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OPINIONS
Editorial: On recycling, white-collar crime and obesity
Barboursville residents have used this recycling bin since June for their paper and plastic waste.
Purchase this photoThe village of Barboursville is extending its recycling program following a successful two-month recycling initiative focusing on paper and plastics.
In June, the village partnered with Rt. 2 Metal and Paper Recycling of Huntington and Goodwill Industries to provide residents an opportunity to recycle. Large bins are located at the central garage on Depot Street and allow residents to recycle any time of the day.
Barboursville Councilman Chris Tatum said the original initiative was meant to determine if a recycling program or center would be successful in the village. Tatum said since the program began, more residents have been recycling and frequenting the recycling site.
Similar efforts have been tried at different locations in the past. Often, they fail because people don't understand what can be recycled. Some people put window glass into glass recycling bins, but window glass may contain lead, so it cannot be recycled for most uses. Or they put PVC pipe in bins meant for plastic drink containers.
Sometimes, thoughtless or uncaring people turn recycling bins into open trash dumps.
Barboursville had tried a curbside recycling pickup system similar to its free garbage pickup, but found it was too costly to continue.
As long as Barboursville residents and others who use the bins take care with what they put in them and respect the area around them, they will have a convenient place to recycle their plastic and their paper. People who want to recycle but live in areas without an effective, economical recycling system will watch Barboursville's experience to learn how they, too, can implement their own program.
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Remember Smiling Bob, the guy in the commercials who used Enzyte, the "male enhancement" product? Well, Bob's smile is gone. And so is that of Steve Warshak.
Warshak, 42, was the founder of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, which sold Enzyte and a variety of other herbal supplements. He was convicted in February on 93 counts of conspiracy, fraud and money laundering. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge S. Arthur Spiegel sentenced Warshak to 25 years in prison and fined him $93,000.
Federal prosecutors accused the company of bilking customers out of more than $400 million with deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and refusal to accept returns or cancel orders. Two company employees testified that the company created fictitious medical endorsements, fabricated a customer-satisfaction survey and made up numbers to back claims about Enzyte's effectiveness.
Spiegel ordered Warshak, his mother, the company and another defendant to forfeit more than $500 million, including whatever was available from bank accounts, cars and homes, a grand piano and a membership in a California spa.
Apparently, Spiegel decided that a white-collar thief is no better than your neighborhood crack dealer. Spiegel decided the people who helped Warshak carry out his schemes should be punished severely, too.
Good for Spiegel. May other judges follow his lead.
West Virginians tend to suffer from obesity and obesity-related problems such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Researchers at Temple University may have found a connection. They say cells in fat tissue tend to produce several proteins that ultimately lead to insulin resistance, which has been found to play a major role in the development and progression of obesity-related conditions.
The National Institutes of Health recently reported that each time a body mass index (BMI) over 25 is raised by one point, the risk for diabetes increases 25 percent and the risk for heart disease increases 10 percent.
It's another thing to ponder as we ask whether we and our children are leading healthy lifestyles.
Barboursville residents have used this recycling bin since June for their paper and plastic waste.
