By Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Most people, unfortunately, think that as individuals, as the one single person, whatever they do in way of going green has no effect and impact. This is, however, not true and about as far removed from reality as it Jupiter from Earth, if not further.
You and your actions, as an individual, and also as a family, of whatever size, can and do make a difference as far as the environment is concerned. Even if but one more – for you are not alone, though you may be in your immediate neighborhood – item of trash is kept out of the landfill by your ensuring that it is recycled or better still by reusing and upcycling it yourself the better it is for the Planet. Your action makes a difference.
Recycling, in the form of collecting bottles with deposit on them and bringing them back to the store for a refund, as well as in the form of reusing and upcycling – making things from trash for use or sale – was something that I simply grew up with. It was just something that we did, to a degree out of necessity also. Money was in short supply always and anything that could turn a penny was done.
Today, in Britain, there are no bottles with deposit anymore other than milk bottles, though, theoretically, they don't carry a deposit, per se, but are simply taken back by the milkman. But, the doorstep milk deliveries are becoming rarer and rarer too. Milk bottles are, probably, the only bottles that, in the UK, currently are returned to be reused with, maybe the exception of one or the other brewery, but only from pubs and bars.
Trash is, therefore everywhere and not just in litter bins. Plastic bottles, glass bottles, drinks cans, and plastic bags, all end up littering up the countryside and the road verges and too few people care.
If you but pick up the trash that blows into your yard and that litters the part of the road in front of your property already something is achieved and it may also stir your neighbors into action.
Don't dump your food waste in the trash can. Compost everything that can be composted instead, especially if you have a little garden for food growing. The latter like the former is definitely something that you should consider.
I have two 330liter composters and also a huge wire bin which now is a composter and I compost anything and everything that can be composted, including shredded paper, chicken bedding (which in this case is either straw, wood shavings or shredded paper), vegetable peelings, etc. Anything that can be composted is going that route and despite the number of composters on the go I still cannot produce enough to fulfill the needs of my small vegetable garden. It is amazing how much less garbage you have to go into the trash collection put fruit and vegetable scraps, egg shells and coffee grinds in the trash and while it is said that you should not compost meat products I do and there seems to be no problem with it.
Composting is a great idea as you are taking one of the Earth’s resources and creating another type of resource. Also get a barrel to catch the rain for watering plants. This is an awesome way to save water. Check your ordnances first though as in some parts of the United States, for instance, it is illegal to harvest rainwater.
When it comes to waste – other than food waste – and in the main this will be packaging in one for or other, consider as to whether you, or someone else, might be able to reuse the glass jar, tin can, or whatever else.
There is no need to go out and buy a “recycled steel” pencil bin for the desk when you can easily upcycle a tin can for this job. Neither do you have to go to the stores and buy a set of “recycled glass” storage jars when you can simply reuse and thus upcycle some glass produce jar into such storage jars. Our grandparents did precisely that all the time.
Your individual act of doing this and other reuse, upcycling projects, plus doing your various recycling jobs, plus the picking litter at times and such does have an effect. Also reducing your personal and family's energy consumption makes a difference; to the Planet and to your wallet.
Remember in the issue of greening the world one person CAN make a big difference.
© 2011
