Thinking Green...

Recycling for a greener planet earth is not only important, but it is easy to accomplish.

In our Houston subdivision as well as many other subdivisions all across our great land, many garbage collection companies offer bins for recycling. I am continually amazed to walk along and see just how many people do not participate in recycling their plastic, paper, cans, etc.

One will never convince me that my neighbors do not use such products considering that practically everything we use is sent home in those containers. What? Is it just too hard to separate these things and transport them to the curb? Nonsense!

If we all cared a bit more about our planet, this is among the simplest of things to do which has major impact on our landfills and other areas created to contain our waste.

In our house, we try and re-use containers such as cottage cheese that are NOT recyclable at least one or more times before we add them to our trash. I once read that if every container was utilized just once more as we attempt to do, this alone would cut down on land fill waste to a huge extent. It makes sense. Mountains of trash are created each and every day and it all has to go somewhere. Planet Earth is only so large.

If one puts their mind to it, these non-recycle-able containers can be used for other purposes. Bits of leftover food? Collecting grease and other things and then discarding when full? Giving gifts of food to others and not worrying about getting the containers back. Why go out and purchase discard-able containers to give food away when you are already throwing out perfectly good containers?

Apparently a big industry that has evolved is shipping much of our waste to places like China.

We all know that much has been discarded into our oceans. What next? Are we going to send ship loads into outer space? Wouldn't surprise me!

A man that once worked for my husband had lived in South Africa with his family before moving over here. According to him, NOTHING was wasted! Old tires that might be discarded are turned into the soles of shoes. He was actually shocked at what is placed out on trash day over here. It was true culture shock for him to view this! According to this man, hardly anything was placed out to discard in Africa. If one WANTED to get rid of something, it was easy. Put it outside and in a very short time........it was simply gone. Most everything is put to some other use over there.

Once when vacationing in Canada, we entered a grocery store to pick up a few items. We were totally surprised when they asked us if we wanted a bag to hold our purchases. We replied, "Yes, of course!" We quickly found out that the bags were not free. We PAID for that grocery bag! If the grocery stores would begin doing that over here, I am sure that people would start carrying more of their own bags into the stores and using less of those plastic and paper bags.

Many of our grocery stores are encouraging the use of re-usable bags to contain our purchases. They normally sell them for about 99 cents in this area. This is certainly a reasonable price to pay to help cut down on waste. We now carry multiples of them in our car and use them over and over when we remember to take them INTO the stores with us!

More than once, especially as we were forming our new earth friendly habit, one of us would dash out to the car to retrieve the cloth bags while the other one of us stood in the grocery line to check out with our purchases.

Stores like Costco and Sams do not furnish bags. They simply offer the boxes and containers that were used in shipping items to their stores as containers to carry things home. This is efficient and green and the customers know what to expect when shopping there.

Of course in many countries, people routinely shop at their fresh open air markets carrying baskets and bags with them to take their purchases back home. Often those vendors who live in the area and who get to know their customers are there once or twice a week.

I loved seeing all the fresh veggies, flowers and other offerings when I was visiting my friend in southern Germany. To this day, I have a mental picture of the baskets filled with fresh produce and supplies for upcoming meals being carried away by rosy cheeked shoppers. All of this was very friendly and very green.

On the home front, my husband was slightly embarrassed one day when we were walking in our old neighborhood and I saw a discarded grocery cart at the curb on garbage day. It was from a store that had closed in our area. Why and how it got there, I have no idea.

At the time, I was volunteering at an assistance ministry and part of what they did was aid people by giving food from their pantry. I knew that another grocery cart would be very helpful in carrying groceries to these client's vehicles. So, I checked to make sure that it was operable and walked that grocery cart all the way back to our home. Another volunteer was happy to pick it up in his truck and take it to the ministry.

It made quite the spectacle........my husband walking ahead of me with our two dogs on their leashes, trying his best to disassociate himself from me........the "bag lady" wheeling this very squeaky grocery cart along. Some neighbors that we knew by sight......mainly we knew their animal's names.......smiled as I explained what I was doing.

That repainted grocery cart that would have become part of another landfill is still in service at that ministry as far as I know. A little oiling took care of the squeaking and it has taken on a new serviceable life.

I have gone so far as to pick up perfectly good things from the curb on garbage days and then donate them to thrift shops where it helps to raise funds for people in need. Why don't people take advantage of all the many charities that will happily pick up things that can be reused? Or why not drive a few miles and donate them instead of tossing them out to be put into a landfill where it will do no good? It pains me to see good serviceable things that are headed to a garbage dump!

Perhaps I am simply more in touch with the good that assistance ministries make of clothing; shoes; pots and pans, furniture and miscellaneous other things that people no longer need or desire. People that have lost everything they owned due to fire or other disasters can be given these things to use as they piece their lives back together. Women and children fleeing from abusive situations often leave with the clothing on their backs. There are countless uses for good serviceable items. They can also simply be sold in the thrift shops which raise funding to help pay for medications that people cannot afford as an example.

The truth is that most of us can do a much better job of recycling things with very little extra effort. If everyone did just a little extra in this respect, the effects would be monumental and much good would be the result.

Consider donating used magazines and books to one's local library.....or simply give them to friends to read and then encourage them to pass them along to others.

If you have the space, consider starting a compost pile. Your other plants will thank you for this nourishing source of natural fertilizer.

Certainly take your old televisions to recycling areas instead of adding them to your trash. Harmful chemicals can be leached into the soil from them; also used batteries and fluorescent light bulbs; paint; insecticides, etc. need to be taken to appropriate recycling areas.

Let's all do our part in saving good old Mother Earth. For the present time, it is the only planet on which we can presently live for any length of time.

Perhaps in the future, when this planet becomes one giant garbage heap, we will be able to colonize another place in outer space. But for now.....get busy and do more recycling!!! Think Green!