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It Ain't Easy Being Green

Friday, July 27, 2007
Or is it?

This post has nothing to do with Writing and more to do with Life As I Know It. (psst, I'm finally learning how to use the labeling feature. I know. I'm slow.)

Today is Trash/Recycling day in my neighborhood and as I was hauling out the recycling, it brought to mind a post I read once -- heaven knows where -- that the poster didn't recycle. At all. And seemed really proud of herself, too. She refused to recycle, like it was all part of some evil government plot or something.

I've known people who don't recycle really vigorously, but at least they make some effort. Like, they might not recycle plastic, but they'll toss their soda cans in the recycling bin. I mean, if the city has arranged for pick-up of recyclable items, it doesn't seem too much of a stretch, y'know?

Then there are the recycling apostles, come to save the world from post-consumer waste. Ed Begley, Jr. comes to mind. I watched a show he did earlier this year about his day-to-day life called Living With Ed. Wow. I felt kinda bad for his wife, but it was funny. You have to admire that kind of passion.

I fall somewhere in the middle. I recycle almost everything that my local ordinances allow -- newspapers, aluminumn cans, glass, paperboard, cardboard, some plastics. I rinse out containers and make the kids take them to the recycling bin in the laundry room. In SC, it annoyed me to no end that they didn't pick up glass or paperboard, like cereal containers. Do you know how much cereal this family goes through?!?

I'm not perfect, by any means. Plenty of stuff gets thrown away that I could recycle, but it requires a certain amount of extra effort.

For instance, I just bought school supplies. Things like glue sticks come with the paperboard on the back and the little plastic bubble in the front. Since the city doesn't take the plastic bubbles, I'd have to separate them, toss the plastic and recycle the paperboard. Ummm, yeah. Now that I've written it all out, I might do it, but on a regular basis -- honestly -- it's probably not going to happen.

So let's talk.

Do you recycle?
Would you recycle?
Would you be the mom who takes the paperboard off the glue stick package?
Do you think recycling is a waste of time, effort and tax dollars? Why?

On a slightly different, but still green, tack:
What other options for energy saving do you currently employ, i.e. energy saving lightbulbs, you take public transportation by choice, you drive an energy efficient vehicle?

What options intrigue you?

I love wind farms. We drove past several in Europe and I thought they were very striking looking.

The local community college used Green Roof Blocks to help cool the buildings. Nifty!

E-Books! Some pretty green technology there!

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7/27/2007 08:46:00 AM : : Sela Carsen : : 7 Comments

7 Comments:

I recycle. I have energy efficient light bulbs. But let me tell you, my rose colored glasses came off the day I saw the garbage man throw the recycleables in with the garbage.

By Blogger Eva Gale, at 8:48 PM  

I do recycle. Lotsa cat food cans, lol.
I also use the energy-efficient bulbs in some places (but my writing light--I need something softer).
I've also planted trees on my property. Can't get one of the new vehicles at the moment, and I work very late hours so no public transportation, but Ol' Blue's pretty good on gas.

But it's almost become a sad joke to me that the 'little people' do their bit, but the real offenders do nothing.
Working for the government, you get to see the incredible amount of wasted resources. It's shameful.

By Blogger raine, at 1:20 AM  

Yep. Reduce, recycle, reuse. I also have compost heap and chooks for recycled food, energy saving light globes, and used to recycle gray water into the garden (haven't had the $ to set this house up like that yet.) There may come a time when we run out. I don't want to hurtle us to it faster than I have to.

By Blogger Babe King, at 5:42 AM  

Eva, I've seen it, too. When we moved, we had dozens of cardboard boxes, right? So, like a good little mover, I broke them down and set them out for the recycling man. Who left them. So I got on the phone and said, "What's the deal?" He was supposed to get them, but he left them for the trash man!!

Next week, I went out and stood there until the recycling man put them in his truck -- amid much put-upon sighing and grumbling.

I know the system doesn't always work the way it should, but if I don't do it at my level, then the process can't start at all.

Raine, I agree that it's sad that the worst offenders are the people who set up the system in the first place. It makes no sense. Oh wait. It's the gov't. It's not supposed to make sense. *gg*

Trees are great! You know, in my head, I have the most beautiful picture of your property -- so green.

Babe, you're awesome. Because I don't garden, I've never put much thought into a compost heap, but I wonder what else I could do with it. And gray water recycling? I need to do some research on that.

By Blogger Sela Carsen, at 8:08 AM  

We recycle the paper/cardboard, tins and plastic and we have the mower set on 'mulch', and when it starts to heat up around here I open all windows and the patio door for a nice cross ventilation effect, rather than tune on the fan or cranking up the a/c.

By Blogger vanessa jaye, at 8:10 PM  

We're looking at windmills/solar too for the next house. And you're right, it has to start somewhere.

By Blogger Eva Gale, at 10:58 PM  

Jaye, we've put in new ceiling fans here so we don't have to run the AC as high. Of course, I like it warmer than everyone else, so if I can run around the house in shorts during the summer, I'm happy. The trouble comes during winter when I have to wear layers and sweaters in the house! I hate it!

Eva, I so want to visit your house.

By Blogger Sela Carsen, at 8:47 AM  

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