Recycling Updates

Thought I'd update because I'm on cloud eight (which is really close to nine).

Dad informed me that this week we didn't put the can out on trash night. Why? Because we didn't have enough garbage.

Yeah, you read that right. We had less than half a can, as opposed to the two full cans we were filling a couple of months ago.

Can I express how happy that makes me?!

Today we made another paper drop-off at church. We're recycling our own paper, and we've added paper from mom's house and now my grandmother's house.

Because of our overwhelming success with the cloth napkin/recycled paper endeavor, we're implementing a new Tupperware bin for plastic. Again, I'm trying not to be crazy about enforcing it, but if we just rinse out milk jugs and 2-liter bottles, that thing'll fill up every week and we can recycle it through church.

I know the actual benefits of recycling plastic are questionable, but let me tell you two big things that being more eco-friendly has done for my family already:
1. It has changed our habits. We don't reach for paper towels, we flip lights off, we conserve water, etc. It's becoming less and less conscious.
2. It has opened up dialogue. My dad comes home exhausted most nights, but if someone brings up something related to recycling, he gets really excited and together we start talking about what has changed in the house, how much less of x we've bought, how much lower x bill has been, new ideas we have, etc.

I'm incredibly fortunate to have a family that supports me and my ideas, a congregation who shares my values and guides them to new levels, and friends who get excited and back me.