Veronika Wild

  Do you know what this is?  Saw this at my local tip shop recently and wondered what it was. It's a Reverse Vending Machine (RVM) – you put stuff in – in this case your empty soft drink bottles, and it will put money in your bank account or send it to a charity on your behalf.     There are others around the state and they are popping up in many other parts of the world , usually in supermarkets. Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Singapore, Russia, other parts of Australia, some Japanese and Chinese cities, some states in the USA and Canada already have them.  The downside is that  they are rather expensive - our state government funded this one, but perhaps if the beverage makers wanted to avoid bans or postpone developing alternatives they should be funding these.  *See Caveat at end. Bottles, cans and cartons in - money out In Other Recycling News Good to see Amazon sending small electronic parts in small recyclable bags. What a difference compared ...

  -Big thanks to Gerd Altmann and Pixabay for this image “All the Light We Cannot See” (2023) Netflix This is a poignant story set in the French seaside town of St. Malo shortly before the end of World War II.  Marie, a blind girl, continues to broadcast over the radio despite the fact that listening to anything other than the official German broadcasts is punishable by death, let alone broadcasting. Initially she does it to reach out to her missing father and to inspire hope in others, just as a wonderful professor had inspired her when she was a child. There are several subplots which include both good Germans and bad, but most telling and timely of all, it shows that despite the harsh reality of war, small islands of sanity, humanity and courage prevail.  5 Stars. "Painkiller" (2023) Netflix This movie takes on the Pharmaceutical Industry, particularly its role in the Opioid Epidemic which took hold in the USA over the last two decades largely due to the aggr...