A couple of weeks ago, Abbie asked if anyone was interested in having a "no waste" day. We'd try our darndest not to create any trash. Um, right up my alley much? I told her I was in.
And then, 3.6 minutes later, I remembered that I don't cloth diaper. Nor do I plan to. So I e-mailed her later and said I was backing out. (And turning in my tree-hugger card.)
She insisted that it was okay; just to try it. God love that girl. So on our practice day, last Tuesday, at work, I actually produced very little trash. Granted, it was because I asked the secretary exactly what could go into our recycling bins at school. She insisted everything. Even-gasp-those styrofoam cafeteria trays.
Yesterday was the real day. I didn't take photos or really document everything. But I did attempt to recycle every possible thing that I could. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Trader Joe's organic sliced apples bag was recyclable. So were ziplocs. And the plastic container that holds pineapple at the produce stand.
Moral of the story? Before you toss that trash into the dumpster, think about it. Can it be recycled? Now, can I have my tree-hugger card back?
*****
I have inherited my love of recycling from my 95-year-old grandfather. He recycled before it was cool. (What? Recycling is cool.) He even had a compost pile for years and years. He lives with my dad, and every time I go to visit, he has a new book he's reading about re-using things (or natural remedies...like I said, it's genetic).
The recycling gene is apparently dominant...today, L's teacher stopped me in the hall to tell me that he understood recycling more than any other student. It's their theme this week, and today they had to sort materials between metal, plastic, and paper. L was able to do this completely independently and didn't miss one.
On our way home, L excitedly told me about the recycling activity, what each material looked like ("Metal is hard and shiny!") and how we make new things when we recycle. When we got home, we cleaned up the house and talked about what could be recycled and what had to be trashed.
Be still my hippie heart. Never have I been so proud of my kid.
Well, until his other teacher stopped me in the hall to tell me that when he was asked what I looked like today, L answered, "My mommy is really little."
{She jokingly asked if she was little too...apparently he looked her up and down and answered, "Nope." Whoops. }
Recycling and saying I am little? The kid knows how to melt me already.
*****
Last week, Liz tagged me in a fun little game. And it actually goes right along with my recycling theme because I wrote the answers on a recycled piece of paper. Therefore, excuse the big crease in the middle of the paper. Also, L spilled water on it, and it's been around my house a bit the last few days, so it was a mess by the time I took a picture of it. The good news is, it is now resting in peace...where else...in the recycle bin.
I do like my handwriting. Working at a school, having decent handwriting often gets you many extra duties. For the most part, it's fine, because I love lettering, but sometimes it's just one more thing when I'm already super pressed for time. Anyway. Here's the handwriting meme:
Questions:
1} What's your name and your blog's name?
2} What's your blog's URL?
3} Write: "A quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog!"
4} What is your favorite quote?
5} What is your favorite song?
6} What are your favorite bands and singers?
7} Anything else you want to include?
8} Tag people.
