The first time that we met with our last small group two years ago, we had dinner at our apartment and made potato tacos. We were getting to know each other and the topic of recycling came up. It was then that Enrique revealed that I am not recycling girl, but Repsycho. Even though it wasn’t necessarily a term of endearment, I thought that it was funny and describes me adequately.
I remember going to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga as a teenager with my family. While we were in line, one of us had finished a Coke (I’m not quite sure that it was an actual Coca Cola, but keep in mind that as a Southerner, “Coke” is used to refer to any type of soft drink.) and was going to throw it away. I refused to let it land in the trash and looped the flip top through a necklace I had on and wore it until we got home!
If we go to a party where pizza is served, I’ll ask if I can take the boxes home so that I can recycle them.
In Alpharetta, our apartments recycled newspaper and plastic, but that wasn’t enough for me so I would drive to Roswell a couple of times a week to donate to Goodwill and recycle everything from the Eggo waffle box to phone books to baby food jars to old books.
Before arriving to Costa Rica, we lived with my dad in Lithia Springs for a month. While there, I continued collecting trash to be recycled, but didn’t know where we were going to take it. My dad took me to the dump (or Douglas County Landfill and Recycling Center if you want to be proper) and I was in heaven. They recycle tires, cooking oil, mattress springs, vacuum cleaners, and mixed paper (I didn’t have to separate newspapers, magazines, chip board, office paper, and cardboard anymore!), among the regular recycling of aluminum, glass, plastic, and steel. I went twice a week and loved it.
Now that we are in Costa Rica, I am glad to know that they recycle even more than we do. As you walk the main avenues, there are receptacles every few hundred yards with two categories – recyclable and not recyclable. You don’t have to separate anything and can just throw any trash that you have on you in the right compartment.
Our house lies just past the security gate which we pass several times a day walking in and out of the neighborhood to explore or go shopping. At the guard’s station are four metal barrels for recycling – mixed paper, glass, cans, and plastic. This means that I can recycle to my heart’s content and not have it sitting in my house making a mess. I love it!
At the grocery stores, there are many products that come in large pouches (like big Capri Suns) rather than plastic containers or glass.
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| From L-R: sour cream, mayo, jelly, mayo, more sour cream, nacho cheese, and ketchup. |
Yesterday, we bought strawberry jelly, mayonnaise, sour cream, and dish detergent in those presentations which are cheaper for the manufacturer to produce and leave a much smaller carbon footprint. I also saw ketchup, spaghetti sauce, and mustard like that. The mayonnaise that I bought was Hellmann’s which makes me wonder when the United States will embrace these packages that are much better for the environment.
So for Repsycho, it is nice to live in a place where I am not considered such an oddity; I am just another person doing her part to make the world a cleaner place.
