One Change

“Sometimes the best person to learn from is the person who struggled to do it at all.”

Mariette Lynn Clardy Torres

I’m imperfect when it comes to making a difference in the environment, but I’m learning. I have seen those with rows and rows of recycling bins, stacked in color with items bulging out. I have also seen others with perfectly manicured blogs on “reduce, reuse, recycle” initiatives. Sure, I tried to use the bins at the airport in the past and read articles on those who actively participated in those challenges but I was never the “sustainability advocate.” Then I realized how much I loved nature. I love touching tree leaves that have fallen on the ground and the feeling of the tree bark between my fingers. I am entranced by the sound and the feeling of water surrounding and enveloping me. With as much as I love the outdoors I became aware of how I was contributing, or in my case, not contributing to sustaining the parts of nature that I loved.

So now I have become an “advocate in training” as it were. I have learned through trial and error. I find it helpful to share experiences of what I have learned to help increase efforts in sustainability. It doesn’t come natural to me but having awareness of what materials I am using has gone a long way. I worked one step at a time to build habits that worked for me. Some of the lessons I have learned to start small are listed below.

Find out if you home or office has recycling bins. I was personally more likely to use them when I visually saw a bin.
If you don’t have one, then find out how you can at least set one up in your home. Then if possible advocate for one at work. You can call the waste management website you use for garbage disposal and get all of the information you need.
Once you have the recycling bins, you can start small and work on just recycling one material that is on the approved list of recyclables. You can find that list on the Waste management website or if you have one at work find out what is allowed.
Now that you have your target material, become aware of when you use it and how you use it.
Make sure you dispose of this material properly. For example, make sure you clean out your plastics of any food or liquid before disposal.
Once you have developed a habit for one material, then move on to another.
Finally, I have to put this in, plastic bags are NOT RECYCLABLE. Yes, I know! But they clog up the machines that are used to sort the material. So be mindful of what is and isn’t allowed.

If you have any great recycling tips or stories please be sure to share! Stay tuned for my continued journey!