windows 11.  It's free, of course, unless my equipment is not up to their standards.  Of course, my equipment is not, so I have to buy a new desktop computer, a new laptop computer, and on down the line.  I am a tad grumpy about all this, and not merely because of the cost.  

I have, over the years, been a happy supporter of all of this electronic improvement.  I am, after all, my father's daughter.  While the arrival of transistors eventually halted his exploration of the electronics of his youth and maturity (radio, tv, vacuum tubes of all sorts, with the added excitement of cameras and films), my father taught me curiosity, experimentation, and a general love of the tools that we can use to live and learn and explore the wonders of this world.  The catalytic converter halted my ability to tinker with the car, but I have kept up with the use--if not in any way, shape, or form the programming of operating systems--of various electronic devices.  I have been known to install a bit of RAM; I have pulled hard drives to save the data before getting rid of the rest of the computer.  This is say that I am not a complete blank when it comes to electronics.

Recently I received a notice that Samsung, or maybe Google, won't support the operating system of my current cellphone, that I had a short time in which to get a newer model with a more recent operating system.  This, too, made me grumpy.  Cell phones are (increasingly) expensive, and I paid full price for this one in 2017.  It took a while to overcome the grump to start looking for a new phone.  I did eventually find one on the lower end of current prices.  Yesterday I drove to a nearby town to get it (it was not available locally and I wasn't sure how to transfer my data from my old phone if I ordered the new one online).  I asked to have my data transferred to the new phone, little realizing what an incredible amount of time would be needed for that, but that's another story for another day.

The story for today is that I now realize why I have been so resistant to Windows 11.  The phone, a Samsung 16, has been setting itself up with various reboots and installation demands for almost 24 hours.  In the process, I have seen the degree to which my cell phone provider and other corporations that have found a place on my phone are intrusive.  That is, how much these corporations now know about my location, my finances, my relationships, my interests.  In some cases, I have had the opportunity to reject an installation or setting that would invite in a bombardment of advertising or additional "sharing" of my activities and interests.  In other cases, it seems, I either had no choice or didn't notice the opportunity.  While I think I will enjoy this new phone, I can see that I have a lot to learn about its operation and its intrusion.  I suspect I will also be spending a lot of time trying to assess the level of intrusion and push back wherever I can.

As for Windows 11, the intrusion continues.  I have purchased a "new" (refurbished) mini computer, but I have yet to set it up.  I also purchased a "new" (refurbished) laptop, and I have been using that for several months.  It is more powerful than the older one, so I felt less grumpy about that particular upgrade.  However, the whole period has been a constant battle with Windows, fighting to keep my work, my data, on my "device" and not in their online storage.  I don't want to store my data on OneDrive, thank you very much.  Nonetheless, Windows continues to nag me to do just that, and sometimes, when I'm not paying very close attention, Windows will just "helpfully" save my data to OneDrive anyway.  The laptop is mostly used when I travel, so my struggle against OneDrive is just part of that experience.  At home, I have not had that extra tension as long as I delayed setting up the mini.  Still, I suppose the time has come to get that process started while I am on high alert to the risks and possibilities of intrusion.

Why am I babbling about this?  This morning, as my new cellphone was (endlessly) setting itself up, I saw that I had missed a call from an unknown number.  I touched the number on my screen, and the new phone gave me a complete call history.  This was a number that had not been entered in my Contacts, but I have had interaction with the caller several times before.  My bad that I hadn't entered them in the Contacts list.  Then I googled the number.  It was a colleague at NYSEC, and the search result pulled up his name, his wife's name, his home address, his children's names, his previous addresses--and, for a fee (which I did not pay) his legal and business connections.  This was too much information based on a phone number.  I then search my own name and found some of my past addresses and other information.  Not, thankfully, my whole life, but still an unsafe amount of information available with just a name search.  

As long as we lack either government regulation of these information scrapers and as long as the corporations that can find some way to make money from our information do not consider the ethics of their scraping of our information, especially our personal information, we will have to find our own ways to protect our privacy and safety.  In my case, I rather wish that my own mental operating system could have a quick up grade to give me more understanding of how these newer systems operate.  A system upgrade for Boomers, I guess.  Failing that, I have to do what I can to root out these intrusions and stop the steal.  

Addendum:  I have now entered the caller's name in my contact list.  I have set the old phone aside for use as a bedside alarm clock and bedtime reading device.  My new mini is refurbished, so I consider that an environmentally sound way to upgrade.  The old PC (also a refurb) may still be needed around my home as another workstation; but I will just not be able to leave it connected to the internet.  If I don't end up with another workstation, then I will take it in for recycling.  

