We’ll recycle! Just make it easier

I’m sometimes embarrassed by my “carbon footprint” so for years, I’ve been trying to do my part to save the planet.  One simple thing is recycling but I’m finding …it’s not that simple.  My wife generates a MOUNTAIN of aluminum cans because years ago, she found out canned cat food was healthier for the cats when it comes to controlling their blood sugar and preventing diabetes.  OK, cans it is.  But with 8 or 10 cats having moved into our barn, that’s a lot of cans.

No problem. I’ll recycle them all.  But that’s when I run into a problem.  I want easy recycling.  BIG bag of aluminum cans, tossed into a big dumpster for aluminum cans and off we go.  Not so fast.  You can’t just toss in a garbage bag full of cans, or plastic bottles or glass jars and bottles.  No.  That’s just crazy.  You need to load them into these bins a handful at a time.  I like doing squats as much as anyone (not at all), but this is crazy.

I did make a cardboard chute so I can pour this big bin of cans into the bin but that’s two-person job.  And if you miss, you’re picking up a thousand hockey puck size cans.  Why do they make it so hard to participate?  Many of my neighbors make fun of how difficult it is and wonder why I bother.  It took me a while to find a place to take glass but a few of the drop off points have glass recycling bins.  I’ve only found ONE place that takes cardboard.  Gee.  I wonder why the landfill is filling up. Can’t we make this easier?