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Back Market
Between the new normal that is working from home and e-learning for students of all ages, having functional electronic devices is extremely important. But that doesn't mean needing to run out and buy the latest and greatest model. In fact, this cycle of constantly upgrading our devices to keep up with the newest technology is an incredibly dangerous habit.
The amount of e-waste we produce each year is growing at an increasing rate, and the improper treatment and disposal of this waste is harmful to both human health and the planet.
So what's the solution? While no one expects you to stop purchasing new phones, laptops, and other devices, what you can do is consider where you're purchasing them from and how often in order to help improve the planet for future generations.
<p>Typically, new device models don't feature that many noticeable advances, meaning waiting in line every September at the Apple store when a new iPhone comes out isn't necessary. A better solution is to instead buy refurbished. </p><p><a href="https://bit.ly/3kAq42B" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Back Market</a>, for example, sells all types of refurbished devices, including smartphones, computers and laptops, tablets, wearables, and more from your favorite brands. Plus, their team of experts check each device's functionality and works to restore it to the best condition possible. You can also rest easy knowing your refurbished device comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a one-year warranty. </p><p>Refurbished devices, while not brand new, are certified by an expert and are available at up to 70% lower prices. Not only are refurbished devices better for the environment because less waste is being generated, they're also better for your wallet. </p><p>Back Market also offers amazing deals on the items students need for <a href="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/476024540;282046943;f" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">back to school</a>, plus an <a href="https://ad.doubleclick.net/ddm/clk/476250672;282110393;d" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">extra 5% off</a> the already discounted prices to those enrolled in a college or university, so there's really no excuse not to buy refurbished.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5NDAyNi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NjM3ODU0N30.Ie1AR5tXsGsRY8N2wXIzU_byVz4WuxJGZHwOmKO7gR4/img.jpg?width=980" id="329df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="48aeb587fafc0f3e5237c31d3040e2d6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Back Market</small></p><p>While we can't reverse the damaging effects e-waste has already had on the environment, making responsible purchasing decisions can help slow down the amount being produced each year and have a lasting impact on the planet.</p><p>According to a <a href="https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:6341/Global-E-waste_Monitor_2017__electronic_single_pages_.pdf" target="_blank">2017 Report from the U.N</a>, all the countries in the world combined generated a staggering 44.7 million metric tons, or an equivalent of 13.4 pounds per inhabitant, of e-waste in 2016. Most of this waste is going straight into the landfills.<br></p><p>The same report states that only 20 percent was collected and recycled. But even the e-waste that is recycled is often improperly handled, being exported to developing countries where people work to recover valuable materials from the devices and end up exposed to toxic chemicals, according to <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/08/27/growing-e-waste-problem/" target="_blank">Columbia University</a>. E-waste toxins are also known to contaminate the air, soil, and groundwater. </p><p>While concern for the environment is high, particularly among younger generations, many people don't know what e-waste is.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDM5ODA5NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzAyMTA2MH0.XHNEy8r4LoRZXgZFJqycufXZMrFjsQ6ppM6NFrOgUWk/img.jpg?width=980" id="65650" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4e96c313ecdfa4624be0ac680dac45ad" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Vivianne Lemay</small></p><p>According to a <a href="https://www.decluttr.com/us/store/e-waste" target="_blank">survey</a>, 71% of millennials and Gen Z consider the environment to be a more important concern than the economy, but 60% of them were unfamiliar with e-waste and its impact on the environment.<br></p><p>With the effects of global warming becoming increasingly apparent, taking measures to slow down the production of e-waste is crucial.</p>
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I got married and started working in my early 20s, and for more than two decades I always had employer-provided health insurance. When the Affordable Care Act (ACA, aka "Obamacare")was passed, I didn't give it a whole lot of thought. I was glad it helped others, but I just assumed my husband or I would always be employed and wouldn't need it.