One word, Ben: Plastics!

Where too much plastic waste ends up!

Or words to that effect, as I recall that moment in The Graduate when someone leans over to give the new graduate some advice for the future.  That phrase has continued as, I suppose, a meme ever since that remarkable scene.  I think the audience was as taken aback as Dustin Hoffman's character, Ben, was, and that reaction may have contributed to making the scene so memorable.  The advice of that encounter in a 1967 movie turned out to be prescient.  Plastics now dominate our lives on this planet.  Many consumable products are packaged in plastic.  Many products are themselves made of plastic.  Our homes are filled with plastic, and now our bodies seem also to be filled with microplastics.  What this bodes for the future of humans is not good.  The United Nations Development Program advises that the plastics that leach into our bodies from containers and other products:

are linked to serious health issues such as endocrine disruption, weight gain, insulin resistance, decreased reproductive health, and cancer.

In discussing what to do to observe Earth Month in April, members of the Ethical Society of Austin were challenged to "make one change" in use or consumption of plastics.  That change needed to be something that we are not already doing.  That caveat gave me pause.

I have already been "woke" to the dangers of plastics.  I certainly have not done enough to remove plastics from my life and my home.  I do, however, faithfully recycle the single-use plastics that come into my home.  I have two blue plastic recycling bins in which I place the items to be recycled (metal, paper, plastic, glass, etc.).  Whatever goes into those bins is placed in the larger plastic bin that is rolled to the curb every two weeks and picked up for recycling by a contractor with my local government.  I wash the contaminants from whatever goes in those bins to make sure that the items I am recycling are ready for recycling.  

One problem in this process is that so much single-use plastic still comes into my home.  That's why I end up saving a lot of plastic containers for other uses on the theory that repurposing items is also a way to extend the life of the material used to make the plastic.  One container, reused once, reduces the impact of the blob of plastic that made it by 50%--or so the calculation goes.  Multiple reuses of the same container would presumably continue to reduce its impact more and more over time.  In the meantime, if I am buying more of the same product in the same kind of container, I will, at some point, have too many to reuse.  I have, in fact, reached that point with several types of containers.

For the challenge to "make one change," I did make the change to stop buying beverages in plastic containers and switch to glass or metal containers.   Since my beverage of choice is sparkling water, I have plenty of choice in brand and type while sticking to my favorite unflavored drink.  

I do, however, have to be more careful now with the remaining plastic bottles that previously contained said sparkling water.  I have two Pellegrino brand bottles that I saved from a train trip last year, two Topo Chico bottles that showed up from a couple of trips around Texas, and two half-pint bottles that I got for free somewhere.  I like these bottles for their shapes and sizes, and I keep them filled with "still water" in my fridge.  I have sometimes carried them with me on errands, losing a bottle here and there.  These remaining bottles, I have now pledged, will be continuously reused unless I decide to stop using them and send them for recycling.  No new ones allowed.  

I don't know how significant an effect my "one change" will make for the planet, but it does make me aware--every day--that Ethics, to be central, requires making the same choice over and over again.  It has been a challenge to go into the grocery store and not pick up a bottle of water (in plastic) to sip while I shop.  Yesterday, I put a can of sparkling water in my purse, carried it into a big box store, showed it to the greeter, who waved me through.  It's more awkward to keep a can balanced than a bottle with a lid that prevents spills, but at least I'm learning to support my choices with a little advance planning.  

Recycle Your Ex

I couldn't resist opening an email captioned "Flush Your Ex Is Back."  I was amazed to read a message from Who Gives a Crap toilet paper company (their bamboo is my paper of choice) to see that they were recycling (pun intended) a previous campaign to turn karma into a reality with an invitation to send in old love letters, poems, and other paper evidence of a love gone bad.  Their promise was to recycle those notes (literally) into toilet paper, which could then be, well, used and flushed.  Their call was to "Get Petty," "turn heartbreak into toilet paper," and remember "What goes around comes around."

All in good fun, right?  With a side dose of therapy.  I do recall, sitting with a friend at her chimenea, a tot of some very smooth adult beverage in hand, burning her divorce papers and, I, some old letters that I really didn't need to keep around.  As healing as that act (or beverage) may have been, I am a little saddened that I did not, at that time, know about "Who Gives a Crap" as anything but an expression of dismissal.  Fire is good, but flushing would have been even more satisfying.

But seriously, folks, recycling matters. For Who Gives a Crap, recycling comes with a double purpose.  (1) They recycle paper into a useful product.  (2) A portion of their profits is donated to charities that build functioning toilets in places where few or none exist.  

