Impacting your tiny corner of the world

I guess I am like most people in wondering if I ever really have an impact on the world around me. That sounded quite defeatist and that extremeness is not what I meant, for of course we have an impact. But do we resonate?

I am mildly neurotic about recycling. Not in an aggressive sense but in a persistent sense. We try to do our part at home in making choices on purchases and usually recycling as much or more than the trash we put out for pick up. I am also not shy when I am at work or church or volunteering at school in retrieving all the tossed water bottles, and plastic containers from the trash and bringing them home. It no longer bothers me that my head is in a barrel poking around for plastics and cans. Often when I do it I get a comment of "oh you are so good and I should do that". Well that wasn't the point (although it really is the point, yes they should, we all should.) But I don't do it to guilt people or make them feel bad, I just do it because it bothers me to see how much stuff is thrown out that can be recycled. Preaching takes up too much energy and laying on guilt never works and makes me seem really compulsive, which I am far from.

But as we have had parties at work, more people started asking if I wanted to take the recyclables and cleaned them and put them aside, then a couple of weeks ago the blue containers appeared for collecting plastics and cans and I was asked if I wanted to share the pick up job, which of course I said yes.....and the containers are close to being full each week. I am still working on the paper recycling at work but that is tougher because there is a cost involved.

Then tonight I was at a parent meeting holding my water bottle that gets refilled about 50 times before it is recycled (yes I know about plastic breaking down) when another parent who I have worked on multiple events and projects with over the years came up to me and said "you know I have become almost like you. You were always pulling out the recyclables and bringing them home that I found myself feeling guilty about throwing the stuff away and now have a bin at work and sort everything at home and I am making others in my family do the same." She added that when her kids gave me a hard time I say "Jeff would be pulling these out""

It made me smile. Ripples in the waters of life.

So if you are reading this I am going to plan this seed, not guilt just an example. Yes I would pick up the empty water or juice bottle and either take it home or find a recycling bin.