The other day I went to our local recycling/garbage disposal center. While waiting in line with my pickup, I watched the guy in front of me unload a bunch of plastic bins and storage containers, lids, and buckets. All appeared to be almost brand new and in great condition. Anyway, he threw them all in the trash compactor and hit the smash button. I could not help but to think of the waste I witnessed. Lots of people could have used those plastic storage bins/containers and maybe even paid a little bit for them. Or, he could have dropped them off at a local charity organization where they either sell those items or give them away for free.
The older I get, the less I throw out. I don't know if this is due to my age, or being too cheap, or just wanting to be more green in my life. For example, I got into raising chickens for a number of reasons, but among them was to create an ecosystem where Dear Wife and I feed most of our kitchen scraps and waste to the chickens. I shred almost all paper and light cardboard that we get in the mail and/or packaging of items we buy. Just those simple changes in our life have reduced the amount of material we send to the landfill. Add to that, we recycle our metal cans, glass and plastics. All said, we have reduced our "household" garbage from 2-3 trash bags per week to 1-2 bags per month.
I try to live up to the ideal of the 3 R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In the recent years, I have added a fourth R to the list - Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle. I think we should encourage more Repurposing of items, if possible. For example, when the swing set swing broke, I had to buy a new one. I was able to Repurpose the chains to hang my brooder heat lamps from the ceiling. I kept the rubber swing seat to use the material to make cheap, flexible, hinges. I kept a blown out inner tube from a bike to make a strip of rubber to wrap around round objects as a clamp. Kind of like wrapping an Ace bandage around your ankle or leg, for example. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
Dear Wife practices only the Recycle portion of my 4 R's. I don't quite understand her, but, I live with it.
On the other hand, I have accumulated maybe "too much" stuff in my garage for reusing/repurposing. Do you need some packing filler? - yeah, I got that. Do you need some plastic for a project? - yeah, I got old storage bin tops that are broken. Need a pop bottle funnel? - yeah, I got a number of empty plastic 2 liter pop bottles ready to cut up. Et cetera.....
I might be "too cheap" for my own good, and I could just throw away most of my accumulated stuff in the garage and buy a new "whatever" if/when I needed. I have enough money so that is not my concern. But I just get a better feeling knowing that I was able to reuse or repurpose something that otherwise would have just ended up in a landfill.
Thanks for letting me ramble a little bit. If anyone has thoughts on this subject, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Take care.
The older I get, the less I throw out. I don't know if this is due to my age, or being too cheap, or just wanting to be more green in my life. For example, I got into raising chickens for a number of reasons, but among them was to create an ecosystem where Dear Wife and I feed most of our kitchen scraps and waste to the chickens. I shred almost all paper and light cardboard that we get in the mail and/or packaging of items we buy. Just those simple changes in our life have reduced the amount of material we send to the landfill. Add to that, we recycle our metal cans, glass and plastics. All said, we have reduced our "household" garbage from 2-3 trash bags per week to 1-2 bags per month.I try to live up to the ideal of the 3 R's - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. In the recent years, I have added a fourth R to the list - Reduce, Reuse, Repurpose, Recycle. I think we should encourage more Repurposing of items, if possible. For example, when the swing set swing broke, I had to buy a new one. I was able to Repurpose the chains to hang my brooder heat lamps from the ceiling. I kept the rubber swing seat to use the material to make cheap, flexible, hinges. I kept a blown out inner tube from a bike to make a strip of rubber to wrap around round objects as a clamp. Kind of like wrapping an Ace bandage around your ankle or leg, for example. I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
Dear Wife practices only the Recycle portion of my 4 R's. I don't quite understand her, but, I live with it.
On the other hand, I have accumulated maybe "too much" stuff in my garage for reusing/repurposing. Do you need some packing filler? - yeah, I got that. Do you need some plastic for a project? - yeah, I got old storage bin tops that are broken. Need a pop bottle funnel? - yeah, I got a number of empty plastic 2 liter pop bottles ready to cut up. Et cetera.....
I might be "too cheap" for my own good, and I could just throw away most of my accumulated stuff in the garage and buy a new "whatever" if/when I needed. I have enough money so that is not my concern. But I just get a better feeling knowing that I was able to reuse or repurpose something that otherwise would have just ended up in a landfill.
Thanks for letting me ramble a little bit. If anyone has thoughts on this subject, I'd like to hear your thoughts. Take care.
Take the 23 and me DNA diagnostic, and I will pop up as 100% match.
We do get good service