Even better, I found this at the end of their front page (and other places on their site):

Acknowledgement of Country

We first started in Melbourne, on the traditional grounds of the Wurundjeri people. Today our team spans the globe, but most of us are still on land whose rightful custodians are First Nations peoples who have cared for our land, water and sky for tens of thousands of years. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and commit to Wominjeka - to come with purpose - leveraging our business, products and community to uphold our responsibilities to protect this planet according to their example.

 Wominjeka.  Sounds like "Ethics" to me.  Nothing petty about it.

IPCC, What Are We Waiting For?

What are we waiting for?

I'm organizing my files.  I used to say, "I can't die until I get my filing done."  I'm not particularly getting ready for death as much as I am just prematurely buried in paper, both electronic and the actual made-from-trees stuff.  My new treasure is a 4T hard drive and its partner, a Canon desktop scanner.  Progress is occurring!  

The thing about organizing, though, is that you find things you forgot you had, like the little booklet--IPCC in a Nutshell--that I wrote in 2019.  That's a collection of a series of posts I published on Facebook about the recommendations of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  Five years on, the recommendations still apply, but they seem so minor in the face of the changes that have occurred in such a short time.  There are new reports now coming from the IPCC, and the Sixth Assessment Report seems to be the newest.  It's bleak enough that my little booklet seems like a relic of a long ago past, where filling the recycling bin would be enough to make a difference.  

Closer to home, so to speak, the US seems to be issuing NCA5--the fifth National Climate Assessment.  This happens every four years, and a review draft was issued about a year ago.  It seems that the final version is now out.  It also seems that the final version is amazingly optimistic.  Here are the key messages on mitigation:

• Successful Mitigation Means Reaching Net-Zero Emissions
• We Know How to Drastically Reduce Emissions
• To Reach Net-Zero Emissions, Additional Mitigation Options Need to Be Explored
• Mitigation Can Be Sustainable, Healthy, and Fair
• Governments, Organizations, and Individuals Can Act to Reduce Emissions

I say amazingly, because I know that agriculture is one of our big GHG emitters, and Texas (All Hail the Mighty State!) just fought back on every single key message with Proposition 1, cunningly touted as "Food for Texas."  Likely to favor agribusiness, protect polluters, and defang environmental regulations, the Right to Farm amendment to the Texas Constitution passed on November 7 with 79% approval.  (Not mine.)

It does help that most of our major cities have taken their own steps to get to net zero emissions (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio--and Austin--but not Fort Worth).  Since Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio are three of the ten largest cities in the US, this is not a small thing.  On the other hand, The Right to Farm amendment was directly aimed, in part, at cities and towns that incorporate land that someone wants to put to agricultural use without regard for the concerns of neighboring residents for animal welfare, use of pesticides, etc.  Given the tendency of Texas cities to sprawl, this is also not a small thing.

I have been focusing on individual action, but it may be time to look at group action.  The Austin Community Climate Plan bears a closer look.  Passed in 2015, there will have been subsequent audits and adjustments to the plan, such as this one from 2020.  And a new version of the plan focuses on climate equity.  In all of these plans, there is collaboration between the various levels of government, the community, and interested parties (industry, business, and advocacy coalitions).  As Ethicals, I think we can find some partners of our own in this process to help us learn more about what we can do--and what we need to do--to change the message from "Food for Texas" and the "Right to Farm" to regenerating the planet with food for everyone.

25 Ethical Actions You Can Perform in the Privacy of Your Own Home

Ethical Culture is committed to Ethical Action.  Some folks call it Social Action.  Others stick with Social Justice.  There are differences between these labels, but all of them are pointed toward a central aspect of Felix Adler's "new religion":  That we seek to be better, more moral humans; that we can do so by acting more morally; that we will learn to do better with practice.  That, at least, is my interpretation of what I read in some of the addresses that Adler gave to the New York Society for Ethical Culture and other groups in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

In leading various Ethical Action committees (for the Ethical Society of Austin and the American Ethical Union), I have observed that many speak of--and practice--Ethical Action as a group activity conducted in the community.  I tend to think that it is how we live our lives--in our ordinary daily activities--that we also put our Ethics into practice, which makes those daily activities Ethical Actions.  

Ethical Society of Austin joins protestors at the Texas Capitol

(Adam Gravois makes an important point)

Here are some examples of Ethical Actions that we can practice in our daily lives.  Almost all of these actions are directed toward the environment--reduced use of resources and recycling of used resources.  Even so, some of these actions can also lead toward some social/community connection as well as involve our Ethical decision making in shopping, both of which will have an effect beyond our homes.  Indeed, all of these actions connect us to the planet and those who live on it, reminding us of the importance of even the smallest action.

