Paper or plastic?
My parents have always been recyclers. I remember as a kid, my elementary school used to collect cans for cash, and my family, avid Pepsi drinkers, were fully committed to donating our empty cans for the greater good. We even bought a can crusher that let me flatten cans in an instant, without having to stomp or break a sweat. My mom used reusable grocery bags before it was cool, and before that she always insisted on paper grocery bags, much to the dismay of the baggers. I definitely inherited these traits honestly.
When you go to school in Florida, you learn a lot about the environment and the impact humans can have on it. I can't be certain how many pictures of sea turtles, their necks (or worse-- entire shells) trapped in plastic 6-pack rings I was shown over the years, but it had an effect on my life. To this day, I still cut the rings into strips to ensure that once those nefarious pieces of plastic head over to a landfill, and then into the ocean, no sea turtles will be harmed by my wife's love of craft beer.
Once we moved into our new community in Charlotte, we realized recycling was not picked up by the city. Since we were on the HOA board (accidentally, for something like 8 years) we petitioned the city to add recycling to our neighborhood and all was right with the world again. We did our best to remember our reusable grocery bags on each visit to the store and used the random plastic bags we collected for cleaning out the litter box. These behaviors were not abnormal to the people in the city, and we never got weird looks when we said "Oh, we have our own bags!" In fact, two grocery store chains in that area give you a $.05 discount for each bag you bring with you. Five cents is certainly not life-changing, but it's a reminder to me that humans can do really simple things to help the environment. My sister and brother both live in the DC metro area, and if you go to the store there-- ANY store... grocery stores, Target, even stores like World Market-- and don't have reusable bags, you are charged $.05 for each bag you use. Instead of an incentive, they penalize people for their choice. And you know what? Everyone always has a reusable bag with them, because it's not about the nickel you're losing-- it's about so much more than that.
So in 2013 we move to the Appalachian region of Virginia. As you've read previously, this is an area in which natural resources were at one time very rich, and a few people got extremely rich by removing coal from these mountains for decades. We have beautiful mountains, filled with trees and wildlife... and a lot of our trees are being cut down by logging companies who see wood as the next coal. We have lovely rivers, which are incredibly biodiverse despite the runoff from coal plants. And recycling isn't really a thing here. If you go hiking in these beautiful hills, you will see amazing animals, gigantic trees, ancient structures, cool rock formations, and garbage. Everywhere. A good friend of mine who is a "from-here" spent a day cleaning up the spot of land she and her husband adopted which is in a national forest, near two popular tourism sites. She said at first it was so fun, being in nature with friends and cleaning up garbage because she felt like she was really making a difference for the wildlife in the area. After 2 hours and 8 garbage bags, she was no longer in a good mood. Instead, she felt an extreme sense of anger at the people who come into the mountains and use them as their own personal landfill.
Some people in this area possesses a mentality that is so difficult to describe. When I was growing up, living with two parents whose parents lived through the depression, we reused a lot of stuff (my dad still insists on reusing aluminum foil, which causes my sister to yell "WE ARE NOT LIVING IN THE DEPRESSION!" every time she sees him do it). But many in this area live in a Walmart mentality. Stuff doesn't last, so just throw it away and get something new. You'd think that in a region that was completely devastated by the coal industry (and yes, I mean devastated. Sure, people had a great life when coal was being removed from the mountains, but once those companies left in the dead of night and declared bankruptcy, people lost their jobs, health insurance, and hopes and dreams in one fell swoop)... So you'd think that the people who live here would realize that natural resources, particularly the non-renewable kind, should be held close to the heart and protected. You'd think that local government officials would be screaming from the mountain tops "NEVER AGAIN!" when companies come in here and continue to devastate the land. But that's not the case. And children don't learn the value of reusing or recycling or helping the environment, because we all know children do what they see.
In our city, we pay for garbage pick up-- many towns around us have to take their garbage to the dump themselves, which I think is a giant deterrent for doing the right thing. Half of our small city also gets their recycling picked up... and we are on the half that doesn't. When I called the city to ask why our street didn't make the cut, I wasn't given a clear answer. I think the woman on the phone was confused as to why I'd want to be able to recycle from my doorstep. So, we collect and separate our cans, plastic containers, and paper products and drive them to the dump ourselves. It is unclear if the items we put in the recycling bins actually go to a recycling center, but I sleep at night knowing that at least we are doing our best.
We still use our reusable grocery bags but have had some odd experiences when we do. Once, the checker attempted to scan my bag, assuming I was purchasing it. When I explained that I planned to use it to bring my groceries home instead of the plastic bags that are so prolific at Walmart, she gave me an odd look and shook her head. No doubt she was thinking "Coal hater" in her head. She's not wrong.
I've contacted the corporate offices of the two main grocery stores in our area, and Walmart, asking that they consider giving a $.05 discount for people who bring their own reusable grocery bags, and each time I was given a lame excuse as to why that wouldn't be possible, and why it's not necessary.
On days I forget my resuable bags, I try to just carry my items out rather than use a bag for them, but when I say "Oh I don't need a bag for that" I am given really odd looks. I'm not talking about a grocery cart full of items here-- I mean a loaf of bread, or a few apples, or a gallon of milk. We often joke about this with our "come here" friends, especially the way items are bagged... it's been noted that often, you will get one bag per item. It infuriates me when that happens, so I used to re-bag my items before I left the store, so I'd use as few bags as possible. I used to hand the bags back to the checker and say, "I don't need these, you can use them for the next customer." This action was always met with an odd smile as the checker placed the unused bags into the trash can at her feet; I don't think there was anything diabolical associated with the action, I think it just has to do with ignorance.
