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Memorial Day Weekend Days Three and Four

A long paddle up The Charles River topped off with a brunch that can’t be beat!

Memorial Day weekend days three and four were awesome!

I always try to get most projects done Friday night and Saturday. It’s nice to have something to do on Sunday, but nothing major. Maybe finish a project but not to start a new all-day project.

That leaves my Sundays for running and watching TV. I’m not doing much running now, so I’m watching more TV than I used to.

I’m not really good at relaxing and sitting on my butt watching TV. So I often do my PT routine and other strength training activities in front of the TV.

Kettlebell weights, cross training, weight liftingIt’s amazing what you can do with a few weights and a yoga routine. I used to call it my “hotel room workout” but I haven’t travelled much in two years.

I did get out in the yard for a bit but Memorial Day weekend day three was pretty quiet.

Memorial Day Weekend Day Four

On Monday we went kayaking on The Charles River.

We started in Waltham at the Paddle Boston launch. For Christmas I bought my wife a season family pass. She’s a teacher and goes kayaking several times a week while on summer break.

Memorial Day weekend paddleWe met our oldest daughter there. She has one of the folding kayaks. It folds up to the size of a mid-sized suit case.

People stopped to talk to her about it when she was setting it up and breaking it down. At least a dozen people commented on it while we were out.

It is pretty cool.

Paddle Boston uses the public boat launch area in Waltham so they didn’t have any problems with her using the dock. They even helped her get into her kayak.

Monday was probably the best day of the weekend. It was warm and sunny with barely a breeze.

We left the dock around 10:20 and spent around three hours and fifteen minutes on the river.

Memorial Day weekend paddleThe girls took it easy and didn’t paddle very hard. They had a good time chatting along the way and enjoying the day. We did manage to paddle over 7 miles.

I was trying to get some exercise so I looped around a few times and went into several coves. I ended up paddling 7.36 miles and burning over 900 calories.

I also went on the kayaking version of plogging.

I find it really hard to paddle past a nip bottle bobbing in the waves. Or leaving a bag or piece of Styrofoam floating in the water.

So I had that to keep me entertained as well.

We saw several pairs of swans, blue herons and lots of Canadian Geese.

It was nice to see Canadian Geese where they belong, on a river doing their thing.

Brunch for Lunch

By the time we handed in our gear and my daughter had her kayak folded up and back into her car, it was time for lunch.

Many years ago we live in Waltham, but the place has changed a bit! And now they close down Moody Street for several blocks and the restaurants take over.

We ate at In A Pickle which is famous for their brunch. They have been on The Food Network with Guy Fieri and in Boston on Chronicle.

I don’t go out for breakfast and I’ve been to brunch probably twice in my life.

It was around 1PM when we got to our table so we immediately sucked down a glass of water and ordered cocktails.

In a pickle, cocktails, raspberry lime rickyI had the Raspberry Lime Ricky. I usually go with beer, but this cocktail was awesome. It had enough vodka to cut the sweetness. It had pieces of raspberry to add some tang and it was cold and fizzy.

What else could you ask for after three plus hours on the river?

How about Pumpkin Bread French Toast?

I saw the picture on the menu and had to have it. It was out of this world.

This is what the owner cooked for Guy Fieri on The Feed Network, and he was impressed.

All I can say is that it was delicious and way more food than I could eat, even after a three hour workout. I took the left overs to work and almost didn’t need lunch.

Check out Guy Fieri’s review from his show Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. How can I give it a better description or review?

There must have been over 2,000 calories on that plate. I’m sure I ate way more than the 900+ calories Garmin said I burned. But it was worth if.

When we go back to Waltham for another paddling trip, I’m getting That French toast again!

On the way home we stopped by to look at the house that my daughter and her boyfriend are buying.

It’s a great house in a great location. And like all houses in this market, it is overpriced and needs more work than you should expect at that price point.

But that’s what kids have to do these days.

Memorial Day Weekend Day Two

Day two of Memorial Day Weekend was a little quieter.

