#60 - I am NOT a tree hugger

That being said, I have been following a couple of blogs that focus on buying American and lessening our carbon footprints. After hearing about reduce/reuse/recycle for years, I decided to take a step towards making myself more conscious and in turn making decisions in favor of these green concepts.

One example is that I have made it a practice of putting glass bottles to the side of the dumpster when I throw out my trash. I often see people going through the trash, not only at my community but trash cans in public areas as well. They bundle their recyclable collections into big bags and somehow attach them to their bicycles or fit them into the back of their small pick-up trucks. Even though I know they are just doing it for the $, it makes me happy to know that the items they turn in are being recycled.

A couple of weeks ago I decided I was going to try the user friendly recycling facility at my neighborhood Albertsons (you bring your collection to a big, green structure in the parking lot and push through your bottles and cans one at a time - I'm guess after that they print you out a receipt that you take into the store to collect your $??). So this morning I left for work extra early. I got into my car and it smelled like cigar - I put the empty bottles in my car last night and Lui must have tossed one of his cigar butts in a beer bottle, ick. I drove to the Albertsons around the corner, pull up my car and unload my collection - approx. $5 worth, figured that would be "worth" my time and effort. A couple and a man were both ahead of me and engaged in conversation with one another. They told me they'd soon be done but as I looked at their collection (imagining all the time and effort they put into getting those items) and the dirty clothes they were wearing I said, "If you want to turn in my bottles you can have them." The couple eagerly took them from me and the guy said, "Thanks for the prayer!" as I walked back to my car.

I'm not the type to hand out $5 to a pan handler on the side of the street but this morning I felt really good about how my attempt at recycling-in-person turned out. Five dollars for me is a fast food lunch during the day but it was really appreciated by the couple I ran into this morning and that made me feel good. And through the recycling I lessened my carbon footprint. It was a win-win!