Ode to the Garbage Man
Whether you believe the reports about global warming or not, there are still issues that impact our environment that we can do something about. No Impact Man and The Lazy Environmentalist have given me a sense of my own power when it comes to my daily choices that affect my world.
For example, how much can I reduce the amount of garbage I personally put in the landfill? It's great when it disappears from my front sidewalk, but the reality is we are shipping our garbage to other countries. So along with the diet challenge, I started to become more conscious of what is going into my garbage can.
I checked with my city and found out that besides recycling the usual glass, plastic, corrugated cardboard and newspapers, I can also recycle cardboard mac and cheese and cereal boxes. As far as plastic goes, I can only recycle the little triangles containing 1,2,3 or 5. Lids of any kind, however, are not recyclable where I live.
The grocery stores will take my plastic bags (including the plastic that comes around toilet paper and paper towels) and recycle them. I do my best to remember to bring my reusable cloth bags into the store and farmers market. I am only about 80% on remembering.
I do like to garden, so I have a compost pile in my backyard for kitchen scraps and shredded paper. Since we have been buying local meat, we no longer have Styrofoam trays and plastic wrap. The meat I buy comes in sealed plastic bags, which I wash and dry and recycle. The milk and yogurt we are buying from the farmers market come in returnable glass bottles. Produce from the farmers market gets dumped into my cloth bag with no plastic packaging.
So in making choices about what I buy, I look at the packaging and think, "Can I recycle, return or reuse this?" Before I throw something out, I think, "Is there a better way to purchase/make/reduce this without creating waste? Can I make a choice that will be easier on the environment and on the garbage man?
Today I offer a free gift: a happy little song by Deborah Henson-Conant that always makes me smile, "Ode to the Garbage Man." Click here: http://www.youtube.com/user/hipharpist#p/u/10/yxBodB9Bx2w
For example, how much can I reduce the amount of garbage I personally put in the landfill? It's great when it disappears from my front sidewalk, but the reality is we are shipping our garbage to other countries. So along with the diet challenge, I started to become more conscious of what is going into my garbage can.
I checked with my city and found out that besides recycling the usual glass, plastic, corrugated cardboard and newspapers, I can also recycle cardboard mac and cheese and cereal boxes. As far as plastic goes, I can only recycle the little triangles containing 1,2,3 or 5. Lids of any kind, however, are not recyclable where I live.
The grocery stores will take my plastic bags (including the plastic that comes around toilet paper and paper towels) and recycle them. I do my best to remember to bring my reusable cloth bags into the store and farmers market. I am only about 80% on remembering.
I do like to garden, so I have a compost pile in my backyard for kitchen scraps and shredded paper. Since we have been buying local meat, we no longer have Styrofoam trays and plastic wrap. The meat I buy comes in sealed plastic bags, which I wash and dry and recycle. The milk and yogurt we are buying from the farmers market come in returnable glass bottles. Produce from the farmers market gets dumped into my cloth bag with no plastic packaging.
So in making choices about what I buy, I look at the packaging and think, "Can I recycle, return or reuse this?" Before I throw something out, I think, "Is there a better way to purchase/make/reduce this without creating waste? Can I make a choice that will be easier on the environment and on the garbage man?
Today I offer a free gift: a happy little song by Deborah Henson-Conant that always makes me smile, "Ode to the Garbage Man." Click here: http://www.youtube.com/user/hipharpist#p/u/10/yxBodB9Bx2w
I remember about 20% of the time... unfortunately, it's not the other 20%.
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