Then, last summer, we found ourselves in an unexpected scenario. I was working as a freelance writer with regular contract work and my husband left his job to manage our short-term rentals and do part-time contracting work. We both had incomes, but for the first time, no employer-provided insurance. His previous employer offered COBRA coverage, of course, but it was crazy expensive. It made far more sense to go straight to the ACA Marketplace, since that's what we'd have done once COBRA ran out anyway.
The process of getting our ACA healthcare plan set up was a nightmare, but I'm so very thankful for it.
Let me start by saying I live in a state that is friendly to the ACA and that adopted and implemented the Medicaid expansion. I am also a college-educated and a native English speaker with plenty of adult paperwork experience. But the process of getting set up on my state's marketplace was the most confusing, frustrating experience I've ever had signing up for anything, ever.
<p>Most of the problems stemmed from proving our income, which was confusing to report and hard to show accurately. I lost track of how many letters I got saying they needed more or different information. When I'd call the help number, the person on the other end always told me something different. It took nearly <em>two months</em> of back and forth, with dozens upon dozens of letters, phone calls, and website chats, to finally get my family set up with a healthcare plan. </p><p>During the two months, we weren't covered under any insurance, I was terrified of something happening. We are a very health-conscious family and we take good care of ourselves, but what if one of us broke a bone? What if one of us had a freak medical event or needed an emergency surgery? What if we got into a car accident and had to be hospitalized? The list of possible scenarios, minor to major, constantly ran through my mind. </p><p>During the time we weren't covered, I was keenly aware of three things: 1) All it would take was one big accident or diagnosis to wipe us out financially, 2) People in other developed nations never feel this fear, and 3) Prior to the ACA, far more Americans felt this fear all the time.</p><p>Once we were finally able to work out the necessary paperwork, it was fine. Our income at the time meant our premiums were low, and our coverage was comparable to what we had with my husband's employer. I ended up getting hired on full-time with benefits a few months later, so our experience with Obamacare was relatively short-lived. But I can't imagine the financial stress of trying to afford health insurance or worrying about paying for healthcare out of pocket without insurance—fears that millions of Americans lived with pre-ACA. </p><p>And we didn't even have any pre-existing conditions that would have kept us from being able to get insurance prior to the ACA. Adding that factor in drives home how important that legislation truly is. </p><p>At the same time, as thankful as I am that we had an affordable healthcare option, I couldn't help thinking about friends I have who live in other countries who never have to worry about any of this stuff. No complicated paperwork or bureaucracy to deal with. No waiting for bills to arrive in the mail after a doctor's appointment to see what you owe beyond your co-pay. No calling the insurance company to figure out why something that seems like it should have been covered wasn't covered. </p><p>The amount of of time, energy, agony, and stress Americans have to put into managing healthcare is absurd <a data-linked-post="2637391157" href="https://www.upworthy.com/he-went-to-the-er-in-taiwan-then-his-horrors-of-socialized-medicine-post-went-viral" target="_blank">when compared to</a> other highly developed nations, and even most less developed ones. We're so accustomed to this garbage, I don't think most people recognize that it doesn't have to be like this. </p><p>The ACA was a step in the right direction and a necessary lifeboat for those who previously couldn't get or couldn't afford to get health insurance. But it's not universal healthcare, which is quite frankly the bare minimum of what a society should expect from its government. The fact that the idea has somehow been spun into something radical or impossible when basically every other developed country has figured out how to do it, we spend more on healthcare than anyone else per capita already, and our health outcomes trail so badly behind other developed nations is completely baffling. </p><p>My experience with the ACA drove home to me why it's a vital piece of legislation to protect, but also highlighted the desperate need for universal healthcare. It's <a data-linked-post="2640990187" href="https://www.upworthy.com/if-americans-understood-how-absurd-our-system-is-wed-all-be-demanding-universal-healthcare" target="_blank">far past time</a> for us to take that next step. </p>
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Divest/Invest
Global mayors are declaring their commitment to divest from fossil fuels and invest in a sustainable future
09.22.20
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$200 billion of COVID-19 recovery funding is being used to bail out fossil fuel companies. These mayors are combatting this and instead investing in green jobs and a just recovery.
