uWhy Bagged Salads End Up In Landfills Instead Of Compost Pilesr

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• When food is past its prime and leaves the distributor or supermarket, where does it go? We’d like to think that it all ends up in a compost pile or anaerobic digester, which at least re-purposes the food and the methane it gives off while decomposing to fertilize future crops and to generate electricity. Here’s one sad exception: bagged salads.

  Farmers would rather plant too much and throw away the excess than plant too little and risk not meeting contract requirements or running out. That means farmers or distributors are stuck with excess food, which they have to give away or throw out.

  An NPR reporter visited the municipal dump in Salinas, California, which happens to be where 70% of the salad greens that we eat are grown, whether they come to us in a bag or not. (We’re not sure what proportion of salad beetles come from Salinas.) There she saw food waste in action as bags of edible salad were dumped along

  How fresh is this food being trashed? Reporter Allison Aubrey and the dump’s operations manager looked closely at one load of bagged lettuce, which had a “sell by” date that was a few weeks into the future. She called the processor of that lettuce, Taylor Farms, and was told that they try their best to re-home greens before sending them to the dump.

  A spokesperson explained that they would prefer to give away excess salad to employees and food pantries, but sometimes trash happens. “The last option is sending product to disposal. It’s rare that product gets disposed of, but it does happen,” he e-mailed.

  You can watch trucks full of bagged lettuce fill up a landfill on your own TV tonight: a video version of this story will be on PBS NewsHour tonight.

  Why are tons of fresh produce dumped in landfills every day? [PBS NewHour/NPR]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uT-Mobile Customers Have 14 Days To Claim A Piece Of $112.5M Cramming Settlementr

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  (Ron Dauphin)

  If your to-do list currently has a spot marked “apply for cramming refund from T-Mobile,” then you’d better hop to it. Individuals who currently have or had wireless service with the “Uncarrier” in the last five years have just 14 more days (the deadline is June 30) to apply for a refund as part of the mobile company’s $112.5 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission for tacking-on third-party charges to customers’ bills – a practice known as cramming. You can visit the settlement website to see if you’re eligible or to submit a claim. [WTNH-TV]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uAmazon Reportedly Working On New Shipping Service That Turns Ordinary People Into Couriersr

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  (formatc1)

  Looking to pick up a few dollars while making your way around town? Then Amazon’s latest attempt to quickly and cheaply deliver packages might be right up your alley, that is if the consumer-turned-courier program comes to fruition.

  The Wall Street Journal, citing people close to the matter, reports that the online retailer is working on a mobile app that would essentially allow any regular ol’ Joe to multitask by delivering packages to customers while out-and-about.

  Under the shipping plan, currently referred to as On My Way, the new couriers would drop off Amazon packages at physical stores in urban areas.

  Amazon would likely rent space or pay a per-package fee for the partnered retailers to store the deliveries until consumers could pick them up – an aspect that somewhat resembles United Parcel Service’s Access Point service. 

  The sources say that On My Way came about as the retail giant began mulling the idea of creating an on-demand taxi service.

  People close to the matter tell the WSJ that there currently isn’t a timeline for actually implementing On My Way and that Amazon could ultimately ditch the plan.

  Shipping industry analysts say that while the concept could provide cost savings for the company, there are several aspects of crowd-sourced shipping that could be problematic.

  For example, who would be to blame if a package goes missing or is delivered damaged? Would Amazon vet delivery drivers before allowing them to handle potentially expensive packages? With a wide range of products available for purchase through Amazon, would there be a limit to what items could be shipped this way? And would smaller local stores be open to the idea of partnering with a company they might view as a rival?

  However, the WSJ points out that it could be feasible for Amazon to tap into its network of convenience stores and parking garages that house lockers where customers can currently pickup packages or make returned.

  On My Way wouldn’t be the first time that Amazon has delved into unique delivery options. Last year, the company tested $5 package shipping through yellow cabs in some areas of San Francisco.

  A spokesperson for Amazon declined to provide comment to the WSJ regarding On My Way.

  If the customer-as-courier concept sounds familiar, it’s because Walmart gave some thought to the idea back in 2013, brainstorming ways to entice in-store customers to deliver Walmart.com purchases to shoppers on their way home. We’ve never heard of Walmart doing any actual tests for this delivery idea.

  Amazon Mulls Paying People for Deliveries [The Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist

uVerizon Not Interested In Buying Dishr

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• With everyone else in the cable/Internet/wireless business gone merger-mad, the only thing that telecom titan Verizon has purchased recently is AOL for a few billion bucks. The company has long been suggested as a prime buyer for satellite TV service Dish, but a top Verizon executive says that’s just not happening.

  Dish would make sense for Verizon, whose biggest telecom competitor, AT&T, is currently trying to acquire the only other national satellite TV provider, DirecTV.

  Not only would a Verizon/Dish tie-up probably provide the two companies the same benefits as the AT&T/DirecTV deal — increased buying power with content companies, expanded reach for pay-TV services, added revenue to continue building out and expanding both networks — Dish recently acquired a ton of wireless spectrum is doesn’t really have any immediate use for, but which Verizon could find all sorts of ways to deploy.

  Alas, the Wall Street Journal reports that when Verizon Chief Financial Officer Fran “Sham Wow” Shammo was asked about Dish, he flatly replied, “My answer is going to be one word: No.”

  So it looks like the only marriage in Dish’s foreseeable future is the one that might take place with T-Mobile USA.

  The satellite company recently began talking to banks about raising enough cash to acquire the magenta-friendly wireless provider. T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telekom has been trying to unload its U.S. division for years, including AT&T’s failed attempt at buying T-Mo USA in 2011. However, some reports indicate that DT could retain a significant minority ownership stake in the combined companies.