Memorial Day Weekend Day Two Accomplishments

I guess that the biggest accomplishment is that I didn’t do very much and I didn’t feel bad about it.

My car hasn’t moved since Friday afternoon! And I still haven’t washed it.

I did manage to sit down to my computer and write a blog post. It’s been a while since I’ve written a truly new post.

When I sit down to my computer I often get sucked down a rat hole.

There are always email accounts to clean up. Often there is something interesting or even important that requires my attention.

Then there is transferring photos from my phone to my desktop. I always do this since it is an easy backup storage method for my phone. Once the photos are transferred I can delete any that are not that important or I just don’t want to keep.

It’s hard to avoid that shiny object since the folder pops up on my screen as soon as I plug my phone in to charge. I know, don’t plug your phone in!

My photo folders are a mess and sometimes I get sucked into organizing things.

Do garden photos belong in the Garden Photos folder or the Home 2022 folder? And if I used a photo in a blog post should it go in my Blog Photos folder?

There must be a way to “put” a photo in more than one folder. And there must be a way to edit a photo that is “in” one folder and decide if you want to save the edit to the copies stored in another folder.

Who wants to spend a day tagging all of their photos so you can search on tags? That would be a multi-day rat hole.

I may have just given away the idea for the next “killer app”.

Memorial Day Weekend Gardening

Memorial Day weekend is usually a safe time to put plants outside. I’ve been working on some of these for months, so I like to be careful.

Tomatoes, cabbage and cukes in starter potsSome plants are in the garden already, but I had another eight tomato plants that were growing out of their pots.

It was either move them or watch them die. Those tiny starter pots dry out quickly and the heat this weekend doesn’t help.

I also had some cabbages that were still too small to go in the ground so I put them into bigger posts.

Those plants in the foreground are some cucumbers that I planted about two weeks ago. I’m pleased to say that they are still alive!

We had some rain Friday and Saturday night, so planting yesterday turned out to be a good idea.

String Bean Rack and Potted Tomatoes, garden, gardeningWhile Massachusetts is officially in a mild drought, the rain has kept the soil in my garden moist. At least the top inch or so.

The garden is always slow to get started and each year I feel like the garden is going to be a flop. But something always grows!

The conditions are different each year and each year different plants do better than others.

For the past four years I’ve been using raised beds. They are a little easier on the back to work on and you have more control over the soil.

Raised Bed with Swiss Chard and Carrots, garden, gardeningThis year some of my carrots actually came up. Two years ago I was able to grow beets. Swiss Chard seems to be my sweet spot. I’ve grown it successfully two years in a row now.

Those rails are from some broken lounge chairs. I used them to hold up a large sheet of plastic to keep the late frost off of my seedings.

These have all been in the ground for about six weeks.

In the back of the bed some beets have emerged and hopefully some more lettuce will soon show.

Memorial Day Weekend Visitors

My youngest daughter lives about 20 miles away and only comes home once in a while.

This weekend was Anime Boston so she stayed with us Friday night.

When I shut off the lights around 10:30 Friday night she wasn’t here, so I figured that plans had changed.

Then Saturday morning I was in the kitchen getting some coffee and in she walks. She came home after 11PM Friday night, and Ma and Pa Kettle had turned in for the evening by then!

It was a pleasant surprise. She wasn’t here long but we all chatted for an hour or so and got caught up on things.

Then around 3 o’clock my oldest daughter showed up. Totally unexpected by me.

She ended up staying until almost 9PM!

She had taken her grandmother out to lunch and stopped by to visit us since she was in the neighborhood.

She finally got an offer on a house excepted and is very excited.

Even though the house was expensive, there is still much that needs to be done. Such is the state of the real estate market in greater Boston, and I guess the entire country.

We ordered out for dinner and had a nice long conversation about all kinds of things.

I don’t think we’ve seen both girls on the same day since Christmas. And with all the crazy shit going on in our country, it was nice to talk and give a hug or two.

So not a lot of exciting goings on but over all I’d say another great Memorial Day Weekend day!

