Author: Li

As we strong-arm another shipping box to collapse it for recycling each week, you may be surprised that for the city of Coral Springs residences, those boxes are not being recycled.

For many years, recycling benefited our local governments’ coffers, by returning surpluses from selling our recycled material on the wholesale market back to the community.

Until a couple of years ago, our recycled waste was often transported to another country where the sorting and processing occur. According to a Yale School of Environment analysis, China’s plastic imports dropped 99% from 2018 to 2019. Overall, China used to take 60% of recycled material, until the import market was shut down by regulation. This triggered a change in the economics of recycling.

The wholesale price of recycled materials dropped while the industry adjusted. According to Dawn McCormick, from Waste Management Inc. of Florida, the average price of a bale of recycled materials dropped almost 75% in value. This resulted in local contracts for recycling starting to cost cities money to operate, versus generating a profit. Due to the changing economics, many cities in Broward stopped recycling. This included Coral Springs, which saved the taxpayers $300,000.

As the commodity prices increased recently, the cities have revisited the decision. In a recent commission vote, the city of Coral Springs, which had stopped curbside recycling, decided to restart. Which is great news to local recycling advocates.

One metric that many residents may not be aware of is the contamination rate. This is the rate at which non-recyclable waste is included in your recycling. This includes batteries that start fires (like the one in a Pembroke Pines facility), plastic films that clog up recycling sorting machines, plastic toys/furniture, clothing, and more. In Broward County, the rate is 25-40%, and the latest Coral Springs rate before the program was halted was 36.5%!

This high contamination rate is due to a phenomenon referred to as “wish-cycling.” According to McCormick, a lot of folks hope that more things can be curbside recycled, which increases the cost to process it and decreases the value. She said the mantra for successful recycling is, “When in doubt, throw it out (in the garbage).” This will ensure that we get the most out of recycling and help fund our local city programs.

So, let’s all do our part and make our local recycling programs successful. Remember to sort carefully, and decrease that contamination rate.

So Hallowe’en is around the corner and you’ve decided to fight evil this year by being a vampire hunter. Where do you start?

John Loper of Antiques & More in Coral Springs had an idea rolling around in his head in 2016, but it wasn’t until COVID-19 showed up that he was able to really start digging into what a vampire hunting kit would require, how to make it with high-quality antiques and reproductions and look authentic.

Fast forward to 2021, and Loper has put together many kits of varying sizes containing everything one might think of, and some surprises too! He took one of his works and sold it through Sotheby’s Auction House in New York. Other interested parties are the Royal Armouries in Leeds and Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Pictured is one of his larger kits, which is made of a velvet-lined wooden chest with a padlock and key, containing two removable gilt metal sconces — in case you are hunting at night, obviously.

Also included are two replica pistols, a pocket Bible, a strand of rosary beads, six wooden stakes and a mallet, seven crucifixes including one with a carved bone handle, one silvered pendant, and 33 glass vials. Everything a want-to-be vampire hunter will need. The vials could be used for holy water, or garlic (Does garlic salt count? Do you want to take the chance?), or any number of potions that the many vampire legends claim will drive out, stun, injure, or perhaps even kill one of these children of the night.

Other kits contain mirrors, 19th-century documents from funeral parlors, and more curios and religious artifacts. So if you want to be the Winchester brothers (from CW’s “Supernatural”) this Halloween, you know where to get the gear.

Don’t look now, but winter is approaching. It may not seem that way here in South Florida right now, but there is nothing stopping it and winter will be here whether we want it or not. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, the only way we know that winter has arrived here is by the plethora of out-of-state license plates on the automobiles of the “snowbirds,” the change in the color of women’s shoes from white to black or brown, and the desire to replace the white wines of summer with red.

While the red wines are usually more costly than the white wines, as it is said, “You get what you pay for.” My advice is to stock up on red wines now before the winter price increases or any other maladies that may befall Northern California.

Daou Family 2019 Pessimist ($30). A strange name but not a strange wine. The back label explains that it is a wine “that never disappoints.” That motto says a great deal, but does its name meet its character and quality? As a wine columnist, being a perpetual pessimist goes with the job, but this wine made that job easy: It is excellent. This wine can easily change a hard-core pessimist into a pussycat optimist.

