“You know the earth is going to blow up despite your activism!”
My dear, supportive friend, Mimi

Thank you, Mimi! My friends do indeed keep me humble, on this topic and many others.

Crunchy Conservative, that's how I identify myself. I heard that term several years ago and I thought, “Yeah, that fits!” I am moderate to conservative politically, except for one issue: the environment. Wait! Let me clarify that: the environment in my backyard, my community, my county- and maybe even my state.

I buy about 75% organic foods and body care, because I think it is better all the way around. I compost, I recycle like a maniac, I try to conserve and live “small,” instead of consuming as a daily ritual. I think green spaces should be preserved and roll my eyes when people talk about land being “developed.” In my middle years, I have become quite the nature-lover, too. I detest the word “consumer.”

On the flip side, I don't think cloth diapering would last long in my house, home schooling would inevitably result in blood-shed (we can barely get through piano practice without tears) and I would saw a tree in half or kill an obscure invertebrate before putting an industry out of work. The polar bears are thriving, the polar ice is thickening; we are NOT “all gonna die” because of “Global Climate Change.” I HATE the term “Eco-Friendly!” I think most humans are the solution, not the problem.

What bugs me, though, are those who gleefully trash their environment with no concern over or concept of our stewardship here. The roadside is not your trash can, nor your car window the trash lid. I firmly believe that God gave us this place to take care of, not destroy. He gave us the resources within its core to utilize, and the knowledge to use it wisely and responsibly. We should take our role as stewards here very seriously. I know, for me, taking care of this place is one less thing I'm going to get hammered on at Judgment Day!

Anyway, I needed to give you some background before I give you some good information on Going Green. In the end, I want to influence your decision to make some meaningful changes, but I want you to do it because it is the right thing to do, not because you care what these changes “say about you” or because I convince you'll be buying beach front property in from Las Vegas in 10 years. Do it with the understanding that a bucket of water is made of millions of drops, and you are just one of those drops- not all that significant on your own, but put together you can make a difference, that bucket of water is that much less without your contribution.

Simple Tips to Reduce, Reuse, Recycle—Focus on Paper Products

Fact: approximately 33% of all waste that goes into landfills is paper

Reduce:

Reuse:

Please, keep in mind making this switch is huge and takes time to become a habit.

Alas, do not give up. I probably have a dozen different bags that come and go from kitchen to van, and it took me the better part of a year to get used to grabbing them out of the hatch every time I went in to a store... any store. Even easier: just blow off bags completely for small purchases. If I'm running into a book or shoe store or the drug store for bread, milk or just a few small items, I don't even bother with a bag. As with power walking or doing aerobics for the first time, you have to get beyond worrying what others think about you doing this stuff... who cares!? This is not about what other people think, right? This is about doing the right thing.

* Remember approximately 33 % of land fill waste is paper! How many papers do your kids bring home daily that are not cherished keepsakes? How much printer paper or junk mail can you accumulate each week? The answer: A LOT!

Sorry, this is one of my “no-whining allowed” responses: JUST DO IT! If your city has a curb side recycling program, can you really justify being too apathetic to stick your paper in a bin and put it on the curb once a week? Sad, sad, sad... If they don't, try to find a local place that does.

My county in Tennessee doesn't, but the one adjacent to me does. So, every week or so, I load all of my recyclables in the van and we go on a 5 mile trip to the nearest recycling center. A little inconvenient, yeah, but it's really not that big a deal.

We do have an enterprising few in my county that have started their own subscription based recycling company. For $15/ mo. they will pick up your stuff and drive it to the neighboring county for drop off. I know in some areas recycling is mandatory, meaning you are billed within your utility bill most likely...an “invisible payment,” as it were. Other areas may require you to make a nominal monthly payment (all of $3/ mo. in Orem, Utah; $5 in Provo, Utah for example). This is cheap compared to the cost of land filling all our waste- a very small percentage of which is actually “garbage.” In Nashville alone, they pay $30/ ton to use the area landfill. Imagine if 65- 80% of that got recycled into something useful, freeing up that much more money for streets, schools, parks, etc. Wow.

Go forth and recycle!

If you have ideas that have worked in your community or family about “going green” and you would like to share them with other Meridian readers, please email me here (no paper mail please!): gaylor@meridianmagazine.com