Learn more on how cities are taking action: c40.org/divest-invest
It sounds like a ridiculous, sensationalist headline, but it's real. In Cheshire County, New Hampshire, a transsexual, anarchist Satanist has won the GOP nomination for county sheriff. Aria DiMezzo, who refers to herself as a "She-Male" and whose campaign motto was "F*** the Police," ran as a Republican in the primary. Though she ran unopposed on the ballot, according to Fox News, she anticipated that she would lose to a write-in candidate. Instead, 4,211 voters filled in the bubble next to her name, making her the official Republican candidate for county sheriff.
DiMezzo is clear about why she ran—to show how "clueless the average voter is" and to prove that "the system is utterly and hopelessly broken"—stances that her win only serves to reinforce.
In a blog post published on Friday, DiMezzo explained how she had never tried to hide who she was and that anyone could have looked her up to see what she was about, in addition to pointing out that those who are angry with her have no one to blame but themselves:
<p><em>"None of it is a secret. I couldn't possibly have been more upfront about who I am, or my position on things. Did none of you pay attention to the election two years ago, when I criticized Eli Rivera for not going far enough with his sanctuary policy? Did none of you remember the <strong>six foot tall tranny who ran for sheriff and then city council</strong>?</em></p><p><em>You could have easily looked at a sample ballot prior to the election, and you could have simply looked up the candidates in a search engine. By doing so, you, like the good citizen in Rindge, would probably have been appalled, and probably wouldn't have voted for me. I wouldn't have begrudged you for that. I was, after all, rather upfront about it. I went into it expecting that I would lose the primary to a write-in candidate, because I didn't think that so many voters were just… <strong>completely and totally oblivious </strong>about who they are voting for.</em></p><p><em>Because the fact is that you didn't bother. You trusted the system. You trusted the establishment. You trusted the party. You felt safe. You were sure that there must be some mechanisms in place to prevent from occurring <strong>exactly </strong>what just occurred. Your anger is misplaced if you direct it at me. Please listen. Your anger is with the system that has lied to you. Your anger is with the system that convinced you to believe in it, trust in it, and have faith in it, when it is completely and utterly broken.</em></p><p><em>More than 4,000 people went into the voting booth on September 8 this week, and they all filled in the circle by my name despite knowing <strong>absolutely nothing </strong>about the person they were nominating to the <strong>most powerful law enforcement position in the county</strong>. That's a level of recklessness of which any decent human being should be ashamed."</em></p><div id="0de94" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c6a32446b27ab6bce737466b362d3e65"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305330277527572485" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#AriaDiMezzo, a “polyamorous transgender Mississippian lesbian anarchist atheist,” running on a Liberterian "F*** t… https://t.co/eZFkq5eUkk</div> — Frank Smyth (@Frank Smyth)<a href="https://twitter.com/SmythFrank/statuses/1305330277527572485">1600049964.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Regardless of how you feel about DiMezzo, her message, or her methods, she's absolutely right about one thing—voters too often go to the polls woefully uninformed, especially when it comes to local politics. Local elected officials are the ones who generally have the most direct impact on our daily lives, and it's our responsibility as citizens to learn about the people running for these positions. <br></p><p>DiMezzo isn't lying when she says her stance wasn't a secret. Six days before the election, she posted <a href="https://twitter.com/Aria_DiMezzo/status/1301284328098455554" target="_blank">a horribly offensive meme </a>about the police on her Twitter account, reminding people to vote for her. </p><p>And interestingly, people did. Here's the breakdown of votes by town in the county. