Monday, February 11, 2008

One Person's Trash

What'd ya put in your trash can today? This is a picture of mine this morning before the garbage truck came and emptied it.

Normally, I pride myself on how little actually ever makes it into our trash can. We recycle, we reuse, we buy in bulk. We go to great lengths on a daily basis to make sure our choices put as little crap into our landfill as possible. But when the television set broke yesterday, and the girls sheepishly 'fessed up about the acrobatics that caused the accident, I have to admit, I did a little victory dance. Our house is too small for a television set anyway.

The truth is, it played a very small role in our lives. We don't get TV reception. We watch DVDs a few times a week, at best. Now that we can watch movies on my computer, that poor little old TV screen hardly ever made it out of the closet anymore anyway. Closet space is precious, I just needed a reason to send that thing off to the dump. Janey helped me carry it to the garbage can, and as we hauled it to the curb, we laughed at the sight of it. What a statement!

I know, I should have done a bit of research to find out if there is a more sustainable way to dispose of electronics...I'm sure there is. But I just couldn't deal with those logistics yesterday. The thought of hauling that thing around in my bike trailer looking for an environmentally responsible place for it to go, it just wasn't going to happen. This was one of the few times I took the easy way out, and it felt great.

Make a statement. Liberate your mind. Liberate your closets! Toss out the TV!

2 comments:

homemoma said...

here they would not empty the can. it is not a trash here, it is called dangerous/hazardous waste and that needs to be taken to a drop-off.

Becky said...

I know, I know....now the guilt is creeping in. Glad to know some towns are so environmentally responsible.