"Push Button, Save Trees" - Really?

In my travels, I often stop at McDonald's for coffee and a few minutes browsing the Internet. I have noticed that many McDonald's have abandoned the use of paper towels in the restroom. Instead they have opted for electric hand dryers from a company called World Dryer.

One thing I find irritating about these dryers is the suggestion that the use of the dryer will save trees. In fact, the website of the company has this tagline: "Push button, Save trees." The trouble is that such an assertion is misleading at best, and downright dishonest at worst. The belief that trees will be saved is the result of some rather naive assumptions, and a failure to understand the basic economic concepts of supply and demand.

The incorrect assumptions are that paper companies indiscriminately harvest trees, that these trees belong to no one in particular, and that trees are non-renewable. In fact, trees are simply another agricultural commodity. Though they take longer than other products (such as corn) to come to maturity, tree production is nevertheless subject to the same laws of supply and demand. Paper companies, rather than indiscriminately cutting down "public" trees, purchase trees from a third party or they own land where they grow trees for the express purpose of making paper.

Now lets assume, for the moment, that a large number of people switch to using the World Dryer, enough to result in a substantial decrease in the demand for paper towels. As the demand for towels slips, so will the demand for trees. With the drop in demand for trees, the price of the trees will also decrease. The lower price for trees means growers will find it less profitable to grow trees, making it less likely they will plant new trees.

The end result of all this is that, rather than "saving" trees, as is suggested, there will be a net loss of trees. If the World Dryer company truly wants to see more trees, they should encourage the use of paper towels.

New Digital Camera

For some time I have been interested in purchasing a digital camera. Since I hadn't previously experimented with digital photography, I didn't want to spend a lot of money for a camera, nor did I want a camera that had loads of features that I would have no use for. After visiting a number of shops and trying out a few different cameras, I finally found a refurbished camera for $50 at MicroCenter in Sharonville.

I brought it home and messed around with it. Being a basic camera, it obviously won't have all the features that an experienced digital photographer would desire. However, it suited my needs for something simple that I could use for "snap-shots."

After playing around for awhile, Dad decided he wanted one of those cameras as well. He liked the idea that it was small enough he could stick it in his pocket, unlike his other digital camera. So back over to MicroCenter we trekked, getting another camera just before the store closed.

Whataburger is Coming!

Whataburger is coming to White Oak! I enjoy seeing the progress as the workers put the familiar orange and white trim on the former Wendy's, It was over ten years ago that Wendy's became the first of several fast-food chains to expand to my town. White Oak has always been more of a bedroom community, with no real downtown, as such, and a population of about 5000.

When I first moved here in 1993, the only fast-food restaurant was a Dairy Queen. When Wendy's came, they opted to add onto an already existing structure rather than build a free-standing store. This practice now seems to have become fairly common. When McDonald's built a store here, they were part of a convenience store. Taco Bell and Sonic also put stores in White Oak.

Whataburger started in 1950 in Corpus Christi. While it is easy to find a McDonald's in most any part of the world, Whataburger is limited mostly to Texas and the surrounding states. It is sort of a Texas tradition, rather like Dairy Queen. The stores have the orange and white trim on the outside. On the inside, the lettering on the menus is a throwback to the fifties. Many stores are built around a unique theme.

One thing I appreciate is that many stores are open 24 hours a day. So if hunger strikes in the middle of the night, you can grab a breakfast taquito (similar to a McDonald's breakfast burrito.)

Whataburger should be great addition to White Oak.

Church today

It was nice and lively at church today. A few more visitors made it feel a bit more full.