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="43f4c1ba86d12141766e8bad110c6341"><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/aria.the.writer/photos/a.245906769094033/1247577458926954/"></div></div><p>There was apparently one person who did realize that DiMezzo was not exactly what the Republican party had in mind for county sheriff, and who organized a write-in campaign. It still wasn't enough even in that one town to outnumber the votes DiMezzo received, but she praised that person for trying to spread the word. <br></p><p><em><span></span>"For those of you who actually did research, <strong>thank you</strong>. I'm not being snide. I'm glad that <strong>someone </strong>bothered to actually look at to whom they were handing <strong>power over theirs and other people's lives</strong>. Sadly, you number in the minority. The write-in campaign in Rindge was exceedingly well done–a testament to the power of grassroots, decentralized communication–yet it saddens me that it was even necessary. <strong>One person </strong>did their research prior to the election, and he spread what he found everywhere. Good on him. That is a person I respect. But those people who learned of me because of this person should have <strong>already known</strong>. They didn't, though. Because they trusted the party. They trusted the system. The system, they thought, surely would <strong>never </strong>let them down.</em></p><p><em>I'm running for sheriff because I oppose that very system, and the sheriff has the most hands-on ability in Cheshire County to oppose that system. The system that let you down by allowing me–the freaking transsexual Satanist anarchist–be your sheriff candidate is the same system I'm attacking. I'm sorry, and I know it hurts to hear, but that system is a lie. The entire thing is a lie. It's broken from beginning to end, and my existence as your sheriff candidate is merely how this reality was thrown into your face."</em></p><div id="6e7e5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2a5f426feb84a5e05c2f85ba1ec0305"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1305160169261801473" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Aria DiMezzo ran for Sheriff with the slogan "Fuck The Police"
People just voted (R) for the GOP nomination and di… https://t.co/ducoRQxnV2</div> — Tim Pool (@Tim Pool)<a href="https://twitter.com/Timcast/statuses/1305160169261801473">1600009407.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Even though this was a local election, it should be a wake-up call for all of us to really examine the system. Even if we're not anarchists opposing the system like DiMezzo, we should at least understand it and invest in it fully if we agree with it. The passive approach to civic engagement has real consequences. DiMezzo made her point with the Republican ticket, but an unopposed candidate on a Democraft primary ticket doesn't automatically make them an ideal candidate.<br></p><p>We often focus on getting out the vote, but people also need to know who and what they are voting for. That's the whole point of DiMezzo's run for sheriff, and even if we don't agree with her on everything, we should all humbly heed the red flag she has raised. </p>
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Congress passes a landmark bill to help stop the epidemic of violence against Indigenous women
09.22.20
The epidemic of violence against Indigenous women in America is one of the country's most disturbing trends. A major reason it persists is because it's rarely discussed outside of the native community.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, murder is the third-leading cause of death among American Indian and Alaska Native women under age 19.
Women who live on some reservations face rates of violence that are as much as ten times higher than the national average.
<p>The problem stems from a lack of community resources, prejudice, poverty, and poor communication between Native communities and law enforcement.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDQzMTMyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwNzA2NDgyMH0.I6PPu6UV9DLksYr0rrtkCn-tfzOxONfC6TyFemuFDOY/img.jpg?width=980" id="43c75" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="750143a493f36cfe5c45f7700c2e853a" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Red dress display to honor missing and murdered Indigenous women.</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit..."><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kerron/44421156294/in/photolist-2aFm3a5-G6Ee2i-GY3Arb-GY3PUy-GSJXd3-H21p4M-GY87yh-H21qZv-GSHwTd-GV8W4F-GY6mCJ-GY42P5-G6zsMK-G6zpMC-G6D3UM-vWefZL-GY5qbh-H22RXp-GV4L3B-H259Lk-H1ZBb4-G6yoJs-H1YZfg-G6CPLT-G6Ah3r-GXYqnb-2hXA9dW-GXZ5Zb-G6sL8b-2hXwxWB-vgY7Ua-GXYJKU-G6BNde-GY2w3d-2hXz7yu-2hXA9oF-H1VH9V-2hXz753-H1WXmk-2hXA8CY-2inewVm-2inc16B-dgRehk-2inewBA-2inc13k-2infEXH-2inc1en-dgRfbP-2inewxh-2inewHC" target="_blank">via Kerron L / Flickr </a></small></p><p>Many women disappear from remote reservations without a single law enforcement officer. "The resources are spread so thin, it allows people to fall through the cracks," Billy J. Stratton, an expert in Native American studies at the University of Denver,<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2019/04/09/us/native-american-murdered-missing-women/index.html" target="_blank"> told CNN.</a><br></p><p>But the problem goes much deeper than law enforcement.</p><p>"When you're talking about a group of people who is among the lowest socioeconomic class in the US, they're more susceptible to violence than others," Stratton said.