One Man's Garbage

I just put out two old golf club carriers and lawn chairs. GONE IN SIXTY SECONDS! Yes, the amazing and wondrous world of recycling via 'curb leftovers', 'recycling' or 'yard sales'. We pride ourselves in recycling. If the woman in front of us at the supermarket doesn't have a hemp bag for her groceries we curse her! She'll happily take plastic. Well, damn her anyway.

Then, while they are bagging her pitted olives there is a new immigrant working his way through a back-lane garbage bin. Dozens of apples have been tossed. Why? They have 'a bruise' and are not useful to us, the average shopper. But, for this man, he sees many jars of apple sauce or just 'an apple a day to keep the walk-in clinic away'.

I love yard sales. I love plucking through other peoples junk. It's the CIRCLE OF LIFE, it's the new wave, it's 'delightful'. I know people who spend their weeks planning around yard sales! They circle a route on a map, make sure the gas tank is filled and disregard the early bird signs. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE!

I first started going to the large recycling depots a few years ago. I actually know the staff by name now! I feel proud to be a regular. Nothing like giving back because the metals are used to make wheelchairs, the paper is used to make newspapers and the glass is used to make 'more bottles'. It's a win-win tradition that has swept the Western World. We have special bins, bags, drop-offs, support services and fundraisers. It's cool to be a RECYCLER!

We also pay tribute to the Binner Boys...the men and women who rattle those Safeway carts up the back lane day and night to collect our discarded wine bottles and orange cartons. When I'm out the back disposing of mine, I get into the most animated conversations with these men and women. Where did they come from? What will they do with the pocket change they make? Are they safe? Are they healthy? Do they have a hard-luck story? I'm sure many do. Mentally ill or lost in the system, challenged in life or jobless for years ...they are someones son, daughter or even parent, or spouse. Least we forget: they contribute. They are part of the recycling fabric we embrace.

Recycling has become so prevalent and necessary that we get confused. Does this go in that container or does it go in that one...and is it even recyclable? It overwhelms us 'at times', and when we're really stressed out trying to decide we just heave the mass into the regular bin. Sometimes, it's JUST TOO MUCH!

And what about the days of going out to the garbage dump? Remember those huge trucks that stop, pick-up, crush and head out to the landfill CITY DUMP where there is a SEA OF SEAGULLS plucking through our leftovers. Yes, the birds we used to call the Seafarer. They are now gulping down broken containers, grapefruit rinds and half a loaf of moldy bread. I suppose, they are feathered recyclers?

If the entire world would just butt out, imagine how beautiful the sides of roads would be, the sidewalks would be red carpet affairs and we wouldn't be picking the ends of cigarettes out of the soles of our sandals.

Remember our parents saying, "eat your veggies, there are starving people in India!" And, they are correct but there are also starving people a mile from my home eating from Soup Wagons and going into canteens for 'a bit of protein'. We waste so much, we take material items for granted and want 'bigger, better, newer' as we walk away from perfectly good, GOODS!

So, we Recycle and this makes it all very 'fair' and 'acceptable'. We give back. We raise money and help charities close to our hearts.

I salute the binners, the garbage men, the constant recyclers and the kids who sell their old toys to make money for the kids in 3rd World Countries. The concept was always there: "ONE MAN'S GARBAGE IS..."