Birthday/Earth Day

I'm 44 today. Things are good. I've got a great family, I like my job & where we live. I'm probably stretched a little more thinly than I'd like, but that will change (Talent Show coming up May 7th). All around, things are good.

When I was in 6th grade, Earth Day was created. It bugged me right away that they choose my birthday to do this (It's also Girl Scout Leader Appreciation Day, which I like a lot better).

While I fully agree with the concepts of recycling, using resources wisely, making the world a better place, I think a lot of folks don't really get it. The "Treasures from Trash" idea irks me the most. Any Earth Day fair you attend will have some kind of display of "treasures" made by kids from stuff that really should have been recycled more usefully. There will be a lot of paper towel & toilet paper cardboard rolls glued together with other things to create cars and castles, etc.

First off, by combining different materials (paint, glue, aluminum), these things are now no longer as recyclable as they were. Secondly, after maybe playing with them a short while, they will easily be ruined by water, any kind of weight, etc. And viola! Now it's trash again! Finally, it was never a "treasure" to begin with.

It just seems kind of like a scam somehow. Like the Hybrid cars. The creation and maintenance of their batteries causes more pollution in the long run than just using a fuel-efficient gas-powered engine (that little Honda Fit is really cute & 33 mpg!). And yet, everyone is thinking driving a Hybrid is saving the world! I'd rather move closer to work and ride a bike! My kids just use their feet to get around.

Since we don't use a trash pick up service, we are taking our trash to the dump. Diana has a paper route. There's a separate area for recyclables when you go. We wait until it's a full load for our little Ford Ranger, and we dump the recyclables in the appropriate areas. The kids collect bottles/cans to recycle for spare change. All those boxes for the cases of GS cookies go with the newspaper (after Trevor & Connor are done building forts with them). And we wash our Ziploc bags among other things.

I guess I just prefer a happy medium. Don't buy stuff that's over packaged. Do more yourself. Keep it simple. Don't waste what you already have. That's kind of contrary to the American Way right now, but it's not as bad as Earth Day.

For my BIRTHDAY, we'll go to the Oregon Gardens and enjoy the Earth. One good thing, since it's Earth Day, admission is free today. Ha.