It makes a difference to me
Back in late 1999 and early 2000 the roommate I was living with was huge on recycling, I at the time did not give a shit about recycling and would only recycle things when she was around and I’d ask if everything was recyclable in a mocking way, even if I already knew because I found it all rather silly. How ignorant I can be.
I can’t remember now when I started to recycle but I do as much as I can and she has become jaded and doesn’t.
For me, recycling has become a bit of an obsession, mind you a good one. I like to keep the How to Set Out Your Recyclables page handy off of the City of Vancouver website. Yes, I am nerdalicious and I love it. I get extremely pissed off and rant about anything that does not have clear recycling instructions on it, there is no excuse for that in my opinion in today’s day and age. I also think that apartment recycling and recycling from your home should be the same so things we don’t have bins for I recycle anyway because I know the guy that lives across the street in a HOUSE gets to so why oh why can’t I?
Recently Adam and I have added new measures to being people who are good to the Earth. I used to be really bad about leaving the water on when I brushed my teeth. I turn the water off now. Adam used to only use cloth hankies at work, now he uses them at home as well. I still use a tissue I can’t blow my nose into something as many times as a hankie should be good for. I am much more conscious of how long I’m in the shower for. And then one day I was in the kitchen and glanced down at the extension cord that contained, the microwave, the coffee pot, the grill and the toaster oven. I unplugged everything and when Adam got home I told him we were going power friendly we would be unplugging the entire kitchen when not in use and we would also unplug the power bar connected to the computer when the computer was off. We still leave the fan on almost constantly and haven’t gotten into turning off the power bar that runs the t.v stuff yet but I am sure that is coming.
It has been an adjustment but one that makes me feel good about myself when I remember to do all of the new things we are doing. I find it rather fun. Since I started recycling I have found it fun, although I don’t know why I find it ‘fun’ to be exact. Since we have started implementing the changes I have found myself almost sickened at how much power we were draining just out of our tiny kitchen, I can’t believe how much there is to leave unplugged. I still have a bad habit of leaving the t.v with the mute button on when I’m home alone but not watching it, I find it to be comforting, I picked the habit up from my dad, why he leaves his on I don’t know. I’m working on not doing that as well. Some things are easier than others, the t.v is on mute right now and I am not watching it.
…. ok you talked me into it… I’ll go play Guitar Hero Encore Rocks the 80s edition right now then so at least I’m using it.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:20 pm
You know what pisses me off? When you take your recyclables to the blue bins behind you apartment building, proceed to put all cans and bottle in their appropriate bin, and then see the sticker on the bin that asks you to not throw your plastic bags in said container. Where the hell are we supposed to put them? A bin just for plastic bags is more than necessary…
July 31st, 2007 at 1:22 pm
i know!!! and all the extra plastic from Ikea is also #4 which is NOT to go in the bins. it is BEYOND stupid, i go into panic mode sometimes after Ikea shops it is nuts.
July 31st, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Given that Vancouver’s water comes from an over-supplied watershed, not ground aquifer, what difference does it make to The Earth if you leave the water running while you brush your teeth or not?
Conservation efforts that would be important in Phoenix aren’t necessarily important in Vancouver - don’t worry about it, let your water run free while you brush.
Your not “wasting” that water won’t help dry parts of the world have more, unfortunately, as water, unlike electric power, isn’t trivially transportable.
(And do grills and toaster ovens use noticeable power when idle? Anything with a clock uses a trivial, trivial amount*, but I’ve never noticed a grill or toaster oven do so. Even if they have an LED display or a neon indicator light, that’s nothing in terms of real power use.
My point is only - don’t sweat the small stuff - especially since your power is almost all hydro or thermal anyway!)
July 31st, 2007 at 2:22 pm
you folks have recycling bins behind your apartments or next to your houses!? as monty python would have put it: “luxury”!!
we have to take everything to depots which are never near where i live-since it’s in the middle of nowhere. if i could change anything about my country it would be to have a set up that is so convenient as to make one feel horrible about not recycling.
in general we’re still battling to get good garbage removal going on-let alone recycling.
i also really wish manufacturers of everyday items would help consumers out by using biodegradable packaging as much as possible. you know, like it was way back when-when you bought some butter or bread and got a brown bag and had to put it into a container at home. even coffee could be in cardboard and we could just decant it.
switch off the lights! that’s a good way to conserve! well here anyway.
July 31st, 2007 at 2:33 pm
we still need to get the new power saving light bulbs…i am getting better at turning off lights as well though i used to be really bad for that.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:02 pm
Everyone I know that did not recycle when I met them now recycles. I don’t usually lecture people, but when it come to animal testing or recycling, I can be quite a nag!
My boyfriend (and new roommate!!) did not recycle when I met him, now he fills pretty much two blue boxes a week. It makes me love him more.
July 31st, 2007 at 8:40 pm
I wish we had bins of the like in the burbs, I would follow suit if they existed.
July 31st, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Yeah, I’m crazy about recycling too. I fill multiple bags within a week. It annoys Graham because he never feels like taking them out to the bins lol.
