Time to shame McDonald’s, Walgreens and others for their toxic, wasteful paper receipts

I recently learned about the environmental impact of paper retail receipts.
A group called Green America released a report on June 25 about retailers with the best and worst practices regarding sales receipts. Of the 36 companies studied, those that got the best marks offered electronic receipts and phenol-free paper receipts.
Only three retailers in the study got A grades for offering digital receipts and phenol-free paper receipts: Apple, Ben & Jerry’s and Best Buy. The rest fell short, most by a lot.
Green America estimates that U.S. paper receipts consume over 3 million trees and 9 billion gallons of water each year. It said that receipt production generates over 4 billion pounds of greenhouse gases (the equivalent of 450,000 cars on the road) and 302 million pounds of solid waste.
What’s worse, many retailers are using paper coated with toxic chemicals, namely bisphenol A (BPA) or bisphenol S (BPS).
Nobody likes receipts. We’ve just gotten used to receiving them. More retailers need to ask consumers if they want or need a receipt before automatically printing one. When I’m asked if I want a receipt, I almost always say no. If there’s an email receipt option, I choose the electronic option. I get receipts emailed to me from Best Buy, Home Depot, Office Depot and small businesses that use Square.
Green America is on the right path with this crusade to get retailers to change their practices. I think Americans can get behind this cause, unlike unpopular moves like banning plastic straws. But I don’t think the group should promote new state or federal laws at this point. Instead, I think it should get companies to change their behavior by shaming them and getting shareholders and customers to push for change.
The group can start with the worst offenders. It gave D ratings to 17 companies. They include pharmacies Walgreens and Rite Aid; grocery chains Safeway and Aldi; restaurants Burger King, Chipotle, McDonald’s, Panda Express, Subway, Taco Bell and Wendy’s; and retailers 7-Eleven, Claire’s, Family Dollar, Petco, TJX Companies and Walmart.
Green America’s “Skip the Slip” campaign is a righteous one.

Photo: Skip the Slip graphic by Green America.

Favorite websites in review, part 14

Over the past 10 years, Tech-media-tainment has shined a spotlight on more than 350 interesting and entertaining websites.
What follows is the latest roundup of 25 websites given the seal of approval by Tech-media-tainment.

326. Media Literacy Clearinghouse: Donald Trump Magazines (frankwbaker.com/mlc/donald-trump-magazines-illustration/)
327. Democracy in Action: Magazine Cover Portrayal of Donald Trump (p2016.org/covers/coverstrump.html)
328. Internet Archive (archive.org)
329. Know Your Meme (knowyourmeme.com)
330. Emily Ratajkowski on Instagram (instagram.com/emrata)
331. Reelgood (reelgood.com)
332. OwlKitty (owl-kitty.com)
333. Stepping Through Film (instagram.com/steppingthroughfilm)
334. Doug Gilford’s Mad Cover Site (madcoversite.com)
335. Netflix Center (netflixcenter.com)
336. Next Flicks (nextflicks.tv)
337. The TV Answerman (tvanswerman.com)
338. Post Apocalyptic Salvaged Ware (pinterest.co.uk/markcordory/post-apocalyptic-salvaged-ware)
339. Mark Cordory Creations (markcordory.com)
340. Killed by Google (killedbygoogle.com)
341. Creative Commons (creativecommons.org)
342. Vintage Libertyville, Illinois (facebook.com/groups/116515778372382)
343. Libertyville Memories of the 70’s (facebook.com/groups/179932188719536)
344. You know you grew up in Libertyville, IL because you remember... (facebook.com/groups/238118279560656)
345. Vanished Chicagoland (facebook.com/vanishedchicagoland)
346. Premakes (youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1F5BA3F019C6FC48)
347. 80s Style Trailers (youtube.com/user/weareplayback/featured)
348. Darth Blender (youtube.com/channel/UCNk23QirczyHmmlxrO5QJbQ/featured)
349. Eclectic Method (youtube.com/user/eclecticmethod/featured)
350. Postmodern Jukebox (postmodernjukebox.com)

Photo: Gal Gadot in “Wonder Woman” from Stepping Through Film (Thomas Duke)

Favorite video channels: Postmodern Jukebox, Darth Blender, Honest Trailers

It’s been a while since I listed some cool video channels on YouTube. It was March 2018, in fact.
What follows are a few video sites that appeal to pop culture aficionados like me.