Run well my Friends!

Andy

Memorial Day Weekend Day One

Holiday weekends are always great. Adding a vacation day to make it a four day weekend is even better!

Memorial Day weekend is here!

Day One of Memorial Day weekend 2022

As June 1st rapidly approaches, I decided to take a day off from work and make this a four-day weekend.

Taking a week day off has some great advantages to it.

All the stores are open and if you run your errands in the morning there aren’t any crowds.

Like most people my age, a day off from work, or a stay-cation even becomes a chance to get things done.

Memorial Day One Accomplishments

I’m driving an 18-year old BMW 325xi. Like any car that old, something always needs some attention.

A few weeks ago I replaced the headlight assemblies because the lenses were beyond repair. WD-40 only worked for a few days.

As a do-it-yourself project it cost about $300.

BMW 325xi 2004In April I realized that my exhaust was probably too loud to pass inspection. A specialty muffler shop welded in some pipe where the flanges on two pipes were too rusted to just replace the gasket.

Definitely not a do-it-yourself project! Total cost $255.

I was in and out of that muffler shop in under an hour and it didn’t cost $1,000. I was thrilled!

On Wednesday I took my car to Monro Muffler to get the front stabilizer links replaced. Total cost $312.49. These guys sent me to the other muffler shop for the welding and told me about my suspension issues.

I know, you are thinking that all of that is really adding up. Those three items came to $867.49 which is a lot of money.

But that is about two payments on a replacement car and we are five months into the year. So I’m still ahead three months of car payments.

Best of all, my car passed inspection on Friday. So I have more time to look for a replacement car.

It’s always a relief when they back my old car out of the garage and it doesn’t have a rejection sticker on it!

My wife is beginning to think that I’m doing too many repairs. Last weekend she was browsing a local BMW dealer’s site and made some suggestions!

Most guys would take that approval and head for the dealership.

But most dealerships have limited inventory and they do not need to cut you a deal. It’s just not a good time to buy a car. On top of that, they are not going to give me much for an 18-year old car.

And I kind of like having a project to do and not having a car payment.

Memorial Day Weekend sales

I’ve been going to physical therapy for a vey long time.

During my appointments, my PT often has me use kettlebells.

These are great weights to use and are very versatile.

During my travels on Friday I stopped by our local Target store. Some of the PTs where I go suggested Target as a good place to find kettlebells.

I had been shopping on line for them but they were expensive and cost a fortune to ship. Who would think to go to Target for weights?

Turns out they have a fairly good selection of fitness gear, but nothing heavy duty.

The prices on the kettlebells on display were higher than what I saw on line and were coated in plastic. I wanted just iron kettlebells.

I had to make some detours around the store because isles were blocked by employees stocking shelves.

As I went down one isle I noticed some kettlebells on a bottom shelf and a sign that said “clearance sale”.

I wasn’t sure why weights would be on clearance, but who am I to ague with saving money?

Kettlebell weights, cross trainingThe selection was limited, but I bought two 25lb weights and one 12lb.

One of the 25lb weights didn’t have a tag and the cashier scanned the 12lb weight twice. I didn’t notice until I got home.

The 25lb weights had been $59.99, marked down to $29.99 and my price was $17.99.

The 12lb weight had been $34.99 and I paid $10.49.

But I only paid $17.99 for one 25lb and $10.49 the the second one.

It was a total deal and I didn’t have to pay for shipping!

While I was putting my things on the check out counter the woman in front of me noticed the weights. We started chatting and she mentioned that she had been looking for kettlebells. Just like me, she thought that they were expensive. She was thrilled when I mentioned that they were on sale!

She said she was going to put her things in her car and come back in to look for them. And probably buy more other stuff.

As I was walking out of Target she was walking across the parking lot to go back into the store and find those weights.

So not only did I get a great deal, but I was able to help someone else get a great deal also.

As I drove home I felt great about the entire experience.

I’m not sure how much I’ll get done the rest of this Memorial Day weekend, but I think I’m off to a good start.

Run well my Friends!

