What a Dump!

What does this look like to you? Well I'll tell you what it's supposed to be. A "recycling facility." Yeah. Right. If you been following my blog you know that I have been reading up on being green. My wonderful sister-in-law Abbey inspired me. Then when I started using cloth diapers, I learned a lot from other cloth diapering mommas. We don't have curbside recycling offered here, or of course we would do it. So I decided to try and find a local place where we could drop off stuff. Easier said than done. I found lots of places that take junk cars, metal, appliances. But actual paper/plastic/glass, not so much. Lafayette has a curbside program and I found out that I could drop off stuff to their facility. It would be a lot easier (and save gas) if there were a local place. I kept looking, and read somewhere online that 2 fire stations in the parish had "recycling facilities" and one was about 5 mins from us. Sounded great. Not so much. I drive over and THIS is what I see. I got out, there was just trash and rain water in the bins. I didn't even leave anything there b/c something gave me the idea it wouldn't actually be recycled. So, I contacted SPEAK and got some helpful info. I still plan to check out the other place in Lafayette. I don't think it would be very green having to waste gas to make a special trip just to drop off stuff so I guess I will figure out a once a week drop off when we are going somewhere nearby.

But, I have learned that reducing and reusing are far more efficient than recycling. It takes a lot of energy to recycle, and things can only be recycled so many times. Some people even make money selling things they normally would throw away, like these super cute gift tags or this jewelry made out of coke cans on Etsy.  Instead of throwing away t-shirt or jeans that have holes or stains, you can cut them up and use the fabric for other things. I am making a cute little stuffed owl for Jhett with some pj's that are too small for him. Don't worry, I will post a pic when I am finished!