A spring in my step...

This is quite the week, wouldn't you agree?

We began with the wearing o' the green--which is a wise and healthy approach even for those who are non-Irish. After all, green is the color of nature, the color of money and the color representing the heart chakra. If one can look beyond the drunken, aberrant behavior that usually coincides with the onset of green apparel on one specific day and instead focus on the idea of a gazillion people simultaneously wearing the healing color of the heart chakra, it takes on a whole new level of merit.

Today, being the first day of Spring and with a full moon out tonight the size of the Astrodome, we have before us a powerful holy week culminating in the Christian celebration of Easter. Oh yeah, and throw in Spring Break where people are getting drunk usually without wearing green...or anything else for that matter.

I could tell spring was coming because of the urge I had to clean and organize and release 'stuff'. It feels so therapeutic to scrub and scour and shine one's environment. Next, I will consider tackling the clutter underneath and around all the freshly clean, shiny places.

I did something interesting within that cleaning and releasing concept. I had been collecting a few bags of plastic bottles to recycle. That in and of itself is not news because I am an avid recycler all throughout the year. What was different is that instead of tossing the plastic bottles in with the glass and paper into the big blue bin, I set the plastic bottles aside . I wanted to see how many bottles I could gather (without becoming unwieldy) and then see what actual cash value they had when redeemed. It so happens that there is a small collection van at the corner of my neighborhood Von's that I walk past every day on my way to Curves. People are always lining up there bringing in huge bags of recycles to turn in for money.

Admittedly, most of the people I see turning in cans and bottles are usually homeless or indigent people looking to make some money. I have had some judgment about that process--especially when people are rooting around in my trash bins during the wee hours of the morning. Being so convenient to one of these centers, I have walked by and handed to whomever was there the bag of water bottles I collected from Curves. I confess to feeling awkward being there today turning in bottles for my own gain. What right did I have to be recycling for profit? However, I was viewing this as an experiment. I toyed with the idea of handing my cash over to one of the people that might be there at the same time; or I indulged in the perverse idea that my 40 bottles (yes, I counted them) might just fund an unexpected latte! Not even close. For my 40 bottles (which you must have emptied and with caps removed) I learned that one does not receive cash for items, but instead receives a voucher that you take into Von's to redeem. I received a whopping total of $1.28!!! Not only does that not pay for a small cup of designer coffee, it would not be enough for a loaf of bread or a carton of milk for someone in need. Yikes. This interesting little experiment taught me another insight into judgment and perception of the human condition. For all the effort that people go to to find and redeem bottles and cans, they do not get a lot in return.

For now, I shall go back to tossing my plastic bottles into the blue bin (along with my other OCD recylcing habits) and hope that it helps someone as well as the planet.


Ever hopeful...ever green.