I have an embarrassing confession to make, and I really don't have an excuse for it. I'll get to that in a moment. First, let me just say a word about recycling.
Contrary to popular belief, not all recycling is good. Yes I know that offends everybody's do-good ethic, but bear with me here. It's true. Recycling is an industrial process, which means the act of recycling itself has some kind of environmental impact. Recycling paper for example is more trouble than its worth, when you factor in recycling costs and the chemical output involved. And no, paper use isn't causing a tree shortage. That's like saying our consumption of french fries is causing a potato shortage! Paper comes from paper mills and acres of trees specifically grown for paper. It's not the product of native villages in the South American rain forest being bulldozed for the trees. If you simply reuse a piece of paper by writing on both sides, then you've already done much more than what writing on one side and then recycling it would do. I recommend reading Daniel K. Benjamin's paper, Eight Great Myths of Recycling.
Some materials however are worth recycling. One of the problems though is that it's a hassle to do so. I have 3 half-finished containers of brake fluid that I don't exactly want to blindly dump in the garbage, especially if doing so could potentially get me fined. But I found the place to dump "hazardous waste" is in another town, and there's only one special day a month when you're supposed to go there. Similarly, I've seen the hassles of trying to get rid of a propane tank. I'm sure people would just rather chuck such things into the woods instead of paying a fee. Take note, hippies.
Another item worth recycling, at least for the most part, is glass. My town fortunately doesn't have mandatory recycling, but we can get blue recycle bins that are picked up in addition to the trash every week. I looked up my town's recycling center website, and went down there this afternoon. I got myself a bin (I think only one tenet in my building had one before, and she has since moved out), then filled it up with many empty alcohol bottles.
No, I'm not an alcoholic. And no, I'm not an alcoholic in denial either. I lack a very essential requirement to being an alcoholic: drinking to excess. I didn't start drinking until I was about 28, still have never been drunk (and have no intentions of ever getting drunk), and I stop drinking after 1 drink (two if it's my birthday). I hate beer and wine, but I do love rums and whiskeys. So I've saved many empty bottles of Crown Royal and Captain Morgan, mostly stashed under my sink. Why? I really have no answer for this. But into the blue bin they go.
Oh yeah, and now for the confession.
My garbage disposal has been broken now for a few years. One day I flipped the switch and it simply wasn't working. At first I thought I blew a fuse, but the fuses were fine. So the unit itself was busted.
Has the landlord been lazy? No, I've been procrastinating calling him to come and fix it. Why? Because I knew it would mean cleaning up all of the crap I have under the sink and in the kitchen. I got used to it. But still, needless to say, this is beyond ridiculous. So I took a brave look under the sink and under the kitchen table too. Notable oddities that I discovered:
- Britta pitcher. Ah yes, an essential back in college. But since then I've gotten a filter for my kitchen sink's tap. So do I need the pitcher? No, I don't. It doesn't even take the same size filters. Off to the thrift store you go.
- Squeeze bottles. Or whatever you call these things that you fill with a beverage and attach to your bicycle. I ended up acquiring these for free over the years, at work events and what not. They're still good for the gym. But do I need three of them? I'll keep the one that's the cleanest and newest, and ditch the other two.
- Rusted cooking pot. What do I still have this? In case the roof starts leaking during the rain? Which wouldn't happen anyway, since I don't live on the top floor of my apartment building? Creative army helmet project? I just gotta throw this thing in the dumpster.
- Unused metal strainer pot. I bought both this and the now rusted pot together as a set, probably with something else too. I did this because at the time I needed new pots and pans, and saw this set for ridiculously cheap. Now I know why the price was so low. I know the strainer still looks brand new, but the hell with it. I already have a plastic strainer I use anyway.
- Greasy Wax paper bag containing steel wool pads. The kind that have that blue soap to them too. So clean yet so nasty at the same time. Bye bye.
- Matchbooks. Despite not being a smoker at all, my father had a hobby of collecting matchbooks from different restaurants. Yes, restaurants in Massachusetts did actually have such things, along with "Smoking Sections" were people were allowed to smoke cigarettes inside. I started making my own collection when I was a kid, which I used to keep in a giant 1-gallon bag in my desk drawer. At some point I switched to metal tins. Should I just make an enormous fireball with these? Sell some of them to possible collectors? Can I even legally mail such things? Time will tell.
- Personal daily planner book, 1998-1999. Have I really been throwing this thing around for a decade? Yikes. Oddly enough there was a post-it on the outside for the first job recruiters I worked with and somebody's contact number. Flipping through the book though, I'm amused to see the events from the time period: seeing Black Sabbath at an autograph signing, fraternity events, the 1998 Rod Serling Birthday Bash at the now closed ManRay club, a note to pick up the photos (which I know were the black & white ones I had done for me in Salem in '98), meeting up with an ex-turned-friend, getting ready to tape George Carlin's "You Are All Diseased" special when it aired live, my birthday party, trading Dio stuff, practicing with a new band three nights a week (half of whom are now in Plank 63), awaiting the Alice Cooper box set, seeing the Black Crowes, landing my first engineering job....there IS actually some contact info and what not that I'll be making use of. I may just keep this around.
- Ye Olde Coleman. I remember this beverage cooler fondly, as it accompanied the family to events like picnics or the little league team that my dad coached. Fill it up with the instant-mix Kool Aid or lemonade, hold your cup under the spout, and press the button. And when I say I remember it, that includes events as far back as the 1970s. Who knows, the thing may be even older than that. It's like a white trash family heirloom. This is an example of something I mentioned in another blog entry, "inherited clutter". My parents somehow talked me into taking this beast.
The reality of course is that I've never used it, it's a pain in the ass to clean, it's already rusting on top, and (here comes the big bold point of acceptance) I'm never GOING to use it. We already live in an age where you can walk into a 7-Eleven and fill up a 2-liter handled cup of beverage -- for yourself! Or go to Costco and buy a case of 24 bottles of Snapple. If I REALLY was throwing some sort of once-a-decade outdoor event like that, I'd just as soon go with the Snapple.
So long, Coleman. You've served the family well over the years. But rather than rust away under my sink, you can retire with dignity at the thrift store.
