Okay, I've always had a bit of an environmentalist in me. Just enough of one. It comes from always recycling from the time my brother Don started our family on it when I was growing up--he was passionate about it then, and still is.
I've found to my own confusion that there are people I know who just don't see the value in it even today, when not recycling costs more in disposal fees. I think in some cases people are bucking against environmentalists, because of those who take extreme measures and who worship the creation rather than the Creator. But I have always felt that recycling fits just perfectly with the Christian faith. God calls us to be good stewards with what we have--our time, relationships, money, possessions, land...even if the land is not "ours" per say; God has put us here and provided it for us to live our lives. How can a person say that recycling and being energy-efficient doesn't tie in with what God intended? Deuteronomy 8:10 "When you have eaten and are satisfied, you shall bless the LORD your God for the good land which He has given you." And, Psalm 24:1-2 "The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters." God has given us the earth as a beautiful creative gift. Taking care of the land He has given us is not the same as worshiping the creation.
Today I found a useful website, Earth 911, that will help find places to dispose of things properly--electronics, paints, batteries, etc. You enter the thing you want to dispose of and your zip code and it shows where it can be done. I recently brought about 20 partial cans of paint I no longer wanted in to a place in Everett, nearby, and got more useful paint to use on current projects. It saved me the disposal costs for the old paint, plus the money it would have cost for the paint that I found would be more useful. That paint-exchange place in Everett is on this website, and a new discovery for me is Staples, which takes electronics and toner cartridges. Some things like computers cost to recycle, and some they actually pay you for, such as the toner cartridges, about $3 each.
I intend to get more organized, continuing to prioritize the things we keep in our (currently overstuffed) garage such as chemicals and electronics, and finding proper homes for those things we don't want. As I do, it will make space available, and as a result, I think it will get easier to establish holding areas for old batteries, for example, until I can bring them to their proper new home where they can be recycled into something that is useful again, rather than ending up in a landfill. It's a little matter of stewardship, and if all of us make little steps of that sort, it will make a big impact in the end.
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