Postmodern Jukebox

Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox reimagines today’s hit music in the style of various yesteryears. He describes his work as “New music, old style.”
Recent videos include a ’70s roller disco-style cover of “Sucker” by the Jonas Brothers sung by Stefano, a cover of “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X sung by blues legend Miche Braden, and a tango style cover of “Bad Guy” by Billie Eilish sung by Ariana Savalas.
Bradlee and Postmodern Jukebox have a residency at the Mirage resort in Las Vegas and also tour. Check out their website.

Eclectic Method

Eclectic Method, aka Jonny Wilson, is a video remixer, music maker and DJ. He started out as a digital outlaw who spliced together music, TV and movies and set it to high-energy dance beats. That led to him professional gigs and collaborations with Chuck D, Donald Glover and others.

Darth Blender

Darth Blender creates fun video mashups for nerds and pop culture geeks. The site likes to mess with Marvel, DC, Star Wars characters and more.
His work reminds me of remix sites like 80’s Style Trailers by Erick Solis and Premakes by Whoiseyevan. Both of those sites are inactive.

Honest Trailers

Honest Trailers by Screen Junkies provides funny, brutally honest critiques on movies present and past in the form of fake movie trailers.

Photo: Postmodern Jukebox (Scott Bradlee)

Memories of growing up in Libertyville, Illinois, shared on Facebook

As much as I’d like to quit Facebook entirely because of the company’s horrendous record with user privacy, there are some things for which the social network is still very useful.
In addition to connecting long-lost friends, Facebook is very good for people who want to share special interests.
I don’t use Facebook to share personal information, but I do like to check out some groups that share memories of growing up in my hometown of Libertyville, Ill., and the Chicagoland area. I also belong to a group for my high school graduating class.
I subscribe to three Libertyville groups on Facebook, two of which are closed groups. They are: Vintage Libertyville (Illinois), Libertyville Memories of the 70’s and “You know you grew up in Libertyville, IL because you remember...”, of which the first two are private.
I also subscribe to Vanished Chicagoland on Facebook.
I especially like it when members share photos from the past in Libertyville, including pictures of distinctly Chicago or Libertyville things.
I’ve included some sample photos here. They include Glen Rock soda pop from Waukegan, a staple of my childhood; Highland Hornets button from Highland Middle School; postcard from the Hitch Inn Post Motel, where my family stayed when we moved to Libertyville from Minnesota; Jays Potato Chips from Chicago; advertisement from Chicago rock radio station The Loop FM 98; and a weekly top singles and albums list from pop music station WLS.

Favorite websites: OwlKitty and more

The internet is loaded with amusements and useful resources. And every so often I like to document websites that deserve recognition. What follows are some of my recent favorites.

OwlKitty

I love movies and I love cats. Filmmaker and animator Thibault “Tibo” Charroppin has combined both in OwlKitty.
He has made his fluffy black cat Lizzy (stage name OwlKitty) a movie star of sorts. He has edited the cute feline into such films and TV shows as “The Lord of the Rings,” “Game of Thrones,” “Star Wars” and “John Wick.” OwlKitty has even branched out into music videos with Taylor Swift and Billy Eilish. The results are terrifically entertaining.
Check out OwlKitty’s website, Twitter page and this BuzzFeed article.

Stepping Through Film

A movie fan has been visiting his favorite film locations and taking photos that recreate scenes from those flicks. That fan, London-based Thomas Duke, has created an Instagram account called Stepping Through Film to document his work. (See article by the Daily Mail.)

Doug Gilford’s Mad Cover Site

I’m a follower of pop culture and enjoy interesting online resources. Sometimes those things come together. For instance, one website features every cover of Mad magazine from its first issue in 1952 until the present.
Doug Gilford’s Mad Cover Site is “a resource for collectors and fans of the world’s most important (ecch!) humor publication.” (See article by Open Culture.)

Streaming video directories

The explosion of video-on-demand services has created confusion among viewers. There is no shortage of websites devoted to helping viewers find movies and TV series to watch online. I’ve previously discussed Instantwatcher.com, Exstreamist and What’s On Netflix. Of those, I find Instantwatcher is the most useful for content discovery.
There’s also Can I Stream It? and JustWatch, if you have a specific movie or show you’re searching for.
Let me point out a few more websites that are trying to make sense of all the comings and goings of content on Netflix, Amazon and other services. They are Netflix Center, Next Flicks and The TV Answerman.

Post Apocalyptic Salvaged Ware

U.K.-based costume designer Mark Cordory has set up a Pinterest page devoted to his nightmarish post-apocalyptic outfits. He has 30-plus years of experience making costumes and props for TV, film, stage and live-action role players.
Also check out his website at Mark Cordory Creations.

