Thought 1: My old roommate, Danielle, has a passion for recycling. I'll never forget making recycling runs with her--sometimes in the middle of the pouring rain--taking a trunkful of cardboard boxes, bottles, and cans to a recycling deposit on campus. One time for "roommate Christmas" one of our other roommates (I'm pretty sure it was Rachelle...) gave her a container with the recycling symbol drawn on it to be our apartment recycle bin, and by golly she was pleased as peaches.
She changed my perspective, and since then I've had a whole new love for recycling, reducing, and reusing stuffs. I've got a lot of room for improvement and a lot to learn, but there are recycling bins right next to trashcans oft times, and if we can just take the half second extra to sort out our recyclables and toss them in the blue bin, I really believe we'll make a difference in responsibly using our world's resources!
Thought 2: Kevin teased me once because I almost bought DAWN soap instead of the off-brand because it had ducklings printed on the label. The price was at least double of the other soap, and we didn't end up buying it. But it reminded me of the creatures that suffer mistakes of man. I remembered the polar bear at the Hogle Zoo that died when I was a little girl, because he ate a glove someone had dropped into his enclosure. And my heart hurt for them as I looked at that DAWN bottle.
Thought 3: C.S. Lewis wrote, "It will not bother me in the hour of death to reflect that I have been 'had for a sucker' by any number of imposters: but it would be a torment to know that one had refused even one person in need." I read that quote once at a girls' camp when I was 14 or so and wondered what lollipops had to do with any of it. As I matured this quote became sage, solemn wisdom. There are homeless and needy everywhere. Following the example of my dear friend Shay in a service activity she led a few years ago, Kevin and I have started filling ziploc bags with cans of food and water bottles and packs of gum and hand sanitizer and lotion and fruit snacks, and whenever we see some friend with a cardboard sign at a stoplight, we pass them a pack and say "God bless." I'm well aware there are imposters out there. But if somebody's life is messed up enough that they're asking for help by holding a cardboard sign, I'm no judge of what they're going through, and I have been given a mandate to treat others the way I want to be treated. And I'm all about sharing a little of what I've got.
She changed my perspective, and since then I've had a whole new love for recycling, reducing, and reusing stuffs. I've got a lot of room for improvement and a lot to learn, but there are recycling bins right next to trashcans oft times, and if we can just take the half second extra to sort out our recyclables and toss them in the blue bin, I really believe we'll make a difference in responsibly using our world's resources!
Thought 2: Kevin teased me once because I almost bought DAWN soap instead of the off-brand because it had ducklings printed on the label. The price was at least double of the other soap, and we didn't end up buying it. But it reminded me of the creatures that suffer mistakes of man. I remembered the polar bear at the Hogle Zoo that died when I was a little girl, because he ate a glove someone had dropped into his enclosure. And my heart hurt for them as I looked at that DAWN bottle.
Thought 3: C.S. Lewis wrote, "It will not bother me in the hour of death to reflect that I have been 'had for a sucker' by any number of imposters: but it would be a torment to know that one had refused even one person in need." I read that quote once at a girls' camp when I was 14 or so and wondered what lollipops had to do with any of it. As I matured this quote became sage, solemn wisdom. There are homeless and needy everywhere. Following the example of my dear friend Shay in a service activity she led a few years ago, Kevin and I have started filling ziploc bags with cans of food and water bottles and packs of gum and hand sanitizer and lotion and fruit snacks, and whenever we see some friend with a cardboard sign at a stoplight, we pass them a pack and say "God bless." I'm well aware there are imposters out there. But if somebody's life is messed up enough that they're asking for help by holding a cardboard sign, I'm no judge of what they're going through, and I have been given a mandate to treat others the way I want to be treated. And I'm all about sharing a little of what I've got.
Thought 4: A few weeks back as I greeted my students in the lunchroom I realized many of my students throwing away entire apples, oranges, and bananas. I love oranges and Kevin loves apples, and bananas make for great bread. I thought about the people I pass out kits to and thought that fruit would be a nice addition. My stomach felt a little queasy thinking about all that beautiful food going to waste. So I asked my students to save whatever fruit they don't bite into and to bring it to me while we line up after lunch. On average I'm gifted three to five fruits a day, but it feels good to be fighting food waste a little and using that beautiful healthy food to feed people.
I've also tried to be more of a steward over my refrigerator. I'm guilty of throwing away entire packages of spinach after it's gone the way of all the green goopiness. Now when I gather my groceries, I limit the produce I buy to the exact amount I need for a recipe so as to not overbuy and subsequently throw away.
For a neat story on how Norway is fighting food waste, take a look at this article:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/17/how-norway-is-selling-out-of-date-food-to-help-tackle-waste
I understand that Recycling, the Environment, the Homeless, and Food Waste can be politically charged topics and there are bajillions of sides to each story.
I'm no expert to how to solve deforestation while simultaneously printing books... I love to recycle cardboard and paper but I steer clear of cloth diapers... I don't have all the answers and I'm not the poster child for any of it.
But I do love my planet. I love animals, I love plants, I love the mountains and the sea. I love people.
I believe that if we're careful and just make a little more effort, we can promote the health of biodiversity and be smart about what God's given us on our little patch of planet earth.
Thoughts concluded...for now.
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