Always Something to Learn When Your Eyes Are Opened

How does a project that seems so simple and gratifying, end up making you feel guilty when your done? Well, when you start becoming environmentally conscious about what you do, then sometimes the end result can give you a different ending, as in my story. It has opened my eyes and given me yet another learning opportunity.
It all started when I cleaned out our refrigerator. I know, no one likes to do it, but I don’t mind, once I get started.
I started to take items out, shelf by shelf. Taking out the shelves and cleaning them one by one, then putting them back in and placing the items I chose to keep, back on the shelves.

Well, after the fridge was cleaned out, it looked really good. My wife is happy, I can actually see to the back of the shelves and everything. Then, the dreaded phrase, “Make sure you recycle all that stuff”. I turned around and looked and I couldn’t believed what was left. I’m left with a lot of old jars of stuff, that at the time we purchased them, they seemed like a necessary buy. They tasted good, at the time they were bought. But once you’ve opened them and tried them, they seem to loose their glamor, or maybe they get stuck in the back of the frig. never to be found until the next big clean out.
Wow! the time and water it took to clean out all those jars. I felt great about the recycling, but guilty at the same time. Such a waste of glass and plastic. Sure it can be recycled and we did, but If only we could buy  items that we would use completely, I would feel alot better, not so guilty. I know that the fact that we recycled is great, but if we hadn’t bought those to begin with, it would have cut down on production in the 1st place. I know that if each of us didn’t buy one jar of something, it would make a difference. If we all start thinking about these things before we buy them, on a whim, it might make a difference, especially with the water it would save and the reduction in glass and plastic to make the containers. Considering that I do most of the grocery shopping, I know that I will think twice when buying things on a whim. I’ll write down on my grocery list, NO WHIM ITEMS! My goal will be to reduce number of container items I buy, look more closely at the packaging, buy more fresh items, with no containers, and I will continue to grow in my quest to be more environmentally aware, and as an added bonus, have less to clean out of the frig. next time.