So let me tell you a story about my Mom, holidays, and recycling... follow me below the dingledoodlesquiggliedKosagnocchidividerthingie fold after a word from our sponsor...
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Back when i was just a wee little brillig growing up in the wabe, we didn't have a separate "recycling" bin. There was "trash", and "leaves and stuff you burn in the back yard." After I'd gone off to college and settled down with Mr. Brillig, things changed. And Mom was really, really good about separating out her recyclables.
Except at holidays or large get-togethers. At such times (when there was invariably two or three times the normal amount of recyclable material) she'd invariably say as we separated the cans and cardboard Oh, don't worry about recycling today, it's just too much to worry about. I'd like to state for the record that Mr. Brillig and I smiled, nodded, then quietly separated out all the recyclables and put them outside just as if it was a regular day :).
I got thinking about this several weeks ago when our church embarked on the 4/40 Campaign, which asks people to commit to small and large daily actions over a period of 40 days for environmental justice, food justice, and immigration justice. It's a great goal, and the guest speaker at service that day did a wonderful job introducing the topic. I've sworn off paper or plastic coffee cups at my local coffee shop and bring my own reuseable one, and I only use reusable grocery bags now (unless we need a new bag to recycle paper in. Then I get exactly how many I need :-)).
As we arrived for church, we were handed an Order of Service containing two insert sheets - one a printout of some sample actions (many of which were links to websites for further info) and the other advertising for an upcoming workshop. Oh, and we all got handed index cards, which as it turned out we didn't need AT the service, but later at coffee hour to declare publicly our intended 40/40 commitment.
OK, so 3 sheets of paper and an index card, which I forgot in the pew and had to get another, so make that 2. The sheets of paper were put directly in the recycling bin since ALL of the information I needed was available online. On EARTH DAY.
Talking with another church member about it, I said that if we're intent on being more environmentally conscious... on being GREEN, then we need to be green. Forest Green, or Chartreuse. Not Honeydew or Mint, those pale vaguely green shades.
But just like my Mom, some days it just ain't easy being Green. Casa Brillig is very, very good at recycling plastic, glass, metal and paper/cardboard. We usually have one small bag of trash almost every week, and two large recycling bins every other. Our cans and bottles get returned for deposit, and we use the tap to fill our reusable water bottles.
But then there's styrofoam, which our town accepts only once a year at a special Saturday dropoff. We don't intentionally use it, but my house isn't large enough for all the styrofoam that finds its way here via packing material and takeout containers. Foil containers, such as the one used to prepare our beloved Harrows Chicken Pie. And then there's the occasional meetup or large party, which exceeds our place settings. Yes, paper plates and plastic cups are present.
So let's talk shades of green... what do you do to reduce, reuse, recycle? How do you lower your impact on the Earth? What challenges do you find to maintaining that commitment, and what tips do you have for making it easier?
I'll share my newest find: reusable tableware reasonably-enough priced that I can have on hand enough for any party we throw. They're made out of recycled #5 plastic, are dishwasher-safe, BPA/melamine free, and can themselves be recycled when the time comes. I didn't purchase it before this past weekend's C&J/TC meetup because I had on hand enough leftover paperware to cover us, and it seemed wasteful NOT to use what had already been purchased.
The floor (renewable bamboo, of course!) is yours!
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without regard to content. I really do, even when I disagree personally with any given nomination. "TopCommentness" lies in the eyes of the nominator and of you, the reader - I leave the decision to you. I do
not publish self-nominations (ie your own comments) and if I ruled the world, we'd all build community, supporting and uplifting instead of tearing our fellow Kossacks down.
From gizmo59:
VigilantLiberal provides an interesting historical analysis of how we as a nation got into our current economic mess in Upper West's recommended diary Krugman's Insta-Response to Brooks' "Structural" Gobbledygook.
From blue aardvark:
Priceless snark by shoeless about Santorum's ringing endorsement of Willard.
From JanF:
From the Morning Open Thread, after JaxDem shared the sad news of her dog, Otteray Scribe provided this solace.
From Noddy:
RickMassimo wants to know when women took over and fubared the country. Although I can't recommend the diary for plagiarism (and yay- the content was pulled), the comment stands as worthy.
From BeninSC:
While the Amendment One outcome in NC is very disappointing, important battles remain before us (as, indeed, they would have had we prevailed). cedwyn mentioned a terrific idea that is already happening, which carries an important message.
(And don't miss Top Comments' own Chrislove, who diaried about plans to fight discrimination and hatred in North Carolina in place before the Amendment One vote. WELL worth reading!)
From Yours Truly, brillig:
Romney is evolving a position on Immigration. No, wait, he has a position. So says the Republican Party's Director of Hispanic Outreach. Greasy Gant compares that position to another.
National CHARTER School Week???!!!! Don't even get me started on Charter Schools... but do read this comment by bkamr.
Top Mojo for yesterday, May 7th, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you
mik for the mojo magic!
1) She's the queen of false equivalency. by Dopeman — 151
2) But I'll be really sad by lgmcp — 149
3) All of which is to say: by lgmcp — 129
4) Creepy and demeaning? by liberaldregs — 123
5) It's what I would expect from.... by Audible Nectar — 104
6) That's right, wingers, the UNFATHOMABLE by eataTREE — 87
7) Just came from a Demo meeting by kinserlow — 86
8) Arizona competitive, single digits in Texas, by joedemocrat — 84
9) Of COURSE it matters! by OllieGarkey — 82
10) That's the narrative that Republicans by CFAmick — 80
11) I got the "Obama will take our guns" by Zwoof — 79
12) Our banks will never operate properly until by lakehillsliberal — 77
13) Heh by lgmcp — 75
14) So, my state will have to run their GOP Gala by TomorrowsProgressives — 75
15) There Is Something Weird Going On by bink — 71
16) Smart ad campaign by ontheleftcoast — 70
17) I said this yesterday and I'll say it again today by voracious — 70
18) Yes. It's short ideas, not by TomP — 70
19) They don't just allow them by Westy Parnes — 69
20) Pretty much everyone on before Bashir by Hayate Yagami — 66
21) This guy thinks 535+ people can keep by Remembering Jello — 66
22) Are you kidding? by blue aardvark — 66
23) Jesse Peterson is a freak show by VetGrl — 65
24) And of course the Ohio crap in 2004 by sleipner — 64
25) So did Paul Ryan by ontheleftcoast — 64
26) well I deserve a whole heap of brownie points by Olympia — 63
27) Thanks to everyone! by homogenius — 63
28) As I know many folks by gchaucer2 — 62
29) What's so pathetic about that by lgmcp — 60
30) Nationalize all small businesses January 1, 2013? by lineatus — 59
Top Pictures for yesterday, May 7th. Click any image to be taken to the full comment. Thank you
jotter for the image magic!