Waste not, want not

I stole today's topic from another blog I was reading a while ago. The blogger made the point that we, as a country, are a very wasteful lot. And I agree.

Now, let me back up a bit. I was (and still sometimes am) very guilty of living my life in the disposable society. I used to throw away my plastic bags, my cans and glass, newspaper, etc. I would not think twice about throwing the bananas out when one little brown spot appeared, and I would certainly run the dishwasher practically empty.

That said, living with my husband has opened my eyes up as to how other people in the world conserve. In Germany, like my husband says, they recycle anything that doesn't get up and walk away by itself. There is a bin for compost, one for paper, one for other recycle materials. Not to mention your regular garbage can. Do I think this is excessive? Sure is, but the trash pickup takes these items from their home on a weekly basis. With it being that easy, I think I could get on board with that. We do pay for recycling pickup at our home, so at least some items aren't dumped in the landfill. But Allied Waste still doesn't take our Styrofoam, any plastic item not marked with a "1" or a "2", or most plastic bags.

But really, my whole point doesn't start and stop with recycling. We waste food like crazy; tear down houses just to build new ones; use gasoline like we make it or something; leave every light on in the house; throw shit away when we are "done" with it. Why throw away that tired cabinet? Can't you sand it down and slap a new coat of paint on it? Eat those leftovers! Turn out the light if you leave the room!

I live near a land fill that grows exponentially every year. If we continue to live disposable, eventually we lose. I'm not a granola crunching tree-hugger with bare feet and dirty hair, but this shit is just common sense. If anything I've said will make you stop and think about tossing that newspaper in the garbage can, then it's all good...