March 14, 2006, full moon eclipse in virgo….
It's bulk pick up week in my neighborhood. Ours is a diverse street of working class teachers, cops, mechanics and clerks from all over the world. We're in sunny Florida where property values have spiked incredibly over the past few years, so our little starter homes are fetching four times what most of us paid for them a decade ago. Maybe people think they're rich, and they're buying a bunch of new stuff, 'cause they sure are dumping a lot. My dogs and I took a walk under the full moon tonite, and it's amazing the stuff that's piled up curbside. We saw a beautiful iron birdcage, wrought iron chairs, a brass lamp with clean, perfect shade, two couches, a computer monitor, vcr, shelves, dresser drawers, a car seat, baby crib, an incredible hulk and raggedy Andy. Where do people think this stuff goes? Sure, there are guys on bikes and guys with trucks that sometimes cruise through and snatch usable stuff before the trash trucks come, but wouldn't it be better if there was a system for that instead of the occasional chance encounter that saves this good stuff from adding to the landfill? Has anyone visited a landfill lately? Surely not my neighbors. In West Palm Beach they're shooting vultures for hovering over the stack of loot...garbage. Closer to home in Davie they've laid turf over top of an old dump, called it a park and a developer is selling multi-million dollar homes in its shadow! Ever smelled the gases produced by decomposing garbage? Sure you have. Ever flown over Fresh Kills, New York, the biggest dump in the world?. They're trying to turn it into some kind of park now, too, I've read. We drove past another dump in Palm Beach County a few weeks ago and there were literally hundreds of plastic bags cluttered all over the land and fences. We can fix these problems. It's not rocket science, it's just going to take some changes in attitude. Instead of dragging our trash to the curb, take it to Goodwill, or use www.freecycle.com to give it away. As for the bags, stop accepting those plastic bags at the store. Bring along your own bags instead - if you don't have any I do know where you can get a mighty cool stylin' bag (GoGreenGift!).... Point is: Make these changes and we can really make the difference we 'd like to see.
What changes have you made in your quest to GoGreen?