I recently moved my office and as a result, I've been in purge mode. I went through papers and magazines that I had hoped to read one day and finally realized it probably won't happen. I set aside those of critical importance that I am determined to read (what happened to that resolution to read 1 hour each day?).
I recycled paper that can't be used again and for paper that was only printed on one side, I made a stack that is now sitting at my printer for internal print jobs. I recycled magazines that are a few years old knowing that I will never have 2.3 seconds to look at them again.
The paper was easy to reuse and recycle, but the biggest cause of heart burn were all the tchotchkes - "stuff" that I picked up a trade shows, or sent by vendors, or received at an event or used at an event I once produced.
Do we really need all this STUFF??? Pens and post it notes are helpful, but think about the energy used to produce and ship this stuff only to have it end up in the landfill - many times after only one use. We are running out of earth on Mother Earth to accommodate all this stuff! Did you know that 99% of stuff is trashed in 6 months?
What am I going to do with it? Those that are still usable will go to my friend's kids -- unexpected gifts from Aunt Lori. Whoopie! For those that are re-giftable, I'm going to look on the website earth911.org to see if I can find a way to recycle it. And if not, my heartburn will return as the stuff goes to the landfill.
Green Tip:
Watch The Story of Stuff
I strongly urge you to take 20 minutes during your lunch break (if you get one) and watch this fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. It is VERY interesting, fun and funny to watch! It exposes the connections between the huge number of environmental and social issues and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.
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