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November 15, 2007
It All Comes Back To You...
Well, most of it does, anyway. Friends, today, Thursday November 15th, 2007, is America Recycles Day! Whoo-Hoo! Is it party time? Where do we hang our recycled streamers from? Who is bringing beverages in recycled cans? Anyone? Anyone?
Probably that silence you hear is the sound of apathy. Indifference, perhaps, even, dare I say it, ignorance. Let me begin by saying that I am no tree hugger. I waste gas and electricity with the best of 'em. I run my air conditioner waaaay too long in the summer. I stand for moments at a time with the 'fridge door open, wondering where the food is. (Or where it has gone.) I let the water run in an endless stream as I wait for it to warm up. No, wait. I'm not going to feel guilty for that one. I need hot water. But I do my part. I try to turn off lights when they aren't in use. Beside the hot water thing, I try to save water when I can. I certainly don't wash my car in this exceptional drought we are in. (Of course, I wouldn't wash it even if we weren't. Not that big a deal to me. Ask my step-mom in law!) I even encourage the use of aluminum foil during cooking, so we save room in the dishwasher, and save water in the long run! (Megan disagrees with me on that one, but since she is the one doing the cooking, I guess I'll just have to deal.)
But I do more. Much more. I have made it my personal crusade to recycle more. I recycle cans, bottles, cardboard, old jokes, and yes, sometimes water. (Indirectly, though. At our fire training center, the water we use in our burn buildings during live fire exercises, is recycled back to a pond, in sort of a never ending cycle.) At work, I have started a recycling program at our three stations. When someone throws a bottle or a can in the garbage, I simply say, "Hey! That doesn't go in there!" To which some roll their eyes, pick it up, and place it the green, yellow or black bins we have for recyclables. (Guilt is great when applied properly! Thanks Family!) Others leave it where it is, causing me to go "dumpster diving" into places I really shouldn't, but I can't help it. I feel like I am just doing my part. At home, we recycle all of the above. We recycle the never ending supply of junk mail. We feed our recycle bin healthy amounts of political advertising. (Phone books we take to the big dumpster, 'cause I feel bad that some city worker might hurt his back lifting my bin while weighted down with useless phone books.) And I can't wait for December 26th. Why? Two reasons. One: no more Christmas music. (Sorry. Don't like it. Well, I take that back. It's not that I don't like the music, just in very short bursts. I don't like it beginning on Novemeber 1st, or hearing it every time I go into a store. Overkill.) The other: each and every one of those self serving, not-asked-for, tree killing catalogues is going right into my recycle bin! (Which means I may have to purchase an extra one from the city, since we would overfill the bin two and maybe three times over!!!)
To me, there is a certain joy in tossing that which serves no purpose other than to elevate your blood pressure and make you mad. For me, my day gets just a bit brighter when I can toss out phone books, ads from pizzerias (I am not sure I spelled that right, but I am positive I didn't want to write 'pizza parlor'. Damn.) Of course, my days would be that much better were I not to receive these things in the first place, but that is a situation that is way, way, way out of my control. I tried. They won the battle, but I will win the war.
But there is something that nags at me. Something, that while it doesn't keep me up at night, is still irritating. I can't help but wonder if the recyclables I work so hard to recycle are ending up in the same place my trash goes. Sure, they are two different trucks that pick my throw-a-ways up, but I can't escape the feeling that something hinky is going on.
I guess what I am saying is that I want to protect what we have for my Boys. I can't change the world, but I can change my world, and that is precisely what I am going to do. I am going to increase my efforts (and my guilt peddling) to try to show others the benefits of recycling. I am going to do my part to try and leave this place a little better than the way I found it. That's a daunting task, but I am up for it.
Will you join me?
Posted by Jon at November 15, 2007 12:26 PM