My First Time

WITH AN EMPTY BLUE BOX ON COLLECTION DAY

by April Anderson
Just Another Natural Nut

Last week I reached under my kitchen sink to empty my indoor recycling bin into my curbside one for pickup.  To my surprise it was empty.  This was a first and I hope it won't be the last.

I have worked hard to get to this point, finding ways to purchase items with packaging I can reuse and stop purchasing items I cannot.  This is a long way from being excited about having to use more than one blue box to do my part in recycling 15 to 20 years ago.

What changes did I make?

I purchase less canned goods and instead of recycling the ones I do buy, I find other ways to use them after thoroughly cleaning them 

I buy my fruit and vegetable loose whenever I can

I buy in bulk at places I can bring my own containers or can reuse theirs

I don't purchase prepared foods with all of their packaging and I am not a milk or juice drinker so no tetra containers.

I choose glass over plastic containers for condiments

I do not accept junk mail so I rarely receive mail

Now I have to start working on what I put into the garbage for pickup