Andy

The Old Folks are Alright

My parents lived in a retirement community if Florida for about 25 years.

When they moved in they were in their early 70s and were the new kids down the block.

The Old Folks are Alright

When they bought their home the old folks were in their 80s and 90s. People who were WWII vets and who endured the Great Depression: The Greatest Generation.

These folks were in their sunset years. Many dealing with issues of old age but still enjoying life.

When there were social events at the club house these people would show up. The music was mostly Big Band and Swing music from the 40s along with country music probably through the 70s and 80s.

My parents grew up with that music and listened to that music on the radio, so that was fine.

For many years my parents went to most of the social events at the club house and visited with friends in the park.

My parents generation and the ones that came before them were joiners.

Before there was TV or the internet, people had to go out to socialize.

In the old days all of the civic clubs were much more popular than they are now. It’s hard to get people to even join the VFW these days.

When I was a kid my dad belonged to several sports leagues or clubs at work. My mother bowled and belonged to several organizations in town.

We are the Old Folks Now

Inevitably my parents became “the old folks” in the park..

About two years before my Dad died, I was visiting them and had to go to the club house to use the Wi-Fi.

As I sat in the card room I could hear people in The Hall setting up for a social event that evening.

By now my folks were in the mid 80s and had stopped attending most get-togethers at the club house. They didn’t have the energy and most of their friends had died.

As I sat there going through work email, I began to notice the music.

I was tapping my foot and humming along.

They were playing The Grateful Dead and The Rolling Stones!

That’s when I realized that my parents had become the old folks in the park. It really hit me that there had been a generational change in the park.

It is a 55+ community and younger people had discovered the park as a relatively inexpensive place to live. These people went to work every morning. Some of them were my age!

And the 70 year old folks living in the park were flower children! They were the same age as members of The Grateful Dead and The Stones.

They didn’t want to listen to Benny Goodman, they wanna rock! They grew up in the 50s and 60s.

One time I was out for a run around the park and I swear I could smell pot!

I had to laugh.

Old Age is a Relative Term

As I watched my parents move into their 80s and closer to 90 I saw the slow decline. Over time my siblings and I increasingly took care of things.

As technology became more prevalent in everyday life they managed to keep up with some things. But they were about as far from being digital natives as you could get. So we guided them as best we could.

As we became more involved in helping them I began to see their age as old. All of their frailties and health issues began to define old age to me.

But people who are 70 or 80 are also old, it’s just that most of them are more able than people in their late 80s. But they are less able than people in their 60s.

And when my parents were in their 70s they didn’t feel old even with their health issues. The people 5-10 years older were old or people who were dieing or dealing with major health issues were old.

Now the old folks are listening to rock and roll and smoking weed. Some of them served in Vietnam but they are not “The Greatest Generation”. They are the leading edge of the Baby Boomers.

Is 50 the new 30?

What ever age you are, the people 10-20 years older are old.

When I was 30, 50 seemed old but not OLD. Sixty seemed old.

Now that I am almost 58, sixty seems kind of young.

I definitely do not feel 30 anymore and it’s getting harder to convince my self that I am still young. I’m pretty comfortable with the reality that I am in the middle of middle-age. There’s no denying that!

As an old friend used to say “Facts is facts!”.

Having seen my parents age and die, I’ve come to realize that 10 years from now I will look back on a younger me. The me sitting here typing away right now.

No matter how old you are, in 10 years you will wish you could be that age again.

Think of the mistakes you could avoid and the things you could have done if you had only realized the older you wouldn’t be able to do them in the future.

Looking Through Time

So I have seen the end. Twice.

As my dad used to say, life is about taking a series of fall back positions. As you loose the ability to do something you do something else. Or you deal with your illness and the infirmnety that comes with it.

You just deal.

So I know that 10 years from now I may not be able to run marathons, or run at all. With that in mind I need to take better care of my self.

In 20 years I may have problems walking and going to Europe and seeing the sights may not be a possibility.

Over the years many of us add on the pounds like rings on a tree. They come with each year.

