Pluto, Neptune, and Jupiter are now appearing to move backward, or as astrologers say, "retrograde", Uranus will join them later this month. Recycling has been on my mind lately. Perhaps that planetary motion has something to do with it.
Recycling used to be a way of life back in England. Local authorities provided separate garbage bins for our newspapers. Centres for collection of other items, such as glass and aluminium cans, were plentiful in most neighbourhoods. Here in Oklahoma it's a different story. There are few facilities to encourage recycling, and these are getting fewer by the week. Every 3 months or so we've been ferrying our collection of newspapers and cans the 35 miles to a recycling collection centre in a neighbouring city. I read this week that the big military base in that city, whose staff used to collect recycling materials from several centres, has been prevented, by Department of Defense financial constraints, from continuing these collections (except for those from a single bin in one area of the city).
Why am I surprised? The current U.S. administration seems interested only in destruction. Corporations are interested only in retail gluttony. Private enterprise, which could surely make a profit from recycling, finds it easier to do so in other ways. Our own city authorities appear to have no interest at all in recycling, in spite of requests.
There are other ways to re-cycle though. Charity shops, junk shops, "antique" shops, e-bay, garage and yard sales, all offer opportunities to by-pass the retail juggernaut. We visit Goodwill shops regularly, most of my shirts come from there. With a little patient searching it's possible to find some better quality items than are on sale in the shops in this town.
I have a growing collection of what I call "trash art" - that's yet another way of re-cycling. Pieces of driftwood, an old bicycle chain, a vintage car horn, the cover of some old sheet music, and my Aquarius symbol made from scrap copper by AJ.( son of HWK) . It's fun searching for these, and good knowing that the few dollars they cost are not going into the pockets of greed obsessed corporations.
Recycling used to be a way of life back in England. Local authorities provided separate garbage bins for our newspapers. Centres for collection of other items, such as glass and aluminium cans, were plentiful in most neighbourhoods. Here in Oklahoma it's a different story. There are few facilities to encourage recycling, and these are getting fewer by the week. Every 3 months or so we've been ferrying our collection of newspapers and cans the 35 miles to a recycling collection centre in a neighbouring city. I read this week that the big military base in that city, whose staff used to collect recycling materials from several centres, has been prevented, by Department of Defense financial constraints, from continuing these collections (except for those from a single bin in one area of the city).
Why am I surprised? The current U.S. administration seems interested only in destruction. Corporations are interested only in retail gluttony. Private enterprise, which could surely make a profit from recycling, finds it easier to do so in other ways. Our own city authorities appear to have no interest at all in recycling, in spite of requests.
There are other ways to re-cycle though. Charity shops, junk shops, "antique" shops, e-bay, garage and yard sales, all offer opportunities to by-pass the retail juggernaut. We visit Goodwill shops regularly, most of my shirts come from there. With a little patient searching it's possible to find some better quality items than are on sale in the shops in this town.
I have a growing collection of what I call "trash art" - that's yet another way of re-cycling. Pieces of driftwood, an old bicycle chain, a vintage car horn, the cover of some old sheet music, and my Aquarius symbol made from scrap copper by AJ.( son of HWK) . It's fun searching for these, and good knowing that the few dollars they cost are not going into the pockets of greed obsessed corporations.