</p><p>"Poverty is the main driver; dispossession, lack of empowerment, isolation, and those other social problems I think flow from that," he added.</p><p>Violence against Native people also gets very little attention from the mainstream media.</p><p>"I live on a reservation, it's word of mouth. We can report [someone missing or dead] to the authorities," Tillie Aldrich, an Omaha Tribe of Nebraska member,<a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/savannas-act-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-crisis" target="_blank"> told Teen Vogue.</a> </p><p>"If we have a non-Native [person] missing in a city 25 miles north of us, it's all over the news, the newspapers, posters going up," she continued. "If we have someone missing, one of our Native missing, they try to keep it quiet."</p><p>The response to cases of violence against native American women is so poor that in 2016 <a href="https://www.uihi.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Missing-and-Murdered-Indigenous-Women-and-Girls-Report.pdf" target="_blank">there were 5,712 cases</a> reported of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, but only 116 cases were logged by the Department of Justice database.</p><p>However, a new bill passed by Congress hopes to reverse this trend in violence and law enforcement inaction.</p><p>On Monday, the House of Representatives passed Savanna's Act, which will go to the desk of President Trump for final approval.</p><div id="c63f6" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ce4fd53d3db9b48119cce745567d7404"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308136566347509763" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind's murder left a hole in the hearts of North Dakotans. Today, we honor her life by passi… https://t.co/VEBxhpiXHx</div> — Congressman Kelly Armstrong (@Congressman Kelly Armstrong)<a href="https://twitter.com/RepArmstrongND/statuses/1308136566347509763">1600719036.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The bill is named after Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, a member of the Spirit Lake Sioux Tribe from Fargo, North Dakota. In 2017, at the age of 22, while eight months pregnant her unborn child was cut out of her womb and she was murdered. The baby survived.<br></p><p>The bill requires federal, state, tribal, and local law enforcement agencies to update policies and protocols to address missing or murdered Native Americans. </p><p>It also requires the U.S. Department of Justice to develop new guidelines for response to missing or murdered Native people and provide database training to law enforcement agencies at all levels.</p><p>"Savanna's Act addresses a tragic issue in Indian Country and helps establish better law enforcement practices to track, solve and prevent these crimes against Native Americans," Senator John Hoeven, chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, said in a statement. </p><p>"We appreciate our House colleagues for passing the bill today and sending it on to the president to become law," the statement continues. "At the same time, we continue working to advance more legislation like this to strengthen public safety in tribal communities and ensure victims of crime receive support and justice."</p><div id="3ce02" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9b2408fcb869ed49a4fcf52aa7993d46"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1308291497926688768" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Congress Finally Passes #SavannasAct for Missing Murdered #Indigenous Women
22 yr old Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind… https://t.co/a1w7UTOAiM</div> — 🎲 (@🎲)<a href="https://twitter.com/MagicZoetrope/statuses/1308291497926688768">1600755974.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"Passage of Savanna's Act brings us one step closer to ending this epidemic by upgrading critical data and improving communication among law enforcement," Republican Representative from Montana Greg Gianforte said in a statement.<br></p><p>The bill is a positive first step toward combating the issue of missing and murdered Indiginous women, but much more will have to be done before the problem is solved. </p><p>"Stopping the #MMIW [Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women] crisis will take years and maybe decades," Sarah Deer, Muscogee, a professor at the University of Kansas, <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/savannas-act-missing-and-murdered-indigenous-women-crisis" target="_blank">told Teen Vogue.</a> </p><p>"It must be a multi-faceted movement led by family members of missing Indigenous women," she added. "Those families are the experts on this crisis and should be the leaders of the movement."</p>
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