Five in the kitchen:

• (2) Rinse and recycle metal cans (after air drying).  Be sure to drain all liquid from beverage cans before placing them in your recycling bin.
• This seems like an obvious thing to do, but I've seen wet cans tossed into the bins often enough to understand that not everyone is thinking about the future growth of mildew in the bin and in the recycled cans.  The time delay between the tossing of the can and the actual recycling process can be lengthy enough for all sorts of toxic items to grow, coat the bin(s), and escape into the air.
• (3) Load your dishwasher carefully, being mindful of the physics of water flow to assure clean dishes.  Run the dishwasher only for a full load (top and bottom!).  Consider turning off the heat drying cycle and allowing your dishes to air dry.
• My late husband and I had many discussions about the physics of water (it goes down and around, not up or through solid masses) and how that related to the dishwasher.  Now I cringe when I see dishes piled in such a way that water flow is blocked.  Not only is this dangerous (surfaces not cleaned and sanitized), but it is a waste of water and electricity when the machine can't do its job properly.
• I allow my dishes to air dry when the washing cycle is finished.  This saves a bit of electricity (which makes me feel somewhat less guilty about relying on a machine to wash my dishes).

Five in the bathroom:

• Turn off the water in your sink when you brush your teeth.
• Consider purchasing toilet paper made from recycled paper.
• Soft, fluffy toilet paper is made from fresh-cut trees which have longer and more flexible fibers.  Recycled paper can get the job done without the luxury of wiping with a soft, fluffy item which is sourced from a vital, slow-growing resource.  
• Check the label on your toilet paper (or contact the manufacturer) to see whether it includes recycled paper and how much.  
• I use Who Gives a Crap brand toilet paper.  This company uses post consumer waste to make its recycled toilet paper.  It also makes toilet paper from bamboo, a fast growing grass (no trees needed).  
• (2) Recycle the wrapper and toilet roll core.
• If the wrapper is plastic, it needs to go along with your other plastic bags for recycling.  If paper, just put it with the rest in your bin.
• Yes, the cardboard core is recyclable.  (It's also good for crafting and, with a slit up the side, bundling messy computer wires.)
• Consider saving your leftover soap pieces to make a "new" soap ball.
• OK, I haven't made a soap ball yet, but I'm saving the soap slivers.  I will, no doubt, make a big deal out of shredding the slivers and making the ball--when the time comes.

Five in the living room:

• Turn off unnecessary lights.  
• Do you really need to run the TV in the background?
• (3) Magazines can have longer lives after you've finished with them:
• Check with a local senior facility to see if they can use the magazines for their residents.
• If there are lots of pictures, check with a local school to see if teachers can use the magazines for projects (or for reading).
• If all else fails, recycle the paper.

Five in the closet/laundry:

• Wear your clothes longer.  
• Purchase durable fabrics in "classic" styles that can be worn year after year.  This will help cut the cycle of "fast fashion" and, ultimately, reduce the amount of clothes thrown into a landfill.
• Unless you are outside in the Texas summer and/or doing heavy manual labor, chances are you can wear that blouse/shirt more than once.  This will reduce the frequency of laundering your clothes and the expenditure of energy resources to do it.
• Hang dry your clothes rather than using the dryer.  This will extend the life of the fabric (less loss of fiber) and wearability (less shrinkage).
• Yes, things will be rumpled.  Straighten the cloth as much as possible while still wet.  Iron only if you really must.  Strut the rumpled look when among friends.  😏
• Wash your clothes in cold water.
• Wash only a full load of clothes.
• Yeah, yeah, the manufacturer has settings for smaller loads, using less water.  It still uses electricity for a full cycle.  

78 degrees in the summer;
68 degrees in the winter.

Five for the whole house:

• Set your thermostat on 78 for the summer, 68 for the winter--and don't touch it.
• Switch to LED lightbulbs.
• Turn off the light and the ceiling fan when you leave a room.
• Use natural light as much as possible.
• Change your A/C filters regularly.

Most of these things reflect a degree of "common sense" and promote frugality.  Who Gives a Crap Toilet paper is not frugal in terms of the cash that I pay to buy it, but, since I'm not flushing trees down the loo, I am happy to spend the money.  I'm not so good at using natural light when it is available, but assorted nurses have entered my home and started messing with the blinds often enough that I am catching on.  All of this "small stuff" takes some practice and attention to detail until it becomes a habit.  The tradeoff in cost/effort vs benefit may well be in our improved sense of commitment to the earth and our fellow earthlings (of all species) as we succeed in reducing unnecessary demands on the planet's resources and increase our progress toward being the kind of person that we wish to be.