If I don’t adjust my diet and maintain my fitness, eventually I’ll look like most of the old men in America. Then I will really feel old.

Age comes to us effortlessly and the days pass by swiftly.

It is up to each of us to do our part to see that next day pass and make sure that as old folks, all of us are alright.

Live Well my Friends!

Andy

August 8 Check In

I’ve edited and updated some evergreen posts such as the New England Marathons Fall 2021. A directory of New England Marathons requires regular updates, even in a normal year.

But I haven’t been running or racing much these past few months.

The mid-summer Check In

So here’s a recap of the past few months.

Running Check In

I’ve had Achilles tendonitis since November of 2020.

Throughout 2020 I had been running three times a week. My long runs were often half-marathon or longer and I was feeling pretty good.

In November I ran three legs of a relay race and during the last two miles I could tell that something was wrong.

Any runner will tell you that it’s not unusual for something to hurt during a run. Even if it’s just a few miles.

This race was a little over 14 miles.

Over the next four months I spent a lot of time on the couch with my ankle on a pillow with an ice pack waiting for things to get better.

I also ran short runs in the neighborhood just to try and keep something going.

This managed to knock back the discomfort back 10%, but I was in no condition for Spring Training.

Finally in March I went to an Orthopedist. He looked at my x-rays, did some poking, twisting, turning and applied pressure.

The good news was that nothing was broken. The bad news was that I had a classic case of achilles tendonitis.

He gave me a 24-hour NSAID, told me to rest more and ice at least four times a day. If nothing improved in the next month or so I could come back and get fitted for a boot.

I did everything he said and even stopped running for all of May.

In June I tried to get back to running with short runs around the neighborhood. I even ran the virtual BAA 10K.

While my pain had decreased maybe another 10% the 10K confirmed that I was not ready to get back to training.

I called to make an appointment for The Boot. I was gonna be a Storm Trooper!

Instead, my original ortho had me talk to an ortho who specialized in runners. We are a special breed! ?

For this appointment I got to do a tele-health visit on my phone.

I know that some people don’t like these but I loved the convenience. Since I had already been physically examined there was no need to go into an office.

Doctor’s Orders

On top of being a nice guy, this Doc knew how to talk to a runner.

Right at the beginning of the call he said that “we both want the same thing and that is to get you out running again.” How could I disagree with that?

He said no running or long walks for the next 6-8 weeks and to go see a physical therapist. He knew the PT practice I use and gave me a referral.

I’ve been to PT about 8 times since mid July.

My PT Doc gave me four exercises to do at home, which I thought was great. Previously I’ve been sent home with pages of things to do. Does anyone get past the first page?

My ankles are still tight when I wake up in the morning but seem to be getting better.

Better yet, last weekend I noticed that I could fly up and down stairs without pain! Mid-flight I realized I was going down the stairs strait and nothing hurt!

I told my PT about this and that there is a 5K coming up on the 14th. But she looked at me and said “you could run it but it will probably set you back.”

That’s all I needed to hear. I’ve been dealing with this for eight months, so when the doctor said she wouldn’t advise it in so many words, I listened.

Instead of saying no she just told me what would happen. Pretty smart!

Following Doctor’s Orders

My Ortho told me not to run or go for long walks. So I haven’t even gone for a hike in the woods or to the beach.

I’ve even impressed my self with how well I’m following my PT plan.

Every day I do the entire plan and sometimes I do a bit more. Just like running, it’s important not to over do it. So I only do some of the routine several times.

All of this has pretty much trashed my summer, but what can I do?

I want to run again and not be in pain every day.

It’s a small price to pay even if it is a few more months.

About 10 years ago I had what I thought was bursitis in my left hip. It lasted for about three years and I thought my marathon running was over.

I kept to short runs and settled into the idea of running just for fitness.

But eventually it went away on it’s own and hasn’t bothered me since.

If something like that can get better, so can this.

How to Avoid Recycling

Too busy to recycle? Skeptical of the whole recycling thing? Here are a few handy tips to help you avoid recycling.

