LIVE UNITED Y’All!

Do you know what I love about Louisville? It goes by many names that invoke progress, community, and tradition: Derby City, River City, City of Possibilities, The Place to Live, Work and Play, The Gateway to the South, The ‘Ville, Falls City and Kentuckiana.

I also love that Louisville is a place where people stick together. As we move into 2009, I wonder what new challenges will lie ahead. How will we overcome? I invite you to think about how to Live United in the New Year. Sign up for payroll deduction, volunteer your free time or find your voice on important issue affecting the community. Get some friends to help at a local school, non-profit agency or just at your neighbor’s house.

Here’s the newest idea I have seen that speaks to the post-holiday season – Recycle your old cell phone or donate it to an organization that will reuse it such as The Center for Women and Families.

Why recycle or reuse old cell phones?

• Cell phones contain lead, arsenic, beryllium and other hazardous toxins that leach into our environment through our landfills.
• One cell phone, if thrown away, can pollute 40,000 gallons of ground water.
• Continued recycling and reuse of cell phones substantially reduces the number of phones manufactured globally every year.
• The most eco-friendly thing you can do with an old phone is to reuse it.
• Recycling cell phones reduces the demand for precious metals collected through environmentally destructive mineral mining.
• Recycling the phones ensures that the toxic materials in cell phones don’t end up in our landfills.

Santa did not bring me an iPhone, but if you upgraded during the holiday season consider doing something great with your old one.

Advocacy, Giving Giving, Louisville, recycling, The Center for Women and Families