Separation Anxiety

Look, I understand I can be a ridiculous bundle of dichotomies; one day being a techno-gadget-consumer-whore to the next where I can see the virtues of No-Impact man. It is why one day Ann Rand is a model of self-determination and the next she represents the ultimate in capitalist buffonery and worship to the corporate myth of the free market that does not, will not and in our world of duplicity, human nature and greed can not exist. So it is with a good-sized grain of salt that I relay my trippy relation to recycling and re purposing.

I ran across this link, Living in a World Without Waste while surfing years ago. Not only did it inspire me at the time, but it made me feel less foolish as I dragged bins of cans and bottles and my daughter to the recycling center getting a few cents here and there, certainly not worth my time in a monetary exchange but well worth it in the example I was trying to set and the concept of where our stuff ends up after we blithely consume.

A bit from the above BBC article:

The Japanese island where the rubbish collectors never come

The Mayor of Kamikatsu, a small community in the hills of eastern Japan, has urged politicians around the world to follow his lead and make their towns "Zero Waste".

He told BBC News that all communities could learn from Kamikatsu, where residents have to compost all their food waste and sort other rubbish into 34 different categories.

I am well on my way to sorting and dividing to Kamikatsu standards;



In the County provided Big Blue Bin I toss in plastics and various papers that have somehow avoided the shredder, worm bins and/or rabbit house, rat apartment or world of re purposing.

Glass gets separated by color green,brown, and awaits a field trip to the recycling center where I will get a few dimes for my efforts.

Aluminum cans gets re purposed into things like jewelry and Christmas ornaments or get crushed and to the recycling center. These are the most valuable bits of waste and are what those people who wake up real early and sort through our garbage and recycle bins before they get picked up by big trash trucks are primarily after.

Yard clippings; weeds and diseased plants go into the Green County provided to dealt with in an economy of scale.

Food that we don't eat for whatever reasons go; vegetable type stuff goes into worm farms; foods with animal proteins go to black soldier fly Bio-pod

Rabbit and rat litter into planters and the various composters

Corn get mixed into rat and rabbit litters and into the chicken run

Paper products into shredder; mixed into litters, also used in compost

I have been sorting and keeping this stuff to take to a Hazardous Materials collection site. I have yet to make the journey;

Batteries

Those "Green" flourescent light bulbs. " “Green” bulbs may be non-hazardous, but they still contain mercury. Mercury, even at very low levels, can become air-borne and be deposited into the environment, such as lakes and other water bodies."

Aerosol spray paints

Compsotable silver ware, cups, plates. They will go into the compost bins and we'll see how "compostable" they are. Still toying with these "eco-friendly" goods.


These are routes that I have not utilized yet but working that direction.

Freecycle-First to friends and family and then on-line.

Craigslist-Bricks and Pebbles

Repurposed items

Soda stream to make sodas and carbonated waters and avoiding containerage

Exploring paths of consumerism and eco-happiness--to be continued........