Steve Hiltner: The Riding Climate Through Princeton on Saturday

Stephen Hiltner
Steve Hiltner

By Steve Hiltner

An environmentally themed Saturday should ideally begin big, with, for instance, the idea of recycling a house. This one is being taken down piece by piece in my neighborhood, which of course I probably wouldn’t have noticed if I wasn’t the designated dog walker. I introduced myself and asked if they could set aside the wood so that the Friends of Herrontown Woods could use it for refurbishing the Veblen house and cottage. Yes, said the contractor. A small cheer rose from my heart. It will take some followup, though, to make sure the workers don’t cut all those beautiful old floor joists and rafter braces up into short lengths.

Saturday being the last electronics recycling day of the year, I asked a neighbor if I could take his television along. He had put it out on the curb a couple weeks prior, hoping someone would take it home and use it. I had taken that opportunity to knock on his door, introduce myself as a neighbor, and let him know that it’s “illegal” (that’s the New Jersey spelling of illegal) to landfill TVs and computers. I doubted anyone would take the TV home to use. More likely, a scavenger would come along, break the back panel and make off with the copper coil–good for a couple dollars at the local scrap yard. By the time electronics recycling day arrived, he had a matching pair of behemoths ready to go, making the pickup truck look like an ark for electronics. Click to read more…