Beneath the Wraps

My mom grew up in San Francisco. During World War II citizens were asked to contribute to the war efforts in various ways.   For small children it was saving foils or rather separating the foil from the wax part of the gum wrapper.   That’s what my mom remembered.   She said she got really good at it and was quite proud of her accomplishment.   Every time I see split wrappers, I think of her.   She has made her presence known to me through these small reminders.   Here is an interesting read that comes from Tennesse.

When we had purchased juice, sodas, bottled water and so forth in Salt Lake, we were not required to put a deposit on the containers.   Here in Oregon we are.   Some people don’t seem to care that they are paying ten cents extra and will carelessly toss containers away as recycling seems to be such a bother – which it is.   I was not opposed to tossing cans into the recycle bin when we lived in Salt Lake, but all of those cans and bottles add up – especially for party animals or those who drink by the pack.    There are some areas that offer services by providing machines outside of their stores, others who have tried their hand at providing the service but doing away with the service when it becomes more work for the store who has to send employees out to empty bins, clear jams and what have you. The local store Rays has a couple of machines out front. But for those who have bags and bags of bottles, Roseburg BottleDrop Redemption Center is a really great...

   It seems the answer to this question would define her dash more than my own.  But here goes:         I may have mentioned before that when I lived in Kearns, the residents were given the option of purchasing a can for recycling. At that time, we had a household of five and then six.  Our trash can was ALWAYS full – often the day AFTER garbage day.  As our family needed the extra space, I opted to receive (and pay for) the can.  Two years the purchase of a recycled can was no longer an option.  Everyone received cans – only the mandatory cans were smaller than the initial one I had purchased (or leased rather).           I tried to be conscience of recycling products, but wasn’t a fanatic about it.   I would sometimes get on the case of my boys or husband (who still hasn't grasped the concept) annoyed that they couldn't get it, but even Jenna had...

             When Jenna was three she had learned what goes into the recycling can and what waste goes into the garbage - something her dad and brothers never seemed to catch onto no matter how many times I tried to spell it out for them.   They either just didn't get it, were just too lazy or just didn't care.   Often Jenna and I would scold them.   It was pretty funny when she was the one who called them on it.             Since we've been in Oregon Roland has improved a great deal.  Still not perfect, but much much better at recycling in Oregon than he was in Salt Lake.             In Salt Lake there were few who would actually collect the aluminum cans and physically take them to a recycling and get paid so much per pound.  Here, in Oregon, deposits are paid at the time of purchase.  In order to ...