August 19, 2004

Recycle Bins

Tuesday afternoon I was at Rose and Bonnie's house. Bonnie and I were standing on the porch when I glanced over and saw their recycling bin huddled next to the garbage can. The bright blue bin was unspectacular in itself. It was the contents that surprised me. There was nothing in it but a handful of large clear plastic water bottles. All the same size, shape and label.

So what's spectacular about that? Well nothing really. It's just not what I expected. What did I expect? A little variety. A little diversity. Knowing them, I would expect a wine bottle or two. Maybe a vodka and/or vermouth bottle. An empty olive jar. A tin can or two. An organic fruit juice container. Along with some water bottles. Just not exclusively water bottles. Those water bottles seemed so lonely.

This morning as I toted our dark green recycling bin to the curb for pickup, I took note of the contents. Beer cans, quite a few beer cans. Plastic water bottles, all different brands shapes and sizes. A few Coke cans. A mandarin orange can. Cat food cans, lots of cat food cans. Several tuna cans.

Comparing our recycling bin with Rose and Bonnie's indicates life is much more varied at our place. And perhaps decidedly less healthy. I wonder how our trash would compare? Some things I'll just never know.

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