At the first sip, you know that you are in for something very interesting, and very enjoyable. Everything about this wine is concentrated and very obvious. This dark ruby red, full-bodied wine displays the traditional cabernet aromas of cassis, plum, and oak with a hint of clove. Black cherry and cassis, in glorious amounts, firmly reside in the flavor along with a velvety mouthfeel, a sure sign of a better cab — and that is exactly what this wine is, a better cab and a fine starting place if you are a cabernet sauvignon newcomer.

Daou Family 2018 Bodyguard ($50). Since I grew up in Brooklyn, New York, to me a bodyguard is a big, burly guy with a broken nose and cauliflower ears who makes offers that “it’s best not to refuse.” Therefore, a wine so named definitely intrigued me. I will start by saying that no threats, bullying, or strong-arm tactics are needed for this wine, as it will capture and hold you with the first sip.

This wine is a blend of often not-seen varieties: 59% petite verdot and 41% petite sirah. The aroma is a fruit basket alive with the scents of blackberry, raspberry, pomegranate, chocolate, licorice, and cocoa. These fruit aromas and even more carry over to the flavor and then explode in the finish. Words cannot do justice to this wine, and I believe that it is one of the most interesting red wines that I have sampled in a long time. And remember, this wine was made by “the family.”

Hamel Family 2018 Isthmus ($90). The Hamel family, with all of their red wine experience, do full justice to the cabernet sauvignon grapes and from them have produced a very fine and, if I may, an exceptional example of the variety. The wine is full-bodied with a deep, almost violet color. This very dark wine is a true child of California, stressing fruit flavors over the usually austere and stiff character of the grape variety.

The aroma showcases black fruits, cedar spice, and vanilla. These carry over to the flavor, where they mingle with a cherry and plum element and the very discernable flavors of chocolate mint. This wine has a wonderful softness about it and reflects many of the flavors and aromas that are found only in well-aged wines. This is a wine that I believe rides the fine line between a California cabernet sauvignon and a French Bordeaux, and it is a pleasure to drink.

Unfortunately, for too many people, there is still a stigma associated with mental illness. It’s a shame and it must change. No one chooses to have anxiety or depression or to have a child diagnosed as bipolar. Of course, no one chooses to have cancer either.

Instead of exploring why there is a stigma, I have started an organization, the Mental Wellness Networking Alliance (MWNA), that is committed to “Break the Stigma” for as far as we can reach.

I began the organization with other community leaders shortly after we lost our second teenager in a week, only one year and one month after the tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Both of our local teenagers experienced unspeakable trauma that day. When I heard about Calvin Desir losing his life, I committed to do something different in my capacity as a concerned dad, as a local leader, and as the son of Marcia Brook, in order to save lives.

You see, I tragically lost my mom, Marcia, to suicide when I was only 23 and she was 58. My family was devastated. We had no idea my mother was ill. She visited me in May 1987 in New Orleans when I graduated from Tulane with an MBA. She seemed a little sad at times, but I thought her emotions were more involved with her pride and love than with any mental illness. However, this article is not about me or my loss. Rather, this is about us. Too many groups of people suffer with mental health challenges in silence. Suicide disproportionally affects numerous populations, including veterans, teenagers, young Black males, and others.

What can you do to help prevent suicide during the month of September, Suicide Prevention Awareness Month? You can reach out to a loved one whom you sense has been going through some difficult times and be present for that person. You can share 2-1-1 as a great resource to help those in crisis, as well as the Suicide Prevention Hotline at (800) 227-TALK.

You also can join me and others, including several mental health professionals, at our next MWNA meeting on Sept. 14 at Keller Williams, 3301 N. University Drive, for dialogue, connection, and education. On Sept. 23, MWNA is joining forces with the Veterans Networking Alliance to raise money to help with education, advocacy, and treatment. The event will be at the Coral Springs Museum of Art, and you can email me for tickets at scott@scottjbrookpa.com or find us on Facebook.

If you or someone you know needs help, please seek it. At MWNA, our vision is that we live in a world where mental wellness is equally as vital as physical wellness. An injury above the shoulders should not be treated as any less of an injury worthy of care than an injury below the shoulders. We all want mental wellness. Discussing mental illness and seeking care should not be taboo.

#BREAKTHESTIGMA