Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

I’m all in favour of waste management. I recycle what I can, hell, I even recycle my K cup plastic containers, and that requires a level of dedication.

But, I think I need to add another “R” to that list. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and RESIST. That’s now my personal mantra.

When I moved last year I found boxes, and I mean boxes, plural, in multiples, of…stuff…that other people had cleaned out of their cupboards and closets and into mine. It’s what happens when you’re a crafter. People think you can use their scraps of yarn, ribbon and other bits and pieces left over from their craft projects.

I had so much stuff accumulated that I had to be ruthless in sorting through it all. I had to reduce all the stuff that was recycled to me, had to resist the urge take everyone’s cast offs in the hope that I would reuse it. How’s that for a sentence?

I got thinking about this yesterday when a friend dropped over, carrying a big bag. She’d been cleaning cupboards, it is spring after all, and she had some of that damned stuff she thought I might like. Not craft supplies this time, but bird feeders.

I held strong, I didn’t succumb to temptation, and I sent her on her way with her bag still full. I feel so relieved, and so proud of myself that I did not give in.

Somewhere, some place, someone else will make use of that bird feeder, but it won’t be me.

Now if it was yarn or fabric, I’m not sure I could have held strong.