Once, I was at a grocery store on a Sunday morning after Mass getting a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs. I requested that my milk not be bagged. "See, it has a handle. I can just carry it out." But my eggs were double bagged. Just in case.
When you go to school in Florida, you learn a lot about the environment and the impact humans can have on it. I can't be certain how many pictures of sea turtles, their necks (or worse-- entire shells) trapped in plastic 6-pack rings I was shown over the years, but it had an effect on my life. To this day, I still cut the rings into strips to ensure that once those nefarious pieces of plastic head over to a landfill, and then into the ocean, no sea turtles will be harmed by my wife's love of craft beer.
Once we moved into our new community in Charlotte, we realized recycling was not picked up by the city. Since we were on the HOA board (accidentally, for something like 8 years) we petitioned the city to add recycling to our neighborhood and all was right with the world again. We did our best to remember our reusable grocery bags on each visit to the store and used the random plastic bags we collected for cleaning out the litter box. These behaviors were not abnormal to the people in the city, and we never got weird looks when we said "Oh, we have our own bags!" In fact, two grocery store chains in that area give you a $.05 discount for each bag you bring with you. Five cents is certainly not life-changing, but it's a reminder to me that humans can do really simple things to help the environment. My sister and brother both live in the DC metro area, and if you go to the store there-- ANY store... grocery stores, Target, even stores like World Market-- and don't have reusable bags, you are charged $.05 for each bag you use. Instead of an incentive, they penalize people for their choice. And you know what? Everyone always has a reusable bag with them, because it's not about the nickel you're losing-- it's about so much more than that.
So in 2013 we move to the Appalachian region of Virginia. As you've read previously, this is an area in which natural resources were at one time very rich, and a few people got extremely rich by removing coal from these mountains for decades. We have beautiful mountains, filled with trees and wildlife... and a lot of our trees are being cut down by logging companies who see wood as the next coal. We have lovely rivers, which are incredibly biodiverse despite the runoff from coal plants. And recycling isn't really a thing here. If you go hiking in these beautiful hills, you will see amazing animals, gigantic trees, ancient structures, cool rock formations, and garbage. Everywhere. A good friend of mine who is a "from-here" spent a day cleaning up the spot of land she and her husband adopted which is in a national forest, near two popular tourism sites. She said at first it was so fun, being in nature with friends and cleaning up garbage because she felt like she was really making a difference for the wildlife in the area. After 2 hours and 8 garbage bags, she was no longer in a good mood. Instead, she felt an extreme sense of anger at the people who come into the mountains and use them as their own personal landfill.
Some people in this area possesses a mentality that is so difficult to describe. When I was growing up, living with two parents whose parents lived through the depression, we reused a lot of stuff (my dad still insists on reusing aluminum foil, which causes my sister to yell "WE ARE NOT LIVING IN THE DEPRESSION!" every time she sees him do it). But many in this area live in a Walmart mentality. Stuff doesn't last, so just throw it away and get something new. You'd think that in a region that was completely devastated by the coal industry (and yes, I mean devastated. Sure, people had a great life when coal was being removed from the mountains, but once those companies left in the dead of night and declared bankruptcy, people lost their jobs, health insurance, and hopes and dreams in one fell swoop)... So you'd think that the people who live here would realize that natural resources, particularly the non-renewable kind, should be held close to the heart and protected. You'd think that local government officials would be screaming from the mountain tops "NEVER AGAIN!" when companies come in here and continue to devastate the land. But that's not the case. And children don't learn the value of reusing or recycling or helping the environment, because we all know children do what they see.
In our city, we pay for garbage pick up-- many towns around us have to take their garbage to the dump themselves, which I think is a giant deterrent for doing the right thing. Half of our small city also gets their recycling picked up... and we are on the half that doesn't. When I called the city to ask why our street didn't make the cut, I wasn't given a clear answer. I think the woman on the phone was confused as to why I'd want to be able to recycle from my doorstep. So, we collect and separate our cans, plastic containers, and paper products and drive them to the dump ourselves. It is unclear if the items we put in the recycling bins actually go to a recycling center, but I sleep at night knowing that at least we are doing our best.
We still use our reusable grocery bags but have had some odd experiences when we do. Once, the checker attempted to scan my bag, assuming I was purchasing it. When I explained that I planned to use it to bring my groceries home instead of the plastic bags that are so prolific at Walmart, she gave me an odd look and shook her head. No doubt she was thinking "Coal hater" in her head. She's not wrong.
I've contacted the corporate offices of the two main grocery stores in our area, and Walmart, asking that they consider giving a $.05 discount for people who bring their own reusable grocery bags, and each time I was given a lame excuse as to why that wouldn't be possible, and why it's not necessary.
On days I forget my resuable bags, I try to just carry my items out rather than use a bag for them, but when I say "Oh I don't need a bag for that" I am given really odd looks. I'm not talking about a grocery cart full of items here-- I mean a loaf of bread, or a few apples, or a gallon of milk. We often joke about this with our "come here" friends, especially the way items are bagged... it's been noted that often, you will get one bag per item. It infuriates me when that happens, so I used to re-bag my items before I left the store, so I'd use as few bags as possible. I used to hand the bags back to the checker and say, "I don't need these, you can use them for the next customer." This action was always met with an odd smile as the checker placed the unused bags into the trash can at her feet; I don't think there was anything diabolical associated with the action, I think it just has to do with ignorance.
Once, I was at a grocery store on a Sunday morning after Mass getting a gallon of milk and a dozen eggs. I requested that my milk not be bagged. "See, it has a handle. I can just carry it out." But my eggs were double bagged. Just in case.
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