manual
green it!
Earth-friendly dry cleaning
Photo by Becka Cremer
Thanks to Eco-Logic Dry Cleaners, which opened last month, Lawrence has a green way to dry clean.
Eco-Logic, 2540 South Iowa Street, uses the GreenEarth Cleaning process to dry clean your duds. The only solvent used in the GreenEarth process is liquid silicone, says Eddie Ocampo, whose parents own Eco-Logic. Liquid silicone is not harmful to the environment and it breaks down into sand, water and carbon dioxide, Ocampo says.
Green sense Eco-Logic Dry Cleaners uses an environmentally friendly process to dry clean your clothes.
The GreenEarth process preserves the softness and color of clothing, and it doesn't have the usual just-dry-cleaned smell. And, Ocampo says, the average cost of dry cleaning the GreenEarth way is about the same as taking your clothes to a traditional cleaner.
But do we really need a greener dry cleaning process?
The Environmental Protection Agency thinks so.
About 85 percent of dry cleaners use a toxic chemical called perchloroethylene, or perc, to treat stains, according to the EPA. Perc must be disposed of carefully, and can pollute the air, water and the ground. Perc is
also dangerous for people. Overexposure to the chemicals can cause liver damage and, early studies show, may also lead to cancer.
So, when you're deciding where to take your dry clean-only clothes, consider the process used by your dry cleaner. Eco-Logic might be the best choice for you—and the earth.
For more information, visit www. greenearthcleaning.com or www.epa.gov.
Becka Cremer
Rid yourself of junk mail
Although she doesn't count, Mindy Pressman guesses she gets about five pieces of junk mail for every piece of legit mail.
She says that she has used the coupons she gets a few times, but that she finds the vast amount of junk mail she receives a waste.
"I would forego my lifetime savings from junk mail coupons if it meant that I never received another one," says Pressman, San Diego graduate student. "I don't use the overwhelming majority of the stuff I get."
One option for junk mail is to recycle it like Michelle Kanga does. Kanga, Rockville, Maryland, graduate student, says she recycles all her junk mail. However, recycling does not make up for the energy it took to get the junk mail to her. When you account for the energy it takes to print the junk mail, transport it and recycle it, junk mail seems like a massive waste.
Getting your name off junk mail lists can be time consuming and require you to send out letters of your own. Step-by-step manuals detailing how to stop junk mail from invading your mailbox are available at www.ecocycle.org
Coupon bonanza! If junk mail is taking over your mailbox,
you can get your name off junk mail lists in a few steps.
Photo by Adam Schoof
and www.junkbusters.com.
If you don't have the time to get your name off the junk mailing lists, then there are companies who will do it for you. Tonic Mailstopper, at mailstopper.tonic.com, claims to prevent 90 percent of junk mail for $20 a year. 41 Pounds, at www.41pounds.org, offers to rid you of 80 to 95 percent of your junk mail for $41 for five years.
— Adam Schoof
DIY How to avoid hander- outers on campus
They are the sharks in the sea of people.
You can spot them in people-laden places, looking for the person who shows weakness. If you make eye contact or aren't on your cell phone, they will attack you with their spiel. Thespiel is what they want you to do, which can vary from voting for a Student Senate representative to joining the rowing team to joining Hara Krishna.
Odds are that don't want to be affronted by these people,why else would they need to recruit in the first place?
Max Sprague, Overland Park senior, says he is a master in the art of avoidance. He tells the Student Senate "hassler" that he already voted. He gives the same spiel to anyone else who bothers him between classes.
Below are some tactics to avoid these people, or at least get them off your back as quickly as possible.
The one-person call. Open your cell phone and talk into it. This will show everyone you aren't interested whatsoever in the world around you. If you are female, you can enhance this tactic by wearing bug-eyed sunglasses, which is perhaps the pinnacle of being anti-social.
Photo by Adam Schoof
Hungry as wolves: Avoid eye contact if you don't want your day to be disrupted by campus hand-outers.
Appear drunk or high. Walk unsteadily and make your eyes into slits. Most "hasslers" will ignore you because they won't want to bring in "the wrong kind of person." If the hander-outers do talk to you, ask them or if they have any food. If they say no and go back into their spiel, say, "No seriously, do you have any food?" If they say yes, then you will get some food.
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April 23, 2008.
Adam Schoof