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This may surprise you: They grow tobacco in Connecticut. It doesn’t surprise me. I grew up in the Nutmeg State and though I’ve been away for quite some time, I still can remember those fields of green, leafy plants carefully covered with the white, gauze-like netting. I’ve never been a smoker –– I don’t count the year between my 10^th and 11^th birthdays when my friends and I would borrow an occasional smoke from our parents and sneak off somewhere to practice our coughing.

I’ve never liked the odor of cigarettes, though they are preferable to cigars, of course. And then there are those health hazards connected to this habit. So you could say I’ve really had no use for tobacco until I read a very intriguing news release one of my colleagues contributed to this week’s ACS Weekly Press Pac. Check this tidbit out:...

I have very strong feelings about Jell-O®. I have had them since I was a child.  I like virtually all of the flavors but one: green. I find artificial green flavor in just about any food or candy is, well, too artificial. To me, it just doesn’t come close to emulating the taste of lime. Yellow, red or orange Jell-O®, on the other hand, is flavorful.

There is one exception. And I have to go back to my college days to find it. My girlfriend’s mother used to make one heck of a Jell-O® mold and she actually used the green flavor. As I remember it, she added shredded carrots, green olives with pimentos in them, walnuts and sour cream to that green Jell-O®. Somehow the combination worked for me and I always had seconds and even thirds. ...

I recently began cleaning out the clutter in my small apartment in Alexandria, Va., where I have lived for the past decade. Over this time, I accumulated a lot of junk: Old magazines, clothes, and spare parts for my car. One of the things that surprised me was the number of unused computers and other discarded electronic equipment — also known as electronic waste (e-waste) — I had collected. I counted at least three computers that I was no longer using, a couple of cell phones, and various other items. My apartment had become a potential environmental hazard!

I am inspired to blog about this topic because of an article I read recently in the American Chemical Society’s weekly PressPac. The article indicates that the developing world will produce double the e-waste of developed countries, like the United States, by 2016. The article, based on a study published in ACS’ journal Environmental Science & Technology, predicts that by 2030 developing countries will discard some 400 million – 700 million obsolete personal computers per year compared to 200 million – 300 million in developed countries. That’s bad news, considering that this e-waste contains potentially toxic substances. The study highlights the need to develop better ways of disposing of this waste.

I’m not anywhere close to accumulating that amount of e-waste. But I know that I need to do a lot more to help improve the planet. I pledge that when I get rid of all of my e-waste, I will do so in an environmentally-responsible manner. It won’t go to the trash bin. I will give my computers to someone else who can actually use them or send them to an e-waste collection program in my area. For more on this, visit the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Web site. I’ll be happy knowing that I’m contributing to a cleaner environment….and uncluttering my apartment in the process.

Image courtesy of iStock

Growing up in West Hartford, Conn., I lived about halfway between Boston and New York City. The drive was about an hour and 45 minutes to Boston and two and half-hours to Manhattan. About 90 percent of the time I chose the longer trip because I loved New York. I loved Broadway and the New York rye bread and the excitement.

Then, many years later I attended a meeting in Boston and by the second day, I realized what a mistake I had made. Boston, too, is a great town! As we start work for the American Chemical Society’s 240th National Meeting in Boston, some neat memories come back to me… 

First, of course, there’s the fresh lobster. Then, there are the historical sites:  The Freedom Trail, The North Church, Paul Revere’s House, and many more attractions. And then there’s Fenway Park, the home of the Red Sox, and one of the world’s most beautiful library buildings. I visit the Boston Public Library, McKim Building, at Copley Square every time I’m in town. It’s like walking into an architectural museum. You can spend an hour in that building without reading a book.
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