I have a lot of ways I combat waste.? I cannot stand the American habit of wasting so much food while out at restaurants.? Just makes me very uncomfortable.? So I always bring home all the bread left on the table, and feed it to the birds and squirrels.? And since most restaurants pile way too much on plates, I can often eat the leftovers for two or three days.
I recycle every bit of paper I can find – and am glad Cincinnati has those huge recycling bins.? I also bring home all the paper, bottles and cans from the office, since there’s no recycling there. I love that most of the time, my trash occupies a very small bag, while the recycling bin is stuffed full.? If I couldn’t recycle the newspaper and magazines, I probably just wouldn’t have them around.
Clothes, jewelry, books will go to the FreeStore if they don’t get chosen from the Give Away Table at Reiki Healing Circle.? I love to pass books, theater tickets, anything I don’t need, on to others.? If there’s something metal that needs to be gotten rid of, and it doesn’t recycle in the bin, I’ll take it to the office and put it out on one of our planters, so a scrapper can pick it up.
Anything else I don’t need – a chair, an old small keyboard, whatever – goes down the driveway to the street, where someone driving by can see it and pick it up.
I’m hoping we go back to the days where there are small appliance repair folk.? I love taking shoes to Clarence in Pleasant Ridge for repair and refurbishing – he can make then look nearly brand new.
All of this just makes me feel better.? It’s not really work, doesn’t take extra time, is just part of keeping the house and my life organized.? I like leaving a smaller footprint on the planet.? It’s also really a part of my spiritual life.? Aaaaaaahhhhhhh.