Recycling/Composting
Recycling, composting, nothing like it. The law of diminishing returns dictates that we engage in both in defence of our lifestyles, at the very least. So we do both. And once you're accustomed to it, it's no big deal. Really. In fact, it does very much assist in assuaging the guilt of uber-consumerism for which we're all fairly responsible in North American society.So we have a black box for papers, cardboards, and a blue box for all manner of recyclable plastics, glass, that kind of thing. These are collected with the normal garbage, weekly turn-about. During the summer months in addition to these collections there is also compostable collection, consisting of garden waste assembled in large paper compostable bags manufactured for that precise purpose.
We've noticed years back that since we began recycling the amount of garbage which we collect destined for the city dump/s has been reduced considerably. So much so that when our refuse is set out at the curb for collection two kitchen-waste-sized bags total the refuse at our house. For one thing, we maintain a kitchen composter into which all compostable kitchen waste goes. These include coffee grinds, tea bags, banana peels, melon rinds, egg shells (when I'm not collecting shells alone for use in the garden beds to surround the emerging hostas as a deterrent to slugs and snails which love to nibble on the tender leaves), leftover breads, crackers, dryer lint, corn husks and cobs, in fact any portion of fruits and vegetables which are inedible.
We started out many years ago with one composter. About five years ago, while strolling down our street on garbage collection day my husband noticed a still-boxed, never-used composter set out for garbage collection, and that became our second composter. So that, when one composter gets full and is left to ripen and eventually turn into black gold which we scatter each autumn on our garden beds, the other can begin the same process until full and ripe itself, at which time we return to the then-emptied composter. Two years ago, a backyard neighbour offered us yet another composter, telling us he just had no use for it. Into this third composter was tossed all garden wastes. Very handy indeed, as when, for example, in an excess of gardening zeal we decide to open yet another garden bed or border. Into the third composter then goes all of the turf which we've peeled back, fall leaf waste, summer gardening cut-backs, pine needles. And eventually the third composter too yields its share of black gold (garden compost) which further enriches our gardens. And guess what? We've a very modestly-sized back yard.
Here's a real corker: This Tuesday while ambling down the street with our two little dogs, headed for our daily ravine walk, we noticed that at one residence the owners had erroneously set out paper products instead of plastics, so that while everyone else's plastics had been collected, out at the bottom of the driveway at this house sat a forlorn six boxes of - books. Really. Books. My husband, never one to resist the allure of books, had a look at a few titles, told me I'd have to wait, whizzed back to our garage, brought out a trolley, and trundled all of the boxes into our garage.
The contents of these boxes contained books on world literature (past and current), economics (past and present), sociology, psychology, philosophy (ancient to the present time), history, the military, gardening, cooking/baking, atlases, dictionaries, physical activities/kinesiology, and health. Which, obviously, meant that the home-owners (unless the books were 'inherited') had a robust interest in a wide range of human activities and the sciences and literature presumably for the purpose of satisfying some inner hunger to expand their minds. So, how to square that with the observed intent to casually destroy those same vehicles for learning? Why not give them to someone, anyone, who could make good use of them? Absent that opportunity, why on earth not give them to, for example, the Salvation Army thrift shop or indeed any second-hand book shop?
For our part, we'll cull those books in which we have a particular interest (and that's quite a few of them) and the balance will be taken over to the neighbourhood Sally Ann, a mere two minute drive from our street.
Incredible.
posted by Pieface @ Thursday, April 28, 2005
<< Home