THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR RECYCLING!

I wore a shirt today that had that saying on it, and recycle, recycle, recycle I did.  If you have been following the 365 blog, you may already be aware of the Recycling Project that I started in my apartment complex and at my husband’s work (To read more about it click here and here).  Today, as I was planning to take the recycling to the recycling center, I got a knock at my door.  It was UPS with a very large cardboard thing covered in plastic.  I had no idea what it was, although it was addressed to me.  As I opened it, I remembered that I had requested a

Thank You Thank You Thank You For Recycling!

“recycling kit” from bottlesandcans.com and this was it!  Bottlesandcans.com is a wonderful website that promotes recycling and gives you easy ways to help the environment.  They remind you that recycling saves energy and natural resources.  Did you know that recycling a single aluminum can, saves enough energy to run a laptop computer for about 11 hours?!  I had no idea!  You learn something new everyday!  Recycling is one of the simplest things each of us can do to reduce our carbon footprint.

So, with my recyclables in tow and my new “recycling kit” put together for our building, I was off to the recycling center.  Once there, I again saw many needy people hoping to get an extra can or bottle.  I saw a man in the corner who was very quiet.  He had crutches and didn’t look well. He wasn’t asking for anything, but I could tell by his eyes that he would take whatever could be spared.  There were many other very pushy people at the recycling center today.  People who grabbed my bags of recylables for themselves before I even offered them.  I politely took them back and went over to the man in the corner.  I asked him if he would like my bottles and cans (today I had 6 big kitchen bags full) He said a simple “yes”  and I left them for him.  As I was walking to my car, I noticed that the pushy guy was trying to take the recyclables away from the man I just gave them to!  I went back over there and explained that I gave my bags to the man, and they were now his.  Even though the other man could’ve used my recyclabes as much as the other, there was something about that quiet man that made me want to help him.  Maybe it was  the fact that I felt could “see his story” in his eyes that made me that much more compassionate to want to give to him.  I don’t know.  Similar to my experience at the recycling center last time,  I again realized just how needy people are today.  And how recycling every bottle and can is not only good for the environment, but can also be part of helping those in need.