Dear Action Line: What’s up with this game camera on Hermosa Creek trail? The camera is located approximately 1.5 miles from the campground and is positioned facing the trail to capture images of … people? This seems weird and invasive. Is it placed here for a U.S. Forest Service study? – All Eyes On You
Dear All Eyes: Warning to all readers: If you easily become paranoid, skip to the next question.
Andy Warhol’s thing about everyone having their 15 minutes of fame has basically become true because of the web. Maybe Action Line can become famous for saying everyone will one day be on some camera somewhere all the time.
This is a spooky, spooky concept. It might be true, or close to true, now. But here’s the thing to keep in mind: Even if you’re on a camera, there’s a pretty good chance nobody’s actually watching. There’s just lots of cameras – on satellites, in banks and grocery stores, on city streets, etc. – and for the most part nobody’s keeping an eye on them unless something weird happens. So relax. And don’t do anything weird.
In this case, the Hermosa Creek camera is probably motion-activated. So what does that mean? Come to think of it, probably nothing. If you walk by, it’ll be activated, and you’ll be on it for someone to watch later. Just don’t do anything embarrassing when you’re around this or any other camera, which is, oh yeah, just about all the time.
Whose camera is it? Action Line hasn’t asked all possible suspects yet, but it’s not the Forest Service’s.
“The camera isn’t a Forest Service camera and isn’t monitored by the forest,” said Scott Owen, public affairs officer for the San Juan National Forest. “Some hunters or members of the public who are interested in wildlife can use cameras similar to these cameras.”
In other words, there might be a camera on every tree in the forest. Action Line was curious if there were any restrictions on such cameras.
“There’s currently no law or regulation preventing citizens from placing cameras on trails, provided they do not abandon them,” Owen said. “Abandoning means not checking in on the camera within 72 hours.”
Action Line is studying the Action Line budget to see if it’s possible to mount a camera pointed at this camera and make sure someone is checking it once every 72 hours. If not, then down comes camera, wires and all.
Dear Action Line: I have never been sure whether or not I need to remove those cellophane inserts on envelopes before I recycle them. As I do not want to contaminate the recycling, I estimate I spend 30 seconds a day ripping those cellophane inserts away. With six days of mail per week, that is up to 3 minutes a week or at least 2.5 hours per year. Am I wasting my time? Ripping my life away? Thanks for your wisdom. – Debbie Kurz
Dear Debbie: Is “ripping my life away” better than “driving my life away”? Why is everything a song lyric to Action Line? And in this case, an Eddie Rabbitt song from a few years ago? Google says … only 40 years ago.
First, let’s imagine you didn’t need to rip out those inserts. What would you do with your saved time? Does ripping out those inserts give you some pleasure? Does it allow your mind to wander into fantastic realms of imagination you would otherwise never allow your mind to wander?
Here’s a real answer.
Yep, you’re potentially wasting time you could be spending on crossword puzzles, the inescapable daily Wordle, studying birds with your binoculars or gazing in awe at the planets and stars. By the way, try looking at the moon through binoculars. It’s kinda cool.
“Nope, you don’t have to remove cellophane inserts from envelopes,” said Marty Pool, sustainability program manager for the city of Durango. “Plastic tape and plastic inserts like this eventually get removed from the paper during the recycling process.”
He went on to say that Debbie is not completely wasting time. Removing the cellophane does take “a small burden” off the system.
“Don’t drive yourself crazy, but if you can spare a second, go for it. The recycling processes out there can handle small recycling mistakes from people here and there, but the more people learn to recycle correctly, the more cost effective it can remain for everyone.”
Action Line piped up with a vital question. Does the sticky stuff on Post-It notes and their ilk make them unrecyclable?
Pool said that 3M, the makers of Post-It, reported its recycling trials showed that “the adhesive on the paper does not interfere with paper recycling because the adhesive is substantially removed in the paper de-inking process. The dyes in the paper are removed in the de-inking process.”
Action Line loves learning things, like the fact that things get de-inked. So your pink and purple Post-Its become pale in the process.
Pool provided a panoply of prose pertaining to perturbing recycling issues. Action Line will stop alliterating and paraphrase.
Focus on the basics, he advised, which includes paper, metal and solid plastics. “Definitely recycle that cardboard, office paper and mail, aluminum cans, soup cans, plastic bottles, and hard plastic containers (like yogurt tubs) in your single-stream mixed recycle bin.”
Anyone can drop off glass for free 24/7 at the Recycle Center near the Durango Tech Center. For more obscure items, Pool advised visiting www.DurangoRecycles.com, which has “an awesome ‘What Goes Where Wizard’ online tool – just type in your item and it will tell you where it can go!”
One final thing, which is really good policy for us all, is to reduce waste in the first place. Reuse things. Use a travel mug instead of paper or styrofoam for your coffee, for instance.
“If my personal mug had a little counter on it,” Pool said, “I’m sure it would have displaced over 5,000 paper cups by now – which maybe says as much about my coffee habit as my recycling habits.”
Email questions and suggestions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. Hey, go on! Stop watching me!
