I recently attended a lecture series – The USA Goes Green – sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. Speakers covered initiatives ranging from national (solar power, switch to more energy efficient LED light bulbs, use of recycled construction materials, etc.) to local (single stream recyclables, harnessing of gases emitted by landfill sites and collection stations)…all intended to help sustain resources for future generations.
I am reminded of a very dear lady who lived in a small town in Pennsylvania. Back in the 1950s this lady was a pioneer in recycling. She composted leftover peels, egg shells, coffee grounds, and yard clippings which was then used to enrich the soil for planting gardens, shrubbery and flowers. Tin cans were cleaned, flattened and offered to scrap collectors. Used paper products and containers were burned in an outdoor fireplace. Milk was purchased in refillable glass bottles from local dairies.
Then, it didn’t make much sense to me that energy was spent on such an undertaking… when there were garbage trucks to haul it all away. Five decades later it makes more sense than ever!
