Another awesome Weird Waste Day

On Saturday, Nov. 8, community members and businesses once again came to Norwood-Fontbonne Academy to recycle their "weird waste." We collected 11,378 pounds of computers, TVs, peripherals, and other electronic waste that will be responsibly recycled rather than ending up in a landfill or being sent to a developing nation. Since 2009 we have collected 74 tons of electronic waste!
 
 We would like to thank the following people who helped make this event, organized by Green in Chestnut Hill (GRinCH), such an amazing success: Norwood-Fontbonne Academy for donating the use of its driveway, eForce Compliance (eforcecompliance.com) for its responsible recycling services, our volunteers, and especially all of the community members and businesses who came to recycle their electronic waste. Almost everyone made a donation toward our Green Warrior Student Grant Program too. Thank you!


Amy Edelman, President

Green in Chestnut Hill (GrinCH)

Library space used for insurance sales

Our public libraries selling commercial products. Can this actually be happening ?

It certainly seems to be the case, if one notes the postcards sent to medicare recipients in the cityʼs more prosperous ZIP codes listing Medicare Advantage “events” at some of our branch libraries. These are not meetings to inform the Medicare population about the various options available to them, but advertisements for profitable Medicare Advantage plans.

Medicare Advantage plans are certainly an advantage to insurance companies.

Advantage plans offer added benefits, such as Y memberships, which appeal to the healthier parts of medicare population. However, these plans use more medicare dollars per person to provide less health care so the insurance companies can keep more for themselves.

Yes, the companies are in business to make money – not provide a public service, but holding an event in a library seems to imply otherwise.

The library is one of the few institutions in our society that still allows free, safe space for ordinary citizens to exercise the right to assemble. It is a tragedy to allow commercial enterprises to encroach on this. I remain hopeful that this misuse of the library is just slip by some usually vigilant librarians and one that will not occur again.

Joan M. Martini

Chestnut Hill

Delightful poem by a first grader

What a delight to read first-grader Nina Sager’s precious poem, “Think Happy Harry,” in the Nov. 6 issue of the Local.

I have made the line from her poem, “Things got better after I got braver,” my personal mantra ever since I read it, and I even quoted her in my recent blog. I don’t know who Harry is, but he’s one lucky guy to have such a profound poem written in his honor. Thank you, Nina. Keep writing. The world needs you.

Cheryl Rice Wohlstetter

Erdenheim