Confession Time

I feel simultaneously triumphant and completely ridiculous about my little recycling excursion earlier this afternoon. But more on that in a minute.

Let's do a little "wasting month" recap first, shall we?

5 months ago, I looked ahead at these 7 fasts and thought "Oh, month 5 will be the easiest, no doubt." I've grown up in a home where we recycled each week. And I like to think of myself as a person already very eco-conscious and not prone to wasting. Yes, college and the first year post-college has made it difficult to recycle (it's not like the truck comes to the second floor of my apartment building). But I thought, no big deal, it'll take a little more effort to recycle this month. But I already rock at everything else. Smooth sailing, right?

Consider this me officially eating my confidence-laden words. Emily, you're not alone my friend.

Apparently I cannot help but take 2 paper towels every. single. time. I wash my hands. No matter how many times I coach myself beforehand. It's like an automatic compulsion. Why? I wish I knew.

Apparently it is completely necessary that I have the TV on, but muted, while I'm 100% focused on something else. Because why not waste the electricity for absolutely no good reason.

And apparently I'm a little more hesitant about the whole recycling thing when it means half my sink is almost always taken up with empty cans, bottles, and plastic containers while they dry.

I have no problem using reusable grocery bags, though. So I got that going for me.

But really, so much of this month has been harder than expected. And more mentally taxing than anticipated. I learned very quickly that as much as my eco-friendly intentions had me believing I was the queen of not wasting, I had been letting things like water and electricity go completely unchecked. Overlooking them as there's nothing tangibly being thrown away.

God has convicted me, though, of wasting these luxuries that a huge percentage of the world doesn't have access to. Clean running water. Light with the flip of a switch. Easy access to food. God has blessed me with so much, and who am I to just throw away these gifts like they mean nothing? Who am I to carelessly waste and pollute the earth with things that could easily be recycled and transformed into something else?

So today I loaded the car with all my glass, plastic, paper, and cardboard and set out. After 30 minutes of searching for these fabled, 24-hour recycling outlets around town, and only finding a wannabe bin that I managed to cram most of my plastic into, I finally stumbled upon the holy grail of recycling. There were 8 different categories and each one was the size of a dumpster. Only to come home and see another one of these approximately 0.2 miles from my apartment.

Awesome. You live and learn.

Guess I have no excuse now to stop recycling even after month 5. But what's an extra trip every other week to throw away a few things? If it means I'm being a good steward of the resources God has given me, then that's worth it in my books.

- Morgan

p.s. pretty sure the guy who saw me take this picture thought I was certifiably nuts.