A Nigel update…
Life continues, you know. Nigel’s physical therapist is very happy with the results both of them are achieving. Nigel can now raise his right leg without using his hand. It’s sad to think how happy that makes him. I keep thinking back to last Christmas when he was still on two feet. We will get there…I know it…it’s just I’m not a very good waiter! We’ve had a new shower installed which has made all the difference in the world for him. I still have to help him in and out as we haven’t worked out all the bugs of him doing so independently. I just don’t want him to slip and fall and hurt himself…that’s been known to happen when he had two good hips! But, I do think we’re on the path to good things.
Global writing challenge…
Last year, I joined the wonderful women from Is This Mutton, MK’s Adventures in Style, Deb’s World, Grownup Glamour, and Frugal Fashion Shopper for a global writing challenge. Later, Suzy from Suzy Turner, and Leslie from Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After, and I joined in on the fun permanently! Rosie chose this month’s theme. We are also bidding a very fond (and sad) adieu to Gail, Jill, and Anne with this month’s prompt. This is one of my favorite posts to write and to read! On top of the wonderfully different opinions and thoughts, the writing itself is wonderful! I hope you’ll visit all of these blogs because you are going to be amazed at, not only the diversity of the ideas, but the stories of each person. There’s also a link party at the end of this post!
If you want to participate…
If you’d like to join in, we post on the third Thursday of the month. You can link up with me, Gail (for the last time) or Debbie.
- January: TBD
Growing up green…
No, I’m not Elphaba, but I did grow up green! My grandma Luderman, about whom I’ve written many times (in the early days of the blog) was a first or second German-American. I learned many things from her…turn the lights off when you leave a room, a tissue can be used more than once (usually), and collect the seeds from your flowers to use next year. Grandma didn’t believe in throwing anything away. She would always patch things until the coat or whatever was more patch than original item! I’ve found myself doing the same thing. I learned how to darn so Nigel’s woolen socks could be used longer (there was nothing wrong with the rest of the sock…just the heel). I also used those darning skills to repair the holes in my favorite gloves of all time! And, this may be the farthest out there patch job ever! The fitted sheet on our bed sprang a hole because Nigel is always moving his feet around. At first, I patched it with fabric I had on hand. When that patch eventually gave out, I decided to just sew a seam right up the sheet. Our mattress isn’t one of those super duper high ones so the sheets were always a wee bit big anyway.
Dumpster treasures…
I’m not 100% sure what my dad did was green or not. He loved to visit the dump and see what treasures he could unearth. One of those was a metal horse bank with Beauty embossed on the side. Guess who has that? The other thing he found somewhere was a black Jaguar car that was actually a radio. It never worked particularly well, but I loved it because he gave it to me. I passed it on to my oldest son when we thought we were downsizing in 2015.
Dump problems…
But, I digress. The real story I want to tell is when my community began to realize a dump was a big problem for several reasons. One was no one wanted a dump near their homes. Ya’ll know what a dump is, right? It’s exactly what it sounds like. You take your unwanted junk there, and you dump it. It’s usually unused land, and the owner bulldozes dirt over it because it gets sti-inky! Another problem were the methane gases these sites generate. Still another was the realization that you can’t keep dumping your crap (pardon my French) and expect to have a planet to survive upon.
A little history…
So, some fellow, I really can’t recall his name right at the moment, came up with the idea of having a recycling center. People could bring their recyclables (or not) to this center, and they would be separated into various categories. Great idea, right? The problem was the county didn’t have the funds to provide the labor. It became a community volunteer effort. The county could provide a place to collect the items, but it didn’t really have the funding for much more than that. The state, however, had mandated (I think) that each county or combination of counties had to have a recycling plan in place by a certain date.
R-Days…
I don’t know all that was involved in getting this set up, but eventually, each month, a Saturday was set aside as an R-Day. Local groups could sign up to work the event and receive a portion of the profits from that day. I was in a philanthropic sorority at the time, and we had to do so many community service hours per year. But, we also appreciated money in the kitty, too! So, we signed up to work R-Days. I’m not sure who provided the big dumpsters we used, but they were huge. I had to really throw those items to get them into the dumpsters.
More dumpsters…
This sounds like an easy enough situation, right? Well, in theory, it really was. The reality was some people would come with barely sorted bags of their stuff. Some of it was just plain trash. Luckily, we had a dumpster for that. Others wouldn’t rinse out their glass or cans. I had beer running down my arms more than once! And, the smell was horrendous on warm days. The cold days were better in that you couldn’t smell the recyclables, but they were cold!
