Cooper and Company:Santee Cooper offers free lamp recycling

http://www.carolinalive.com/news/story.aspx?id=605015 Santee Cooper is offering free recycling of fluorescent lamps for businesses and residents. It's teaming up with Waste Management's LampTracker and Hagemeyer North America for the program.
The program builds on the company's effort to replace fluorescent light bulbs with more energy-efficient CFLs.
"The lighting campaign is part of our continued efforts to help our customers cut down on their energy consumption and save money," said Juan Holmes, manager of conservation and energy efficiency of Santee Cooper in a press release. "We are already offering rebates to encourage more energy-efficient lighting, and now we are offering recycling of the less efficient lamps and residential CFL bulbs."
A tractor-trailer marked with a large "Recycle Here" banner will be parked at the Hagemeyer Cambar facility, at 1525 U.S. Highway 501 in Myrtle Beach. If you bring a lamp, it will be sealed in a special box to protect the environment from mercury leaks. You can drop off lamps on weekdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
"We are very proud to support this important recycling effort and provide a convenient way for area businesses, trade allies and residents to recycle their old lamps and to educate them about how to do so in the future," said Rick Cochrane, senior business director for Waste Management's LampTracker. "Energy-efficient fluorescent lamps can contribute to a cleaner environment, but they must be handled properly. Helping our customers rethink the way they manage waste, recovering valuable materials and resources while serving our communities are top priorities for Waste Management," he added.
The free recycling will end when two trailers are full.
For more information about how to participate in this recycling effort call 843-626-3578. For information on fluorescent/CFL recycling programs in your area, call the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control's Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling at 1-800-768-7348. Find additional information on recycling at www.scdhec.gov or www.epa.gov/bulbrecycling.
To learn more about energy saving tips and information on energy-efficient initiatives and rebates, visit www.reducetheuse.com.

Cooper and Company:Ten years of Mini Cooper

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-12-ten-years-of-mini-cooper/

It's funny to recall that the modern Mini we all know and love was actually gifted to us out of political and economic recrimination a decade-and-a-half ago. In 1994, BMW's takeover of the British Rover Group was something akin to a conquest of the mid-Atlantic island. BMW held control for six years and in that time chopped the company up into the three parts. Keeping all it needed for new projects such as the X5, BMW sold Land Rover to Ford and gave away a destitute Rover/MG back to its previous management for a tenner (no really, £10 was paid for Rover/MG).

BMW, of course, held on to Mini and in 1995, Frank Stephenson of McLaren MP4-12C fame, won the right to pen the marque's iconic return. The original, new Mini of 2001 was wider, taller and longer than the 60s original, and at the time, rather quaintly, BMW went so far as to pin it's new up-sized-ness on average Europeans being 50mm taller than they were in 1960.

The new Mini was bigger because it had to meet new safety requirements, but despite the large visual presence, it was actually still a compact little car. It was a small car that looked big, felt big on the inside, but felt small everywhere else, and was actually pretty small overall.

Since then, BMW has ventured into four-door and three-door Minis, convertibles, hot JCW versions and the Mini E electric car for the future. All in a decade's work for a German company with a great British brand to cultivate.

I was recently reacquainted with the good old Mini Cooper of 2001 and then to compare, I drove a 2011 Cooper S, and I have to say, it stunned me how accomplished both models were. I know that's like admitting you enjoy a good soapy, but it's true.

What strikes me most about the early Mini Cooper, is its sense of presence. Only an astute eye will spot the subtle exterior evolutions over the decade. Such is the way with fashion items that possess longevity. What BMW has achieved with its subtle tweaking and reinvention over the decade is to keep the Cooper fresh enough to be noticed without making it vulgar, garrulous or anything untoward so as to strike it off the motoring A-list. I believe that to be an incredibly difficult and thoroughly commendable achievement.

Underneath the metal, the most significant change realised over 10 years of Cooper S's is the shift from supercharging to turbo-charging. The earlier models, in retrospect, felt more muscle bound, more torquey, a bit more rough and ready with power delivery similar to that of a turbo diesel. However, the 2011 model plays the more refined, efficient grown-up, which has more power at the top of the rev range to revel in and stretch its legs.