Growing up, I recycled newspapers but in the past few years, I've seen the benefits of eating organic. I wanted to learn more so when the opportunity came up to join Sustainable Works at my school, I jumped on it (plus there's extra credit). So a few meetings into it, I realize that everything takes a lot of resources. According to them, making one burger takes gallons of water, people should not flush when the bowl is waste-free, etc, etc. Sometimes it seems like to goals exercised in these groups seem unlikely to make a difference but I know I feel better when I give clothes away instead of trashing them. How about you? What do you or your family do on a regular basis? Does it make a difference?
I do recycle as much as possible and am conscious and I feel we should all do our bit. However it is in the hands of the bigger powers, like the government and local authorities. I know from working in a big center the recycled rubbish bins are mixed with the normal. They just want it to look good, but it costs too much manpower. I found this out when I asked the cleaner and they told me the truth. So while we can use the recycle bins, how do we know if they really will be recycled?
I've been living green for over 20 years now. I had a small farm in the past and mostly lived from the vegetables and fruit that I was growing. I also kept hens and ducks for their eggs and invaluable work in my garden. I have been a vegetarian since I was 16 years old, so no animal ever got killed on my farm. I recycled almost everything and lived on solar power. My green journey continues, only these days I live in a different country where people still need to learn a lot about the resources they have available here, and also about changing certain habits.
Obviously my eating habits are not "green". I think I would starve if I was a vegetarian. I can't stand the taste of most vegetables but we have a recycling center at our residence. My mom likes to do it but I don't know if we're putting the right things in it. It may have a list but it's still confusing somehow. I don't like to waste things for sure. I always try to eat the oldest food/beverage first. I don't like using lights anyway (call me a mole person haha) but when I do I always make sure to turn the lights off when not in use. These are just a few examples. Unfortunately the thing I do waste a lot though is probably water (and my hands will probably turn out like my moms) because I wash my hands a lot but I don't feel clean otherwise but I do turn it off when I'm done. When the toilet won't flush and I have to flush it again I usually use a piece of toilet paper because I don't wanna touch the lever and I've washed my hands enough.
I recycle fruit and veggie peels for compost. Plant a garden. Use bath water to flush toilet. Help milk our neighbors' cow. Buy free range eggs from neighbor, as well. Use firewood for heating. These activities do help in a lot of ways.
I have been really trying hard to live more sustainable than I have in years past. We recycle just about everything we can at home, and I am always trying to find ways to repurpose things at home instead of throwing them away. Most recently I have started to save meat and vegetable scraps in the freezer so I can make stock from them as well as cutting up paper sheets to use as scrap paper for notetaking.
I hate throwing things into the trash that are recyclable or are not biodegradable. Unfortunately, many people I know could care less about keeping stuff out of landfills and preserving the planet for future generations. I applaud your efforts and hope others in your school will follow your example.
I had some kind of week with my group. Saturday I participated in the L.A. River cleanup where I had to pick up trash alongside the river. Other members of my group went to beach cleanup but the good news was that I only did an hour of labor. A few days later, I got to see school composting in action. It smelled better than I thought, as it was mostly cafeteria food but there was a giant cockroach crawling in it. Hopefully it doesn't go back into the food or things for human consumption.
I try to but I don't go out of my way just to incorporate it, though I have to admit that if there was financial incentive to do so then I might be more willing to do it. As of now I don't really get any financial breaks by being more green so I'm just going along with what my community system has put up which is to separate the trash and also partly banning plastic bags in some areas. I tried collecting my soda cans before to sell at junk shops but I don't drink that much anymore and I don't accumulate enough to get significant value for them.
I hear you...one thing that is kind of disheartening is that the government has the power to give compensation to the consumer and give other incentives. The cleanup I participated in was funded by the city government. L.A. has the money to build shopping malls, live up to a certain branding (movie stars, beaches, etc) and keep itself head above water when the transient population is growing. Anyway, all participants received were a bunch of KIND bars, a cup of ice cream, fruit and water for 1-3 hours of labor. Some people would walk into 10-foot tall bushes to clean up a city river when there is a budget for regular staff to maintain these year-round.