Just a cog in a little machine…
Eventually, funding or grants were found to construct a building to actually sort the glass and other kinds of recycling into the proper places. I worked those, too. We had to stand around this gigantic circle that looked like a gear. A giant belt would start moving, and things would tumble onto the circle. It also rotated. Think Lucy and Ethel in the chocolate candy episode…only not as clean and certainly not tasty! We had to wear safety glasses and special gloves because some of the glass was broken as well as sharp areas on cans. We would toss the appropriate items into the correctly labeled bins.
The MRF…
At some point, this volunteer-staffed recycling effort did employ a few people. The R-Days became a thing of the past as the county worked with the garbage companies to provide people with containers for recycling. In the beginning, they were two little bitty tubs. We would fill both of those up within days! I would actually go through our own garbage pulling out the recyclables, and then go in and yell at the offending party! You could also go to the Materials Recycling Facility (fondly called the MRF…merf) and drop things off. Sometimes, you would have to pay a fee…like for tube tvs and the like. When we moved, Nigel took some of my dad’s old telephones (and I do mean old) there because they were metal. One of the guys who worked there quickly nabbed them and said he’d love to have them. I was glad someone rescued them before they went under the grinder or whatever.
Wrap it up, Marsha!
Today, I happily pay a fee to have my recycling picked up every two weeks. In fact, our recycling container is always full while our garbage can has barely anything in it! I know Nigel thinks I carry it too far, but I want this planet to survive for my grands and their babies and their grands. We’ve got a long way to go to help heal this planet, but going green is one way to start! So, can we talk? Have you ever done anything like an R-Day? Did you have a grandparent who was always after you to turn off the lights? How do you feel about recycling programs? Please leave me a comment or two, and we can talk. I promise to respond as soon as possible.
Thank you!
I want to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for reading, commenting, subscribing or emailing! It truly means so much to me! If you’d like to follow me on Instagram, you can find me here.
Where you can find me:
Linking up with Nancy’s Fashion Style, Fine-Whatever, Is This Mutton, Shelbee on the Edge, Chez Mireile, Suzy Turner, and Away from the Blue as well as Deb’s World and A Fresh Cup of Coffee. I also link up with This Blonde’s Shopping Bag, Doused in Pink, I do deClaire, Mummabstylish, Style Splash and Elegantly Dressed and Stylish as well as the Senior Salon Pit Stop (Esme’s Salon) and Slices of Life. Please check out these wonderful ladies and their blogs! I also am a co-host for Ageless Style on the third Thursday of the month and Songful Style on the last Monday of the month. I co-host Traffic Jam Weekend every Thursday with Melynda, Lisa, and Sue. I also host Final Fridays on the last Friday of the month as well as 10 on the 10th on the 10th of the month! I do hope you’ll check out all of these blogs and link parties!
What others are saying…
Suzy “writes about her love for the colour green and shares practical ways she incorporates sustainability into her life, from recycling and shopping second-hand on Vinted to embracing the charm of pre-loved furniture.”
Mary Katherine is taking a break this month.
Penny “thinks that Going Green is very much about changing one’s lifestyle to be more environmentally aware to reduce one’s personal waste and carbon footprint. However, if she was younger she would definitely be acting in a far more radical way. However, there is still much one can do and maybe 2025 is a year to make some changes!”
Gail from Is This Mutton “Gail recalls the green initiatives of her childhood, which were more closely linked to frugality, and outlines her current approach to Going Green.”
Jill writes: “As this is my swan song post for the challenge I am focusing on the impact appreciating the natural world can have in our every day lives.”
Debbie “Debbie goes green in a slightly different way with fashion and native flowers. She also shares some eco friendly products.”
Leslie writes, “ Leslie has been going green since the dark ages of her junior year of college!! Before going green was even a thing!! Stop by to find out how.”
Rosie “has chosen 3 of her favourite eco-friendly ideas that she implements in her life.”
And, now, it’s your turn!
If you’d like to link up your Personal Style posts, you may link up here or at Gail’s or Debbie’s blogs!
I love how the community got together for this. Recycling products and waste is so important.
I think it was a comedian’s post or something talking about the 16 recycling bins in Germany which made me laugh out loud.
It’s true, though, we have been recycling a lot of things for quite a long time. I say “we have been recycling”, but actually the question is always what happens with the things we separate in our recycling bins. Some of it gets re-used, some gets burned, some gets shipped off to countries, often poorer countries.
Also every town has their own regulations which often confuses people more than helping them to stick to it!
So the best way would be not to buy some things to reduce the waste right from the start. Unfortunately, that’s not always as easy for everyone, for lack of money, lack of transportation, etc. I’m very much guilty myself, but I’m trying!
Cat
https://catswire.blogspot.com/