Art used to work for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Chicago and he's always taken Reduce, Reuse and Recyling very seriously.
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Three decades ago, the kids and I took the train into Chicago to surprise him with a platter of giant Smiley cookies for his staff on his 50th birthday.
We have solar panels. He is watchful to make sure everything that should be recycled goes in the proper bin. He's also constantly vigilant about not wasting water. He doesn't like to throw much away. Our garbage bin is usually so empty that we allow our neighbors to put their trash in our garbage bin.
So then I was wondering. I can reduce too, you know.
We are always the ones to host all the holiday/birthday get-togethers for our family. It requires a lot of paper plates, utensils and carry-home Styrofoam containers for everyone. Well, we got a few more Corelle dinner plates so people can use those as well as our regular utensils and I can just put it in the dishwasher along with all the other bowls, etc. we use.
It becomes second nature. Waste not, want not is a good maxim to live by.
ReplyDeleteSue is very good about saving those aluminum 'pie' plates.
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed learning about what Art used to do and the story of you taking the cookies on his birthday. My parents lived through rationing and were very frugal. I didn’t realize they were recycling before it became the norm. These teachings are very much in me still.
ReplyDeleteSending leftovers home with guests is part of my wife's culture as well so we save all our plastic sour cream, cottage cheese, etc. type containers in a cupboard and bring those out as people are getting ready to leave. With the snap on lids, they are good for liquids too.
ReplyDeleteWonderful ideas! -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteMr. Art is just SO cool and cute in his uniform. Interesting to have solar panel usage in mind when running your household items. Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeleteOne question: do you compost too? You've got everything covered otherwise.
ReplyDeleteKay of Musings: We used to compost, but I’m afraid we have no space here in Hawaii to do so.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I do recycle, John and I watched a very disturbing (and depressing) documentary on what happens to much of what we recycle. :(
ReplyDeleteMy parents were Depression kids too, and my mother grew up on a farm, so I picked up quite a bit of it. I do, confession time, use a bit of plastic wrap from time to time, though. But sandwiches? wax paper and an elastic band. I think my kids were the only ones in their lunch rooms with those. My grandkid had all recyclables and a cloth zipped bag. Very grand.
ReplyDeleteAt our local hall, we save metal trays, even though we are not supposed to by decree. But we do clean them very well. And hide them very well when the inspector is due.
Good job! I like to think of recycling as a game where the goal is to put as little into the trash as possible.
ReplyDeleteI've always felt gratitude to Art for his career in our and the Earth's benefit!! Aloha from townside
ReplyDeleteWell, old grump here says there's still too much waste.
ReplyDeleteIf everyone did like Art does, we wouldn't have a problem with waste any more. But he is an exception. Love that sweet picture of him in uniform, though!
ReplyDeleteVery good! We need to encourage the generations after us. They do know how to put things in the blue and green bins but their mentality is that of discard and not reuse.
ReplyDeleteThose are all very good ideas. We hardly ever have take out containers, but if we do we try to reuse them. My biggest sin in using a lot of plastic wrap.
ReplyDeleteWell done.
ReplyDeleteI read that over 40% of home heat in Sweden is provided by geothermal heat pump systems. When I see things like that, and read posts like yours, the thing that I know for sure, Kay is that conservation is not something that the US pays enough attention to.
ReplyDeleteIt is so difficult to work hard at this, when the 1% ignore it all. It can be discouraging. Thank goodness for those of us who try.
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