Killed by Google

Minneapolis-based coder Cody Ogden created a website that documents every product Google has ever killed off.
The website Killed by Google is organized like a graveyard with tombstones and lifespans for software, services and hardware terminated by the search giant. It currently includes 169 obituaries.
Check out this article on the site by Business Insider.

Creative Commons

The Creative Commons is a non-profit organization devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to legally share and build upon. I use the Creative Commons image search service to find photos to illustrate some of my articles on Tech-media-tainment. It’s a great endeavor. (See article by TechCrunch.)

Poof! More disappearing websites

From time to time, I like to give a shout-out to websites that I find useful, informative and entertaining. But as the years pass, a lot of those websites have stopped functioning or gone private. Their content is no longer publicly available.
My collection of “favorite websites” provides a good test sample to study the impermanence of content on the internet.
Between August 2009 and May 2018, I spotlighted 325 websites of note. Of those, 62 are no longer available. That’s 19% of the websites I wrote about.
The further back you go, the worse it gets. Of the 250 websites that I spotlighted between August 2009 and March 2015, 56 are no longer available. That 22% of the websites.
In November 2017, 40 of those 250 websites were no longer available, or 16%. So, in the last year and a half, 16 more websites have disappeared.

Photo: “Disappearing Boardwalk” by Justin Kiner via the Creative Commons.

The Failed Promise of Digital Content: a recap, part 5

We were promised exhaustive libraries of digital content available anytime and anywhere, but those promises have come up short.
Since May 2009, I have written about the shortcomings of the internet and digital media when it comes to content – music, video, archived information, etc.
Here is an index of parts 61 to 75 of the series “The Failed Promise of Digital Content.”

Part 61: Ode to the Netflix DVD rental queue
Part 62: Spring cleaning: Removing link rot
Part 63: Websites and online resources increasingly disappear over time
Part 64: First step to combat fake news: End lying clickbait
Part 65: A eulogy for music CDs
Part 66: What happens when studios stop releasing movies on disc?
Part 67: Drowning in video in the age of ‘peak TV’
Part 68: Google Plus goes bye-bye
Part 69: ‘Here today, gone tomorrow’ nature of the internet
Part 70: Telemarketers, scammers and advertisers have ruined modern communication
Part 71: Snapchat, Yahoo not built to last
Part 72: Flickr, Tumblr and disappearing online content
Part 73: Clock ticking for DVDs, Blu-ray Discs
Part 74: Free speech in the age of deplatforming
Part 75: Vanishing history in the internet era

Photo: “N yellow and pink - disappearing 2” by Monceau via Creative Commons.

Vanishing history in the internet era

For generations, historians, genealogists and other researchers have used newspapers and other paper records for their studies. Paper and physical photographic copies make good archival materials.
The same can’t be said of digital materials. Much of the early history of the consumer internet has been erased. Website operators didn’t give much thought to preserving internet content in the 1990s and early 2000s.
Even now, content regularly disappears from the internet, never to be seen again.
I personally have lost several websites for my varied interests after hosting services failed. Also, hundreds of my articles disappeared forever when one publisher changed its content management system. Many weblinks to news articles that I’ve bookmarked for personal projects no longer work.
Such is life in the age of ephemeral online content.
What follows are some examples of disappearing online content from the past year or so.

• In July 2018, a three-part article on Medium recounted how snarky celebrity gossip website The Superficial was shut down and “wiped clean from the internet.”
• In March this year, early social network Myspace admitted that it had lost all the music uploaded by users to its site from its founding in 2003 until 2015. Many musicians used to rely on Myspace to spread their music, and over the years it hosted 53 million songs from 14.2 million artists, Ars Technica and the Daily Mail reported. Myspace said it also lost untold user photos, videos and audio files from the same period.
• Also in March, Facebook acknowledged that it deleted old posts by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, “obscuring details about core moments in Facebook’s history,” Business Insider reported. There also have been issues accessing Facebook’s archive of older corporate blog posts, it said.
• Similarly, in April, Google erased some of its history when it deleted executive accounts on its Google+ social networking site. The purge included accounts belonging to Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, current CEO Sundar Pichai, and former CEO Eric Schmidt, Business Insider said.
• In May, one of the earliest and most influential meme culture websites, You’re The Man Now Dog, went dark, the Verge reported. The site, known as YTMND, “suffered a catastrophic failure” and may never return.

Related articles:

A Public Record at Risk: The Dire State of News Archiving in the Digital Age (Columbia Journalism Review; March 28, 2019)

Why there’s so little left of the early internet (BBC; April 2, 2019)

Photo: “S” by Monceau via Creative Commons.