Okay, sometimes it is still just garbage but you never know, once in a while people throw out perfectly good stuff.
On July 1st the “One Million Acts of Green” campaign of the CBC’s in co-operation with Cisco is ending. The idea behind the campaign is that one small act can make a big difference. It was not about overhauling your life; it was about one act from each individual amassing to a million. It could be as simple as switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, starting a recycling program, or walking to work. You can do one act – or you can do all one million!
Being that I am so closely associated with Dr. David Suzuki, (he knows my mother-in-law) of course I jumped on the green recycled cardboard band wagon. Well I like to be different, so my recycling program is - going through peoples garbage to see what I can recycle! I am becoming an Urban Scavenger. Sort of.
There I said it!! - OMG how liberating!! Yeah, o.k. laugh if you want but this is an ever-growing movement in super chic urban centers like NYC, Chicago and L.A. and Oprah even talked about it on her show. Yes,...Oprah. This is the new going green baby!
I know plenty of people look askance at the idea of taking something off the street and into your home. I draw the line where people forage and dumpster-dive for food and other living essentials. Not quite that frugal yet. I think it's absolutely fascinating how much usable "waste" we generate every day
Basically, an Urban scavenger walks around with eyes always open. For motivation, it helps to walk out the door in the morning with less money in your pocket than you really need. If you have money to spend, you will probably spend it. If you don't, you will find ways to survive and thrive that are infinitely more satisfying and amusing. Think of panhandling as a social experiment - just kidding!
It all started (as all addictions do) very innocently one day. I never meant for it to get out of hand. Garbage is picked up on Tuesday here in Saint John. All garbage is hauled out to the front street for pick up, so thankfully no dumpster diving or sneaking around a backyard is involved. I simply keep an eye open and cruise around. Now this is where it gets a little tricky. If lets say, that they just put it down on the curb while they ran back in for their keys, then it is not recycling, then it is stealing.
One Tuesday I happened to notice a box of books sitting out - in the rain - by the curb next to the garbage bins. Now anyone that knows me, knows that I am a little sensitive about the ethical treatment of books. Inside the box were 67 perfectly good books, some…some.. (sniff) some even were HARDCOVER!!! And get this…Oh God….I don’t know if I can continue here… some- had- not- even- been- read. What kind of sick person would perpetrate a crime like this I want to know.
Granted, somethings are totally useless to me, such as the child’s car seat I saw one day. Our cats would simply refuse to use it, (but then they don’t think mandatory seat belt laws apply to them) so I could pass it on to someone who can. That is the whole idea, it is useful to someone. I tell you it’s a rush! It's all frugal fun for me. It’s like shoplifting without the word “felony” attached to it. Heck! You are doing a public service.
But it simply baffles the mind how our society thinks. Terrorism is not the enemy it is consumerism. How can we believe that this stuff is not any good and no longer useful - even though we will just go out and buy the same item only newer. What kind of disposable, selfish, self-indulgent society do we live in, that we as a consumer driven society do not care that there are others in our community who are in need, sometimes living right next door. Victims of a disaster, a single parent making a new start, students trying to decorate their dank little hovel, a bored writer looking for an excuse to go for a walk when she should be writing…what ever.
The point is we could probably live comfortably for another 25 years without producing any new furniture or household goods and simply reuse what we already have or by passing it on, if we just changed our materialistic attitude. Think about it. If you were shipwrecked on a desert island and had nothing to utilize but what washed up on the beach, would consider yourself lucky or bemoan the fact that the wooden crates just don't go with the colour scheme in your grass shack. Wouldn't you instead just be grateful that you at least had a roof over your head?
You may say that this is type of thinking is only for the cheap and poor. Well…luckily I am both.
Til later
Hehehehe. I must say that your blog needs a nice picture of a RED PEN instead of just the words "red pen".
ReplyDeleteI too find it shocking people would throw out unread books. However, I don't know that we can easily combat consumerism, since all the money in the world is pushing it -- so they can sell us stuff we don't need and build up their piles of money.
How do you fight that?
P.S. We are able to have mulitple enemies... we don't have to pick just one! :p