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Recycle, Reuse, Renew, Refresh, Re-love...
Aug. 3rd, 2014 10:29 amIs there any worse than being someone who loves the environment and loves stuff as well? It's hard to reconcile the two things sometimes. The limestone for our new sidewalk came from some mountain that Burnco has been chipping away at over decades. I can only hope my carpooling, recyling, composting and reusable cup ways even things out. Even the pets are recycled!
The whole point of something like Freecycle is to keep things out of the landfill, and we've always prided ourselves on giving "good" stuff to the Salvation Army so that they can be reused. We dropped off boxes of books, household goods, and bits and bobs that could be reused. But the overflowing dumpster at the back of the store made me wonder...especially when I spotted a polka dot IKEA pillow sticking out of the top.
Maybe it was stained, maybe it reeked of cigarette smoke. Maybe there was something that made it unusable to anyone - some people figure that the disadvantaged only deserve castoffs. If it's junk to you, it's going to be junk to someone else, so it's better to just toss it instead of wasting volunteer time and storage space. Maybe soft goods are just not what the Salvation Army wants.
I'm glad I saw the pillow, because it bothered me as we sailed through IKEA yesterday. I have an old comforter that I thought about donating, but decided against it. There's nothing wrong with it, it's washable, it's just a little old and the acrylic polyester surface is a little scratchy and pilled after so many years. Now, IKEA has a genius idea when it comes to comforters - instead of making the whole thing unusable, you can pick how heavy or light the filling is and just stuff it inside a slip cover. It's also easier to wash this way. And because IKEA had a genius idea, I had a genius idea, and bought a new slip cover for the comforter.
Fabulous! Now the comforter gets a new look and more years of use and stays out of the landfill.
The whole point of something like Freecycle is to keep things out of the landfill, and we've always prided ourselves on giving "good" stuff to the Salvation Army so that they can be reused. We dropped off boxes of books, household goods, and bits and bobs that could be reused. But the overflowing dumpster at the back of the store made me wonder...especially when I spotted a polka dot IKEA pillow sticking out of the top.
Maybe it was stained, maybe it reeked of cigarette smoke. Maybe there was something that made it unusable to anyone - some people figure that the disadvantaged only deserve castoffs. If it's junk to you, it's going to be junk to someone else, so it's better to just toss it instead of wasting volunteer time and storage space. Maybe soft goods are just not what the Salvation Army wants.
I'm glad I saw the pillow, because it bothered me as we sailed through IKEA yesterday. I have an old comforter that I thought about donating, but decided against it. There's nothing wrong with it, it's washable, it's just a little old and the acrylic polyester surface is a little scratchy and pilled after so many years. Now, IKEA has a genius idea when it comes to comforters - instead of making the whole thing unusable, you can pick how heavy or light the filling is and just stuff it inside a slip cover. It's also easier to wash this way. And because IKEA had a genius idea, I had a genius idea, and bought a new slip cover for the comforter.
Fabulous! Now the comforter gets a new look and more years of use and stays out of the landfill.
