Reduce, Recycle, Restore

Wow.

For some of us who attended last night’s Sustainable Living Workshop, we’d heard the ideas before.  Reduce, recycle, restore.  Good scouts, environmental types, and those of us who deeply believe in God’s command to take care of the Earth by being good stewards beyond our own “nows,” the habits are simply in our blood.  We would never dream of tossing a piece of trash out a window or onto the ground.  We even feel guilty if we pass litter on the sidewalk without picking it up and putting it in a trash can, nor are we capable of throwing a glass bottle or a soda can straight into the trash if we can keep from it, without looking for the triangular “recycle” logo-ed container.

I’m not sure any of us at dinner last night walked away without new information and useful, really do-able things we can all do to save money (a good motivator) and take better care of the Earth not just for us but for future generations.  Did you know, for instance:

That the average person throws away 1,700 pounds of trash a year?

That your computer monitor and speakers stay on even if you’ve turned the power off, and that HD tvs are true energy hogs?

That lots of the hot water you may use to wash your hands with stays in the pipe from the water heater to your faucet, which wastes energy in the heating of the water that will soon go tepid?  (And cold water washing with soap is just as effective in killing hand bacteria….)

That our electric meters will soon be recording the time of our utility usage and NES or TVA will be billing us according to peak- or off-time usage?

That the soil in Tennessee has one of the highest radon rates in the country, which is the second leading cause of lung cancer?  

That there’s an island of trash floating in the ocean bigger than the State of Texas?  That’s gross and heart-rendering.

That you missed out on getting a gift bag filled with baking soda, vinegar, light bulbs, a power strip (yeah a POWER STRIP), and a biodisposable trash bag in addition to a reusable tote bag for your groceries by not coming to dinner and the workshop last night?

And there’s free stuff the TVA will send you if you take an interactive home e-valuation, like more lightbulbs, switch and outlet sealers, and other cool items in a conservation kit?

I hope there’ll be enough interest to invite the TSU Department of Family and Consumer Sciences back to West End to share this program again.  There are tiny little things we can do to make a big difference in the world.  Mother Teresa is quoted as having said “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”   It ain’t love unless we do.  And if we all do even small things, it all adds up, faster, I hope, than our trash piles.

Even though I'm headed out of town for a little R & R in the Rockies, I'm apt to be reminded that we're abusing our resources when I arrive in Denver to a brown layer of air between ground level and mountain peaks.  Oh Lord, help stir our hearts to do at least a little something each.  Excuse me, but I’ve got lots of paper on my desk to recycle and a hot water schedule in the planning stages.  That’s definitely the view from my desk, this afternoon.

Grace and joy,

Julie