We are in the midst of preparing for yet another move.
This will be the seventh move in ten years of marriage.
Statistically, we have lived 1.4 years in each location; it usually takes me this much time to get our house exactly how I want it and to finally make real connections with good friends...and then we are heading out. My mother tells me it is a good way to never get sick of friends.
I love to move, but I hate the preparation that culminates prior to the physical move. So, here we are, again, in the middle of sorting, donating, recycling (responsibly), and storing.
We are not true 'greenies', but we try and do what we can when it comes to using only what we need and responsibly re-using and disposing of the things left over. Preparing for my move has made me feel a bit like Kermit. I have been hit with a number of road blocks in my quest to be more earth friendly.
Recent Roadblocks:
1.) Our local grocery store collects empty egg cartons and meat/produce foam trays. As the recycling number on the bottom of these acceptable foam receptacles matched the bottom of some of our to-go meal containers, I naturally thought that recycling them with the grocer would be a smart option. (By the way, the amount of packaging that goes into the restaurant's to-go services is astounding!) Well, the bagger at Publix informed me that they don't take "my type of foam". When I smiled and said, "but these are the same material, why would you not take these?". He just grunted and said, "cause we just don't". Hmmm...I politely stacked up my large bag of containers and walked out thinking should I take the word of the bagger or go check with a manager, but at that very same time my littlest goon started screaming for "Juice and my Night-Night". So, the decision was made for me and the foam trays went out with our regular trash.
2.) Trey changes his own oil and saves the old oil in large containers so that we can take them to the hazardous waste dump for recycling or proper disposal. Did you know that there is a daily limit for the amount of oil you can bring to our local hazardous waste station? It is a rather puny amount. If I figure the math right, I would have to make 12 daily consecutive trips to complete my oil drop offs. Seems like a ridiculous amount of gas to waste to stay within this limit. I wonder what the reason is for the limit. Is it a daily capacity issue? Again, whatever the reason, I find myself wiping off my brow and my puzzled expression.
3.) Goodwill is picky! I understand they do not want some one's old undergarments or holey socks, but I was appalled when they told me the large inflatable bounce castle/baby pool/slide was not an item them wanted. I had power washed this off, deflated it down to a size that would fit nicely in a Rubbermaid plastic container (of which I was also willing to donate). All of this only to be told that they could not accept large inflatable items. Are they worried they are going to be stuck with a large supply of life rafts or something? It's a pool...in Florida...what the heck!
4.) Packing peanuts have to be immaculately clean to be returned to a UPS center for re-use. Not one dog hair better be amongst those little horrors or they will be rejected for re-use. Needless to say...I will NEVER pass the clean peanut test.
5.) Last week our entire week's worth of household recyclables was left on the curb by the recycling pick-up team. Each blue bin was attacked by neon green stickers that declared our recyclables not fit for removal. I meticulously clean out, sort, and break down our recyclables. The only reason I can think of that we were rejected is b/c we sometimes don't sort the plastics from the glass...but, I have noticed that they go in the same slot on the dern truck...so, what gives. I was depressed to throw all the recyclables in the trash for the week.
Both Kermit and I are not going to give up the green fight, but I needed an outlet to release some recycling frustration so that I can concentrate on cleaning the egg noodle casserole from last night off the blinds. My littlest goon has quite a good arm and did not care for my quickly whipped up meal.
The bag from above is from www.delight.com.
They have some really neat things: the sun jar is my favorite, and what a good idea to make some produce bags.
1 comment:
See, that is the reason we didn't recycle for so long. Not really, we were just lazy and didn't buy into the whole recycling thing. Now that we are here we have the bins but we too got rejected because they have to be sorted, bagged, and in the bins. WHATEVER! I'm trying to do my part to make this island stay beautiful but why do they make it so hard. Out in town you have to separate between burnable and non burnable items etc. Too much work for this non tree hugger. I'm thinking Al Gore and I might get into a fist fight, but I think I could take him.
As I was reading this I was thinking that all of the frustrations I went through moving overseas are occurring to you too, just in different form. Moving can be so FRUSTRATING!!
Just so you don't think we are really horrible non recyclers we do reuse our plastic bags, and I do get the recyclables sorted and bagged even though I think it's a lot of work. I can see the need for it so I do it. Just don't ask me to buy into global warming. :)
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