“(And do grills and toaster ovens use noticeable power when idle? Anything with a clock uses a trivial, trivial amount*, but I’ve never noticed a grill or toaster oven do so. Even if they have an LED display or a neon indicator light, that’s nothing in terms of real power use.”
Anything that is plugged in is using energy. It may not be much, but if a lot of people started unplugging things, it definitely makes a difference. Every little bit that people are willing to do helps.
And why waste water just because it’s there?
August 1st, 2007 at 3:03 am
Recycling for me is a test of strength and endurance. My drop off point is 8.9 of mile from house, after taking out the recycling box, various bags and the bin i very well may have walked 1089 miles!! (a possible 4.8 miles)
An extra bag makes all the difference! (to my magic vanishing arse…..and the environment thing also.)
August 1st, 2007 at 7:16 am
Yay for going green! One of my greatest joys in moving to NC was finding out that they have curbside recycling in my neighborhood! Now I’m the resident recycling Nazi. We’ve also replaced all of the light bulbs in our house with those funky little fluorescent things that only die every 8 years. LOVE THEM! And we can buy them for a significantly discounted price at the dollar store. Woot!
August 1st, 2007 at 10:57 am
I love how Canada is big on recycling! In the Netherlands we separate paper and in some towns you can hand in composte material too. Large plastic bottles are returned to the store. You have to pay 25 eurocents extra when you buy a large bottle of pop and you get your 25 cents back when you return the bottle. This doesn’t apply for the smaller plastic bottles though, those we just throw in the trash, how tragic.
August 1st, 2007 at 11:56 am
If you like recycling you’ll LOVE composting. It’s harder in an apartment but you can get small balcony composters.
seeing your food waste turn to nutritious dirt is awesome.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:00 pm
i have been trying like MAD to get my parents to start a compost because they live in the bushes…and they won’t but i will not give up. if we had a balcony i can so see myself getting into that…when and if we move you’ll be getting an email
August 1st, 2007 at 12:00 pm
I’ve grown up on Recycling and now i’ve been more energy conscious. Its all helping and i’m sure were making a difference
August 1st, 2007 at 1:49 pm
when Joshua and I lived in our apartment we were really bad about recycling (as in we didn’t do it.) and i have NO CLUE why, because growing up, my mom was fanatical about it and so was i.. now that we are in our house, i’ve picked up the fanatical habit again.
we even keep a compost..
ps. that photo of ABC down there cracks me up. and that’d be f@#$ing cool to hang out and take photos together.
August 1st, 2007 at 2:58 pm
Anything that is plugged in is using energy.
Not true, Jenn.
If it’s computerised, has a clock, or a ready light that’s on when it’s plugged in, yes, it’s using at least some - though the amount is typically minuscule.
If it’s, say, a mechanical toaster? It isn’t using any.
No circuit is completed until you push down the lever. Not a milliwatt of power is used by such a device (which is most toasters, many toaster ovens, blenders, food processors, and the like).
(I must nitpick; my electronics education, though incomplete, won’t let me not correct something like that. No circuit, no drain. And without a clock or a light, most kitchen gadgetry has no draw while not operating.)
August 1st, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Most things that people always have plugged in are things that constantly consume power. It may not be a lot, but it does add up. I was reading recently that the power used from these appliances ends up making up 5% of the electricity bill for the average American home. It may not be 5% for Corinna, but every little bit helps. That’s my point =D
August 1st, 2007 at 7:40 pm
In the US there are only a few recycling plants that reuse all the old shit. What they cant use (which is alot) is buried in landfills which is pretty funny to me. To think of all that nicely seperated garbage rotting away in landfills. As far as conserving electricity goes its hard to take serius when my neighbors houses at Christmas look like landing runways and that Las Vegas exists.
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:43 am
We have the same sized recycling bin as our normal bin. We usually fill the recycling bin more than the other one, but it only gets collected every two weeks. It does feel good to recycle stuff and save power. I still forget about the unplugging but after reading this I went and turned off the tv and all that in the lounge and turned it off at the plug as well. Cheers!
August 4th, 2007 at 8:42 am
Out here in Chilliwack , the city has made it very easy to recycle. We can put all the things that are recycleable all in the same bin on the side of the road. Doesn’t even have to be the standard “blue bin” just has to have the sticker “we recycle” on the it somewhere.
But the apartments out here aren’t even close to recycling, one I lived in didn’t have a recycling program at all.
The one thing I really wish is the diaper companies would come out with a diaper that is at least part recycleable, cloth diapers aren’t the best solution.
Oh and Safeway STILL using Styrofoam for their eggs……why for I ask?? Should be cardboard.
As a kid I remember going to Mc Donalds and all the food came in Styrofoam.
October 25th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
Ok, so that Sigivald dude/dudette needs to have a conversation with me about environmental issues. Send him/her my way
[And in case he/she asks, yes, I do have the degrees to back up whatever I say]
Great blog Corinna.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
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