Day 22 -- Recycle

I'm not too "green". I make really small efforts at conservation like turning out lights, running the dishwasher and washer/dryer only with a full load and at off hours, don't overwater the lawn or overuse the a/c. And. I. Recycle. Whoop-de-doooo!

I love doing my weekly tour of the house, putting old newspapers, boxes, magazines, bottles, junk mail, printer paper in the blue recycle bin. My mantra is "every little bit counts". A few months ago (before NICE started), I got a little indignant when I saw someone drive up with an old beat-up truck and go through my trash can and remove all the plastic bottles and aluminum cans. HOW DARE THEY TAKE MY TRASH !! (Key operative word: "trash") Then my neighbor (the one who knows everything that happens on the block) put out an email alert for everyone on the block to stop "these people" from taking trash from the cans. (Again, when you dispose of trash, does it matter who takes it? And it is going to be recycled, and by someone who probably needs the cash.) She was just concerned about potential crime...unknown persons regularly driving down the street might discern who is not home during the day or on vacation and that knowledge might invite a break-in. Seemed a reasonable request.

So I put all the "valuable" recycleables waaaay on the bottom of the can, with the "undesireable" newspapers, magazines, boxes, junk mail on the top, to discourage rummaging. However, this was not a deterrent. Early in the evening I heard cans clanking and came outside to politely ask the trash-stealers not to open our trash cans. Personal property, it's against the law...blah-blah-blah. They politely apologized and left. But the next week, a different truck came. Again I asked they cease and desist. They too nodded politely and drove off, but returned in the wee hours of the morning when everyone was asleep. Now I was steamed. And determined to "show them". I made a note that next trash day, I'd put the recycleables out at seven in the morning, right before trash pick-up!

Then I got some sense. What difference did it make who took our recycleables? My long-in-coming revelation was that the people who trolled the neighborhood recycle cans most likely NEEDED the money. It was hard, dirty work to collect bottles and cans for a refund of a few pennies. But for these people, perhaps a few pennies (times a hundred cans) might mean a hot meal for their family. Our city and state officials have mis-managed and wasted our funds and we're in such a deep debt that I thought "why should the irresponsible goverment get the profits from my bottles and cans? Why can't a poor, hard-working person, trying to feed a family in these tough times, have that cash instead?" AND, the recycleables are MINE...I paid the 5 cent fee on each one...and they are mine to dispose of how I pleased. And it pleased me that a needy person might take them for a refund instead of the screwed-up city.

Today I put keep the "valuable" bottles and cans in a separate bag, and put it on top of the blue can for easy, quiet access. That's NICE.