No More Excuses

[Junebug]

The Global Meltdown thread got me to thinking. We are all responsible for the health of our precious Earth. Complaints, excuses, and laying blame on others is not going to benefit our endangered planet. What we need is less talk and more action. This could be a project of sorts. For example: Paper or Plastic? .... We've all been asked that question at the grocery store. I don't know about you guys but I hate those stupid, flimsy, plastic bags and rarely do I take them to a recycle bin. I do use them to line my small garbage cans, but ultimately they wind up in a landfill somewhere. I wonder how many of those nasty little bags actually get recycled. An Earth friendly option would be canvas bags. They are available for purchase (about 5 bucks a piece) and are easy to make, but how many times have you seen them in use. Why don't we use them???? They are usually sturdy and generously constructed, they're washable, reusable and biodegradable. What if we all made a commitment to begin using these bags.

We all need to be committed to the health of our planet. If we do nothing, then nothing gets done. I'm sure many of you have some really good ideas on recycling, composting, etc. Why not share them and lets get started.

[Ross]

My idea is with junk mail and pre-approved credit card mailings. I just package up all the stuff and fold it up and place in the 'postage paid' envelope and mail back to them! My wife and I have reduced that sort of bulk by 2/3. I might get one credit card mailing a month now. Now if I could get those catalogs stopped.

We recycle (at a county-run recycling plant) glass, plastic, those plastic bags you hate, paper, cardboard, brown paper bags, metal cans, aluminum and aluminum foil. We might have one trash bag a week (mostly scraps that can't go in the garden, like meat as well as stuff not accepted at recyclers.) I prefer the thin plastic bags since they have so many other uses and are accepted at our recycling plant. They are shredded and re-used, I am told (otherwise why would they be collected?) Great thread. Lets keep this going.

Oh, yeah, Home Depot will recycle batteries.

[Junebug]

Originally Posted by Ross

My idea is with junk mail and pre-approved credit card mailings. I just package up all the stuff and fold it up and place in the 'postage paid' envelope and mail back to them! My wife and I have reduced that sort of bulk by 2/3. I might get one credit card mailing a month now. Now if I could get those catalogs stopped.

We recycle (at a county-run recycling plant) glass, plastic, those plastic bags you hate, paper, cardboard, brown paper bags, metal cans, aluminum and aluminum foil. We might have one trash bag a week (mostly scraps that can't go in the garden, like meat as well as stuff not accepted at recyclers.) I prefer the thin plastic bags since they have so many other uses and are accepted at our recycling plant. They are shredded and re-used, I am told (otherwise why would they be collected?) Great thread. Lets keep this going.

Oh, yeah, Home Depot will recycle batteries.

Thanks for you input Ross. Those fake junkie plastic credit cards make great pot scrapers for stuck on food. They work better than a scrub brush and they don't get clogged with gunk. You just rinse them off. I always keep one near the kitchen sink and a few spares in a drawer. They can also be used to safely scrape candle wax off of wood surfaces without marring the finish.