Greetings! I often fondly recall my
foray into the conservation movement. I was in my twenties when I finally
embraced the desire not to waste. I began recycling aluminum cans. Doing so was
an effort as I had to deliver the cans to a recycling center. The closest one
was over thirty minutes away. This wasn't a trip I made regularly, so that
meant collecting the cans until I had a critical mass to deliver. Keeping cans
around the house involves rinsing them once they were emptied of their original
contents so not to attract ants or create odors. To many of my friends, this
process seemed exhausting.
I would counter by saying, I only
recycle cans, I don't separate glass, plastics, papers, and this is an exact
quote, "or compost like those tree hugging freaks." Back when we
still separated out recyclables I began one by one adding Items to the list.
The evolution continued progressively. These days our recycling bin is always
full and we rarely have actual bags of garbage ready for weekly disposal.
My newest move is to consume or use as
much as possible from the food we grow. It's been kind of funny as I have this
internal dialog, “I need some material for the compost and I have to save some
organic food waste for our worm bins.” As to the food, I've found uses for
watermelon rind, like salsa and relish. I cooked the tops of beets
with kale and other greens. Our favorite of this summer has been the use of
carrot tops. We used them in salads, made pesto, slaws and even put them in a
stuffed shells mixture.
Who know what is next. At this point, I
know better than to set limitations.
Grow food. Eat it all.
Tom
