A Magnetic Quality Keeping Families In Touch (NAPSA)—Whentoday’s often overscheduled families want to know what’s up, they usually head for one central location. It’s not the bulletin board, their agendas or even the answering machine. For most families, the medium with the message is an appliance—theirfridge. Steel appliances’ magnetic quality makes them a natural for all types of message postings— who called, what food to heat up, wherethe kids have gone and who scored best on the spelling test. Research reveals that six out of 10 families use their kitchen appliance as a convenient commu- nications tool, while three out of four single parents leave notes for their children on their appliances. What do these messages say? Fifty-two percent post emergency numbers, 34 percent leave personal reminders. Other popular fridge postings include family photos (52 percent), shoppinglists (40 percent), household bills (14 per- cent), New Year’s Resolutions (four percent), calendars/schedules (three percent) and Bible verses or other inspirational messages. Womenare the heaviest users of appliance communication with nearly one third saying they use it every day or frequently. Older women (55+) are the most frequent users, with 22 percent say- ing they use “appliance communications” every day. Among younger men (18 to 34), 26 percent say they attach household bills to the fridge (significantly Messagesleft on the fridge have a lot to say about family life and the qualities of steel appliances. more than any other age group and more than twice as frequently as the same age group of women). Steel’s magnetic qualities not only make it a natural for posting family communications but it’s also the reason steel is the most recycled material in the world. “Because of that, steel is easily plucked by giant magnets from scrap yards and moved to be recycled into new cars, buildings or appliances,” said Bill Heenan, president of the Steel Recycling Institute (SRI). “Whetherit’s in the kitchen or the laundry room, once the appliance has reached the end of its useful life, it’s wash cycle, rinse cycle and then, recycle.” Moresteel is recycled than aluminum, paper and glass combined. Recycling rates are 100 percent for automobiles, 90 percent for appliances and 60 percent for cans. When it comes to communication, that’s a message many people find worth talking about.