Originally published September 9th, 2019. Updated April 17th, 2021.

Most Americans recycle but many still prefer to avoid recycling.

For some people it takes too much effort to sort items or separate trash from recyclables.

Some areas require the separation of paper, glass, metals, etc. into separate bins or bags.

Many cities and towns have gone to “single stream” recycling. This allows people to put all recycle items into a single bin.

While this is the easiest way to recycle, some people still can’t or wont recycle.

Some areas do not have recycling programs at all. I don’t have the numbers, but I think this is becoming less common.

Some people are philosophically averse to the whole idea of recycling.

Recycling Today

Recycling is not a new concept and has been used in agriculture for eons.

During World War II my mother told me they recycled everything, as her mother did during WWI.

An EPA fact sheet1 released in 2016 shows that 34.6% of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was recycled or composted in 2014.

While this is up from single digits as late as 1980, it still means that almost two-thirds of our MSW is land-filled or incinerated.

This report does not address how much of our trash ends up in the environment.

It would be great if we could recycle 100% of our MSW, but even 50% seems a lofty goal.

We have seen in the news how several countries that used to accept plastic and electronics for recycling no longer do so.

In Massachusetts the only glass recycling facility recently shut down due to lack of demand. With more microbreweries using cans instead of bottles, no one needs all of that glass.

With persistently low recycling rates and increasing difficulty processing these materials, it seems that the best option is to avoid recycling.

Check out this article for a global perspective on recycling.

How to Avoid Recycling

How do we create less trash and recyclable materials in our daily lives?

And how to do this without putting much effort into it?

Even if you are an enthusiastic recycler, not all materials can be recycled. Many items that are recycled still leave waste that cannot be re-used.

Here are a few ways that you can make a difference.

How to avoid recycling at work

If my workplace is typical, I’d say most people are avoiding recycling already. But not in a good way.

I work in Cambridge, MA also know as “The Republic of Cambridge.” While the citizens of Cambridge may be good recyclers, I’m dubious of the efforts of the people who own the building I work in.

Let me note that our building is “LEED Certified”2

While the building owners have clearly labeled some barrels for trash and some for recycling, that seems to be all that they do.

Most of my colleagues can’t tell the difference between the clearly labeled recycle and trash barrels. I see trash in the recycle bin and recyclables in the trash daily.

The people I work with are highly intelligent. If the building owners made some effort at education I have no doubt that my colleagues would catch on quickly.

I see the same thing at races. Most races recycle nothing. When they do have separate barrels, most runners can’t tell the difference. Or don’t care.

Runners recycle,recycle anything

A few years ago one race hired a company to provide barrels for trash, recycle and compost.

Even with someone stationed at each disposal location, people still asked questions. Others tossed their banana peels into the recycle bin and wandered off.

Much like the people I work with, the runner demographic tends to be college educated and earn above median incomes. People who should know better.

What can we do at work?

The first thing is to actually use the correct barrels to dispose of your trash. Very little effort is required to make this change. That’s not avoiding recycling, but it is common sense.

Second, bring your own utensils.

cup, glass and utensils; recyclingMy company actually gave all employees a ceramic coffee mug several years ago, but still people use paper cups.

You can bring your own coffee mug to work. Most of us have more than we can use at home.

If you work 200 days a year and have two cups of coffee a day, that is 400 cups a year. Most of us drink more coffee than that, so our impact may be even greater.

If 500 people in my building did this, we would save 200,000 cups a year. And that’s only two cups per day.

You can bring a drinking glass to work.

Besides coffee, most of us have several glasses of water at work, or we grab a bottle of something out of the vending machine.

If 500 people switched to a re-usable glass, we could avoid recycling 200,000 cups and plastic bottles each year. Probably more than that.

Plastic utensils. Most of us use a plastic fork or spoon at least once a day at work. Some people use a plastic spoon each time they get a cup of coffee. Some people use a plastic straw or wooden stir stick.

Either way, all of these items end up in the trash after a few seconds of use.

