Sight is a promiscuous sense.
The avid gaze always wants more.
Susan Sontag
Photography by Denise Blasor

RECYCLING ELECTRONICS

Starting Jan. 1, 2015,  a new law makes it illegal for New York State residents to dispose of electronics 

Electronic waste contributes 70% of toxins found in landfills, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That's because they contain such toxic materials like lead, mercury, cadmium, phosphors and flame-retardants. How to dispose of unwanted electronics?

If you live in New York city, you're in luck thanks to the Lower East Side Ecology Center which runs a program for the disposal of working and non-working electronic equipment. Items you can drop off at the organization's Brooklyn-based permanent e-waste collection center include: computers (laptops & desktops, servers, mainframes); monitors; printers, scanners, fax-machines & copiers; peripherals (keyboards, mice,cables, cords, chargers, etc.); tablets and E-readers; components (hard drives, DC-ROMS, circuit boards, power supplies, etc.); TVs, VCRs. DVRs. & DVD players; digital Converter Boxes, Cable/ Satellite Receivers; portable music players; audio-visual equipment; video-games; cell phones, pagers, PDAs; telecommunication (phones, answering machines, etc.). All donations of equipment are tax-deductible.

The Ecology Center center also accepts batteries but requires that you separate alkaline and rechargeable batteries; also, you must either tape the terminals of rechargeable batteries, or pack them individually in plastic bags (another option for disposing batteries is to bring them to any New York City Department of Sanitation Self-Help Special Waste Drop-Off Site.) 

Not accepted: Home appliances such as microwaves, refrigerators and air conditioners; nor media such as floppies, cd's, zips, VHS tapes which can be recycled through Green Disk. 

The Ecology Center holds regular e-waste collection events in neighborhoods throughout the city, a service it has been providing since 2003. Upcoming events: Sept. 29, at the Bellamy Loop North in front of 140 Benchley Place, Coop City, Bronx; Sept. 30, Delancey St. (north side) between Chrystie and Forsyth Street, Manhattan; Oct. 2, Church of the Heavenly Rest, 5th Ave. and East 90th St., Manhattan. For more events check the organization's website.

Computer equipment dropped off during events is transported by WeRecycle! (an e-steward certified recycler) to its recycling facility in Mt. Vernon, N.Y. where it is processed "responsibly," according to the Center.

The Ecology Center only accepts materials from households, not-for-profits, schools, and small businesses with no more than 50 employees. There is no limit to how much equipment you can drop off but if it's a large amount make sure to contact the center so it can plan accordingly. Founded in 1987, the Ecology Center also offers free public compost collection, stewardship of public open spaces, and environmental education, including classes on composting, fishing, green and street tree care.

Lower East Side Ecology Center Permanent E-Waste Collection Center
469 President Street (at Nevins Street), Brooklyn, N.Y. 11215
718.858.8777
Check website for drop-off hours

www.lesecologycenter.org    212.477.4022

Photography by Juliette Blasor

For her, at her age, sleep was perpetual and natural;
it ended only at unusual moments.
And, before long, it would never end.
Philip K. Dick

       "ONE SHOT ISTANBUL"
     

                                            Portrait of Reyhan Ozdilek by Alexander Berg


The unparalleled landscape of the human face has long fascinated photographers.  Alexander Berg is among them and his show of "One Shot" portraits can now be seen at the Conde Nast Building in New York.

Taken in Istanbul, the portraits are part of an ongoing project in which Berg invites the public to sit for a picture. Each person chooses how he or she wants to be portrayed: serious or smiling, alone or with another person, in motion or still, in color or black & white.  Berg takes one shot, but only one, since the essence of the endeavor is to be able to grasp the evanescent truth of each individual face in a single take.

In a short statement about his show, Berg explained the origin of this concept: "In a portrait session several years ago, breaking to look over images, the subject and I were struck by the first shot of the day: It was simply "it." We couldn't surpass its heightened state." To date, Berg has taken portraits of more than 1,700 people in New York, Beijing, and now Istanbul. "I found we all have a need to be seen, identified, exist, wherever we live.  In front of the camera, on the verge of a reflection of ourselves, we are all equal."

The show will be up until Nov. 8. To see pictures from the "One Shot" series, go to www.alexberg.com and click on projects.

Conde Nast Building 4 Times Square

© 2012 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved☆