"Back then, they returned their milk bottles, Coke bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, using the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled... Back then, they washed the baby's diapers because they didn't have the throw-away kind. They dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts – wind and solar power really did dry the clothes...They refilled pens with ink, instead of buying a new pen, and they replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull."
http://www.misscellania.com/miss-cellani..."The Green Thing" inspired me to look a little deeper into recycling, and I found that why stop at recycling containers and modes of activity... what about the growing trend of recycling the very products and produce that is contained? This took me a bit deeper down the dumpster than what I was prepared to go.
I can still remember, as if it was just the other day, we used to look in dumpsters for treasures... Oh wait a minute, that was the other day! My son asked me if I wanted a pizza, I said OK?! What ensued next was a trip to a dumpster!?? Seriously! I raised my kids "right" ...you know, pay a good price for a good product... how about pay nothing for a good product? This is the new shade of "GREEN" sweeping the nation... true recycling! Use everything and anything that is still good for use and consumption.
NO... I did not have pizza that night or any other night from a dumpster... and I won't either (I have my reasons) ...but if my of age son wants to "recycle" who am I to stop him? We preach about going green and helping the environment by reducing waste in the landfills... yet we look down on "dumpster divers!" You should see the great stuff that is thrown away, and things that stores are prevented from giving to the public, because of an expiry date. Who knew that this would be a youth-trend? God bless'em!
Years ago we as a family, used to go to the landfill to get our auto parts, and building materials... being raised on hand-pumped well water, and using out-houses... I benefited from a lifestyle that predated me by 20 years or so. This gave me the "tools" to survive almost any work condition or hunt up the next meal... literally. I am thankful for the setting I was raised in, on a farming homestead up North, in the extreme cold and extreme dust... I guess that's why 'extreme' runs through my veins. It comes into play real nice when a "break-down" looks like an opportunity to haywire something!~
I am simply impressed that some young people (not poor), who have taken it upon themselves to prove that they too can survive... simply on stuff that people toss, this is the new breed of pioneers in urban survival. I am still kicking myself, about a time when a man who was digging in a dumpster caught my eye... so I proceeded to go over and offer him a $20 dollar bill... refusing, he handed me a loaf of bread from the bin, and asked me if I would share a meal... I declined. He made his point! He wouldn't take my money... because I wouldn't take what he offered. Isn't that how we are? It is more blessed to give than to receive... yet sometimes our "receiving" may be he best gift we could give,
to someone who is offering all they have.
My advice if you want to go "GREEN" ...GO ALL THE WAY !:]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VlFJsuBj...