If on average each person uses 4 plastic utensils per day, 200 days a year and 500 people switched to real silverware we could avoid recycling:

4x200x500 = 400,000 single use plastic utensils annually.

Here is the simple solution for work: bring your own drinking glass, coffee mug and eating utensils.

Individually these may seem like small changes, and they are. But they require no special effort and over time they will make a difference.

The next time you go to the grocery store look for a 400 pack of paper coffee cups, plastic cups and a box of 400 eating utensils. These are not small packages.

Things we can do at home

The vast majority of our waste is created at home. Think of all of the food packaging you throw away every day, and packaging of all kinds. How many single use items do you throw away everyday at home?

It’s difficult to reduce the amount of packaging we bring home. That’s how our food and other items are sold to us.

I for one do not want to bring home meat in a paper bag. Prices would go up if we had the butcher wrap our purchase in paper like they did in the old days. And the food probably would not stay fresh as long either.

The only way to avoid recycling here is to buy less or look for products that use less packaging.

A friend commented that his wife saves the plastic bags you get in the fruit and veggie section of the grocery store. She puts the food away and puts those plastic bags back into her re-usable shopping bags.

This got me thinking that we could avoid those bags all together by just putting the food into the shopping bags.

Some grocery stores provide hand held scanners. As you select your items you scan them, put them in your bag and avoid the store’s plastic bags.

Re-usable bags seem to be the easiest way to avoid recycling here. I recently listened to an NPR broadcast where the guest said you need to use those nylon shopping bags 20,000 times to make their carbon foot print equivalent to the foot print of those throw away bags.

But I’m talking about reducing your recycling burden. Carbon foot print is another article.

Composting If you have space in your yard, composting is easy and sanitary. You can find all kinds of information on how to compost on the internet, so I won’t go into that.

Here is a good article on how to get started with composting.

Some argue that it is better to use a commercial composting facility as they collect the methane produced by compost. If your town has a commercial composting facility or collects gas from the land fill, that’s great.

In Eastern Massachusetts, all of our trash goes to an incinerator.

Gardening Again, if you have space gardening can be fun and help you avoid recycling. If the food comes out of the ground in your back yard, there isn’t any packaging to recycle. You can use your compost to build up the soil in your garden, so you don’t have to worry about disposing of your compost.

You can even use some household items in the garden. Seedlings can be started in yogurt cups.

Re-use or Upcycling is another option. Upcycling is the process of reusing waste materials without breaking them down into their base state to create a product of higher value or quality.

Check out this interesting article on recycling versus upcycling on an industrial scale.

Glassware Most of us have more glasses and mugs than we can possibly use. If you are starting out and need these items go to a yard sale. You can pick up glasses for a five or ten cents.

We use some jelly jars for water glasses. They look fancy and then we don’t have to recycle them.

Take-out Containers Americans are eating out and ordering in more than ever. Most take-out containers end up in the trash. Most cannot be recycled or have no economic value to the recycling company.

So what to do? When we get sturdy plastic containers we use them to store left overs. They are food-grade containers so why not use them to store food?

We also use them to collect our composting materials. Compost can make your Tupperware containers groady over time. If a take out container gets groady, no big deal.

They may not last as long as Tupperware, but we get multiple uses out of them and we avoid buying more containers.

You can also tell a restaurant that you don’t need plastic cutlery and packets of ketchup with your takeout order.

Some restaurants allow you to bring your own containers and some coffee shops let you use a re-usable mug.

How do you Avoid Recycling?

So here are a few of my ideas on how to avoid recycling.

Do you recycle?

Do you have any ideas that you’d like to share?

Recycle well my Friends,

Andy

1 https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2016-11/documents/2014_smmfactsheet_508.pdf

2 https://www.everbluetraining.com/what-is-leed

https://happydiyhome.com/diy-compost-bin/

RECYCLE TODAY! TOMORROW MIGHT BE TOO LATE

https://matmatch.com/learn/process/recycling-vs-upcycling-processes-and-materials