Better late than Never

Well, me, 'the great conservator 'of God's good earth, didn't post anything for "Earth Day", so here goes something! And really, isn't Earth Day every day?

My daughter-in-law Brande is the craftiest sweetheart and she could probably have come up with this little photographed idea below but it would have been ooh and aah worthy when she finished:

Now, here's where I excel in my earthiness...recycling via bins. In Arizona I was in hog heaven (now, what does that REALLY mean...that I like to wallow around in mud, squeal at decibels that would cause hearing loss or be rewarded, like the little piglets are, with oreo cookies...hmmm...get me on the right day and those all sound good!). The sanitation company there GIVES you two garbage bins, a dark green one for regular trash and a blue one to put recycle items in. The recycle item bin was always the fullest and you didn't even have to separate things, just put them in cleaned out or rinsed out.

Here in Georgia I am "on my own", so I have a garbage can for collecting aluminum cans and there WAS one for glass (so I use a large plastic garbage bag), but it now is used to catch shower water before the hot water comes through (this is then used for houseplants and any outdoor plants year round). When the collection gets big, it's off to the dump we go. By the way, Michael really knows how to turn on the charm and romance...shortly before or after we were married, he took me to show me the dump as a sight seeing event!!!

Lots of people use the below bin for paper:

Although our dump takes paper and we have recycled it there, now we save paper and boxes and use them for ground mulch. Those pictures you saw of the new red azalea and the flax flowers and the pink buttercups...all have red mulch on top but newspapers and torn up boxes underneath to keep the weeds from coming through.

This next collage shows a few great reasons to be earth friendly:

The last visual I leave with you is of the earth inside of a rain droplet...isn't that awesome? It immediately reminded me of a long, long ago commercial on television of a strong-looking, impassioned North American Indian male looking at our litter strewn highways and byways and this HUGE tear came rolling down his face (anyone remember this one?):

Ever after that, my children were carefully watched wherever we went and if anyone dropped a wrapper, big or small, on the ground, from Chicago to the Grand Canyon, they not only picked up their offending paper, but were required to pick up at least one or two other papers nearby. There are times when I just "let my hair down", go crazy and wild and pick up (discreetly, no band playing or shouting) papers in front of stores, churches etc.

Last, but certainly not least, today is my Jonathan's birthday, my oldest grandchild who brought and brings us so much joy! He is eight years old today...how did that happen, yet another reason to treasure this earth that we "borrow" from our grandchldren.

Here are some snickers (and I really like the chocolate ones too) for today:

GOOD RECYCLER: You fill up the recycle bin every week with cans, bottles, and jars.

NOT SO GOOD: You give the recycle bin to the kids to use as a toboggan.


GOOD RECYCLER: You take your used motor oil to the nearest recycling station or collection facility.

NOT SO GOOD: You avoid the used-oil problem by never changing your oil. You recycle engines instead.


GOOD RECYCLER: You recycle not only your newspapers but also your phone books, magazines, and cardboard boxes.

NOT SO GOOD: You leave your newspapers in the bathroom stall at work after you're done. Doesn't that count?




~~~Thank you Lord for the blessings of this good earth You gave us, may we be good stewards, so that the precious little ones we are also entrusted with, may have this beauty to enjoy.