The Dump

...and The Recycling Center

 

Garbage is a monster

     For one small cabin, we generate a lot of trash in the summer.  I am so grateful that my handy dandy dump has one awesome recycling center close by!  Not only do people leave books and other valuable goodies there to be snatched up and used rather than to sit in a landfill, we recycle just about everything in North Concord, Vermont!  Now, when I say "we," I mean that the town has set up an effective system wherein I sort all of my recyclables, whatever can't composted or dumped:  plastics, paper, cardboard, aluminum and yes, wait for it...  glass!  It is such a glorious feeling.  

     One day during Lent this past year, my English students were writing in their journals about their Lenten devotions.  I shared that I had seen one woman's blog about how she was giving up plastic for Lent.  As we debated this idea back and forth about how her sacrifice could bring her closer (or not) to God, we brought up pictures on the computer of the various garbage islands/patches (http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/how-big-great-pacific-garbage-patch-science-vs-myth.html).  It is so powerful to see and learn about the devastation of our trail that we leave behind as we consume on a daily basis (http://thehigherlearning.com/2014/06/08/this-19-year-old-has-a-plan-to-clean-up-half-of-the-pacific-garbage-patch-in-10-years-video/). 

from thehigherlearning.com

     This sight was powerful enough for me too that I finally made the jump away from disposable water bottles and styrofoam coffee cups (How could we do this at church for fellowship hour?) whenever possible to the reusable or recyclable ones.  The ECHO aquarium in Burlington, Vermont (http://echovermont.org/) took their conservation efforts to the next level by educating the future generation (with a dash of fear perhaps) about the monster we are creating with our mounds of garbage.  For those of us who live on the water, the aquarium's monster that they made out of water bottles was a visual reminder of the essential work that we all have to do.  Go to http://rozaliaproject.org/ for more information about what you can do to save the oceans.