Humble Beginnings 


Jim's thoughts on how recycling is caring for our present and future earth. 

Well, it's about time! I just realized that I don't have an environmental category in my blog, per se. Yet I have been seen on Channel 5 touting the practicalities and even the mysteries of regular recycling. And I have to admit, I have been put to shame since I have been reading the blog, Learning to Step Lightly. My friend and Trinity Church fellow parishioner, Alexah, has for the last couple of years been participating in the Riot 4 Austerity project, and dutifully reports her efforts to voluntarily reduce her energy consumption by 90%. Even though I have done much less than I could to reduce the size of my "energy footprint" on this planet, I do feel in my heart that this is the direction in which we should and must move.

So today, I am going to talk about a practice that is near and dear to my heart, recycling. For years, my partner, Stephen, silently recycled in the background of our life together, but many health challenges reduced his ability to continue this practice. And so I found myself picking up where he left off several years ago, when I retired. I inherited the system that you see in the picture above and to the right. The yellow plastic containers (made of recycled plastic) have been sturdy over the years. We have one each for cardboard, paper, plastic, cans, and glass. Whenever either one of us uses a recyclable item, we rinse it and put it in the appropriate container. Most months, the bins don't fill up before the month is over.

Once the bins do start to overflow, it is time for a trip to the Operation Brightside Recycling Center , which is part of a broader not-for-profit area initiative, to which you can contribute. I further presort and prepare the items for recycling as is required by the Center. First I break down any remaining cardboard boxes. Larger ones I carry out and put on the flatbed of our truck, the smaller ones go in the blue recycling bin. We also recycle all the cardboard juice and milk containers by cutting the plastic nozzle out and flattening them. Next I sort the paper. At the Center there is a bin for office paper and several bins for mixed paper. Then I just dump the plastic containers into paper bags for transport to the Center. Next, I sort out the aluminum from the steel cans and lids and place them in separate bags. Finally, I sort the glass containers into clear, green, and brown (or do that at the Center).

It's not just that I am doing this because I believe in it. I also think that I am a good poster senior, His Royal Recycling Dudeness. I get all that good exercise, which amounts to a calorie or two. I get to actually use the little red Nissan, which has felt lonelier and lonelier as Stephen could garden less. I've gone from a consumer that is grouchy and reluctant to recycle to one who actually looks forward to "doing it right," if there is such a thing in the recycling arena.

Over at the Operation Brightside Recycling Center, fortunately only a couple of miles away by freeway, the place is organized and clean, as you can see by the picture, and I frequently encounter others who are doing their environmental service work alongside me. Today there was a dad with his primary school aged son, a young woman with a nose ring, and one other old duffer like me.

Last year, I was doing my monthly recycling duty, and some cameraman and his assistant from Channel 5 kept following me along as I put the stuff in each bin. I tried to just keep going and ignore him, but after I was finished, he came up and asked me if he could interview me. They videotaped me sitting on the tailgate of the truck. I got a lot of feedback from friends that had seen me on TV, though I never actually saw it myself. I don't think I said anything profound or memorable, but it did make me feel proud to speak in support of a practice that I feel everyone must embrace.

As far as the resizing footprint metaphor goes, clearly this does contribute to that. Less trees cut down, less energy used, things going to other places than landfills. And most importantly, it made me aware of how very many products Stephen and I were continually using. It is truly shocking, and we do not like to engage in showy or mindless consumption. If you don't recycle, you should try it. Just think. We two use the back of a truckload every month. Now multiply that by a couple of billion. That is a LOT of material to be using on this Earth. 

Posted: Fri - March 6, 2009 at 04:00 PM          

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