  No official announcement has been made on that merger, and some are cautioning that it could still never materialize.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uHere’s Your Last Chance To Do Anything With A RadioShack Gift Cardr

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  (Matthew Hunt)

  If you’re a person interested in retail bankruptcy, you’ll want to learn about how unsecured creditors hope to extract money from the smoldering remains of RadioShack. If you’re someone who recently discovered that they’re stuck with a RadioShack gift card, you’ll want to learn about how you can file your own claim against this trust and maybe get a tiny bit of money back.

  In RadioShack’s bankruptcy, other lenders objected to Standard General, now the owner of 1,500 former Shacks and the company’s intellectual property, using RadioShack’s debt as currency in the bankruptcy auction. They believed that the winning bid should be in cash, and that cash distributed fairly between all lenders. Standard General won, though, and now the other lenders have a different plan.

  First, they would prefer to change the bankruptcy into a cheaper Chapter 7 proceeding now that most of the stores and merchandise have been disposed of. The liquidation trust that would form is where any money that is due to what used to be RadioShack will go, including insurance payouts from lawsuits over the company’s mismanagement. It’s not the hundreds of millions of dollars that the creditors are owed, but those payouts could be up to $90 million.

  If you do happen to have a RadioShack gift card sitting around, that makes you a tiny, tiny creditor in this bankruptcy proceeding. Congratulations? You only have a few weeks left to file your claim, which may result in a tiny, tiny payout. Still, you can file your claim here if you’re curious about the process.

  RadioShack Files Liquidation Plan [Wall Street Journal]

  
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by Laura Northrup via Consumerist

uSenators Ask PayPal To Change Obnoxious RoboCall Clause In User Agreementr

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  (Liz Wise)
  

  Two weeks ago, we told you how PayPal’s revised user agreement expanded the company’s already-intrusive existing permission to send pre-recorded robocalls and spam texts, and how the company gave users no apparent way to opt out. Then the FCC chimed in, telling the company that its terms appear to violate federal law. Now, several U.S. Senators are asking PayPal to rethink its terms before they go into effect on July 1.

  A brief refresher: PayPal’s new terms, which the user must accept in order to use the payment platform, don’t just allow the company to robocall/text the number you provided when you registered, but “any telephone number… that we have otherwise obtained,” an apparent violation of the requirement that express written consent for robocalls must include the telephone number to which the company will be authorized to make those calls.

  Additionally, since PayPal doesn’t give users any way to opt out of this clause during the process of accepting the agreement, that makes acceptance of robocalls a condition of purchasing the service, which would be another violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

  This morning, Senators Edward J. Markey (Massachusetts), Al Franken (Minnesota), Ron Wyden (Oregon), and Robert Menendez (New Jersey) sent a letter [PDF] to PayPal president Dan Schulman asking him to rethink this nonsense.

  “This new policy could adversely affect consumers by exposing them to a barrage of unwanted calls that are unstoppable unless consumers choose to discontinue using PayPal,” reads the letter, which references the recent FCC admonition.

  “We share the FCC’s perspective and believe consumers should not have to agree to submit themselves to intrusive robocalls in order to use a company’s service,” concludes the letter.

  PayPal notes that it does now have a way to opt out of robocalls — by going to this website — but that process occurs after you accept the user agreement. That means that you must still first accept the robocall clause as a condition of using the service.

  The FCC warned PayPal that if the company is found to be in violation of the TCPA, it could face fines of up to $16,000 per call or text message.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist

uDid The St. Louis Cardinals Hack Houston Astros’ Front Office? FBI Investigatingr

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  The Astros and Cardinals in a bench-clearing dispute in 2008 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. (Photo: Paul Thompson)

  Major League Baseball is a huge business and much of a team’s financial success depends on its ability to win on the field. So the idea of one team possibly breaching another team’s network to get information on player personnel isn’t very different from two rival manufacturers trying to steal trade secrets. That’s why the FBI is investigating claims that the St. Louis Cardinals might have hacked into the computer network for the Houston Astros’ front office.

  The NY Times reports that investigators with the FBI and the Justice Dept. have found evidence that Cardinals officials breached the Astros’ network containing sensitive and proprietary information about the team. Subpoenas have been served for e-mails from both the Cardinals and from MLB.

  A rep for the league tells the Times that it is aware of, and cooperating with “the federal investigation into the illegal breach of the Astros’ baseball operations database.”

  While no one has been named publicly, the Times reports that the Cardinals staffers under investigation are still employed by the team and not currently suspended.

  The Cardinals are not just currently the best team in baseball, but the team’s 11 World Series wins are the most in National League history and second only to the NY Yankees for most in MLB history. Why would this vaunted club (who incorrectly think cardinals have bright yellow beaks) pick on the Astros, who have only ever appeared in a single World Series? The Astros aren’t even in the National League anymore, let alone the same division as the Cards.

  The Times says it’s possible this is all just an attempt to troll Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who had been with the Cardinals as Vice President of Baseball Development before being hired by Houston in 2011.

  At Houston, Luhnow reportedly built a computer database system similar to the one he’d used at St. Louis. That might have made it easy for Cards staffers to breach the Astros network. They simply looked at a list of passwords used by Luhnow when he was with the St. Louis team to see if they could use them to access the Houston network.

  After information stolen from the Houston system was leaked online, an investigation tracked the source of the breach to a computer in a home where Cardinals staffers had lived.

  The Times says that decision on the fates of those involved in the breach will likely not be made until after the federal investigation is complete.

  
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by Chris Morran via Consumerist