If we keep on buying and buying new things, as we are told we must do, to “keep the engine of our economy going,” we are just creating more and more stuff to dump into our landfills. How many more gigantic holes can we dig, fill to capacity, and camouflage with grass? Sounds nuts to me! With the population growing in leaps and bounds, soon there won’t be any place to throw away all the stuff we don’t want any more, there won’t be any more “away!”
Even the oceans have massively huge “dead zones” where gobs and gobs of plastic and broken-up pieces of garbage swirl around in a hideous accumulation of discarded junk!
Just ask yourself “Do you really need more stuff, another dress, pair of shoes, set- of-dishes, golf club, swim suit or pair of earrings?” Or, is it the irresistible ads that seduce you into dreaming of yourself as a sexier smarter person … admired by all?
How about reconsidering your consumption habits … or, at the very least, consider the consequences of those habits to our environment. If you can’t stop consuming, you can at least make sure that what you do consume is recycled or reused when it is no longer important to you.
Let’s look at one part of this cycle. Limited as it is, we really do have “state-of-the-art, single stream recycling” in The Villages. When we place our recyclables in a clear plastic bag, they are trucked to Wildwood where they are removed from the plastic bags, dumped into huge trucks and carted to the Tampa Waste Management “MERF” center. MERF, (pronounced “Murf”), stands for “Materials Recovery Facility” or Recycle Center.
A MERF center is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-users. Cardboard, paper, cans, plastic bottles are separated and grouped into like- product bails, compressed, tied and, then, sold to manufacturers who convert the material into new products.
As you know, there are many items which are not technically “recyclable”. However there are opportunities for those items to be reused as well. These are just a few examples:
• Food Waste. You can compost it. Did you know composting is permissible here in The Villages? You must be careful to do it correctly so odors are controlled and pests/rodents are not suddenly your new closest neighbors. Composting makes the richest fertilizer you could imagine! (The Villages Environmental Club will be having a program in April that will include the basics of responsible composting.)
• Styrofoam peanuts and blocks are not recyclable but they can be reused. If you don’t want to store these for future use, take them to Pack & Ship. 352-255-6924, Palm Ridge Plaza or any other Pack and Ship store.
• Eye Glasses. The Lions Club recycles your old glasses and frames by refurbishing them and distributing them to others. Call the Lions Club in The Villages www.clubhouse.org/site/lakesumterFl/
• Phones and Electronic Equipment. Many organizations refurbish equipment or resell it as a fundraiser. Contact Call to Protect (donateaphone.com/calltoprotect) which refurbishes cell phones for domestic violence victims. Take cords and cordless phones to Best Buy for recycling.
• Athletic shoes: Nike Reuse-a-Shoe turns shoes into Athletic flooring and provides poor kids with sneakers. Souls4souls.org and OneWorldRunning.com send still-wearable shoes to runners in developing countries.
• Old Towels, Blankets and Sheets The Humane Society loves receiving these items for their lost or homeless guests. Call for more information and directions to the shelter. (352) 793-9117
The 21st century forecasts a much more precarious world. With the population exploding and the onset of more extreme climate occurrences, we will have to change our life style; we will have to adjust.
The corporate world is driving us to consume more … creating a competitive and highly volatile world. The game is to produce, consume, throw away, than start all over again. It is a game that will have few winners, but many losers.
To have any chance of winning, we must change the rules in our favor. So, take a hard look at reducing your consumption, recycling all you can, and pass on to others those items you no longer use. By taking these few actions, you can play an important role in protecting our planet, showing it the respect it deserves and preserving it for future generations.
Sue Michalson is a member of the Villages Environmental Club.