Recycling - Dragging Lubbock out of the Dark Ages

JG sent me a happy pic this weekend - someone is offering curbside pickup for recyclables here in Lubbock again! She found this flyer on her door:

Sounds reasonable to me!

 

I am thankful to see this. Here in Lubbock we don't embrace recycling much. It seems like a good idea in theory, but very few people actually want to bother doing it. So, 123recycling.org, thank you!

The City of Lubbock does offer rather limited recycling services, but they are not conveniently located - unless you live on the outskirts of town. They have satellite locations at a few local grocery stores, but those don't accept cardboard. And the city does not recycle glass, Styrofoam, or plastic grades 3-7.

Recently, Texas Tech has stepped in with vastly upgraded recycling services, but they only have one location, and it is definitely not the easiest to get to, even when you live near the campus. (But I don't mean to complain - Tech has stepped in and offered a great service that our city is unwilling to mess with. Thank you, Texas Tech Recycling, for making Lubbock a better place to live!)

Here's what they take at Tech, plus they have cardboard-only dumpsters.

 

I just wanted an excuse to use this pic again - love tiny trucks that encourage recycling!

 

I have been carpooling recyclables to Tech for my family and co-workers, and it is a bit of a pain, so I am very excited to see that someone in Lubbock is choosing to fill a great need that we have in our city. So, 123 Recycling receives the first ever Mesquite Hugger Be The Change Award this week.

 

(It's not much of an award. MH is a low-budget operation.)

 

Thank you to anyone and everyone who is working to make better choices easier to choose! May you live in a less trashy place!

 

Recycle Easy in Lubbock! (TTU Recycling in pics)

Lubbock recycling is pretty lousy, but Texas Tech is offering help!

 

Put all of this stuff (in a single, unsorted bag) in the big red dumpster.

Blue is for cardboard, red is for everything else.

Just follow the squiggly red line red line north of the Spirit Arena and the Aquatic Center. (You will get to go past the really cool greenhouses - so jealous!)

Follow these blue signs!

 

For added greenness - create a recycle at Tech carpool - one truck trip is better than 7 car/SUV/truck trips. (I plan to use the electric bike with a trailer this summer!)

 

May recycling be this easy for all!

Walking, Coffee, Stuff, Minimalism Challenge, Saturday Mornings, etc.

As I get a bit older, I keep thinking differently about stuff and busy-ness.

Some of that fancy latté art

Let's talk about Saturday mornings. I love Saturday mornings. I sleep in a little on Saturdays, almost an hour longer than normal. I get up quietly, throw on some clothes, grab a few things, and walk over to the local coffeehouse. Besides clothes, I have my ever-present phone, wallet, and keys. I also carry a grocery bag, my journal, my bible, a pen, and some cheater glasses. The grocery bag I fill up with trash as I walk the neighborhood and drop it in a dumpster near the coffeehouse. I am usually one of the first to arrive at the coffeehouse. I order a single coffee drink and a whole-wheat cinnamon roll. I sit in the back corner reading, writing, sipping, munching, and sometimes planning blog posts. I am usually there about an hour. As I walk home, I pick recyclables up. When I get home, I usually climb back in bed with my lovely wife - she is not a morning person, and that is probably a good thing.

The thing about these particular Saturday mornings, I have everything I need. I usually spend around five dollars. In our world of stuff and hurry, this is a time of little stuff and little hurry. Weather does not affect it. I can walk in snow, rain, fog, heat, wind. The coffee can be hot, cold, good, terrible. The cinnamon roll can be the same. The temperature inside the building also matters little.

The only variable that ever messes things up for me is noise level. If the music is too loud and distracting or the patrons are too loud and distracting, then I get nervous and don't enjoy the morning so much. I go there seeking a reverential contentment, but noise can melt that away. (I should probably re-think the ever-present cell phone too.)

For me, contentment is the important word. I am not seeking joy or happiness. On Saturday mornings, I work at being content. When I find that - happiness, joy, patience, even a tiny bit of wisdom - things all seem to fall in place. The week is better, and I have more resilience to face it and to care for those who need me.

After having read this far - pat yourself on the back for attention-span endurance - here is a nifty little pair of links to help you if you are trying to slow down a bit to seek a bit of contentment:

Green Livivng Ideas article about the minimalism challenge

The 30-day Minimalism Challenge

I am a big fan of days 1, 4, 10, and 24. I dont think I will struggle much with days 9, 17, and 23.

May you find some contentment in your days. Thank you, as always, for reading this blog!

Two Quick Reminders for this Week: Waste and Rain Barrels

No Waste Wednesday

Don't be a Straw Hog or a Napkin Nipper! 

Wednesday (April 9) is A Day Without Waste.

Rain Barrel Saturday

I was wishing this one had been last Saturday so that I could've caught this weekend's brief but wonderful rain!

The Make and Take Rain Barrel Workshop (Lubbock, 40th and University, 12-3)

May you not wake up on Sunday thinking, "Snagit! I missed it!"

A Day Without Waste, Poetry, and Earth Day: Bring it on, Lubbock!

(Keith, get ready to mark your calendar!)

Somehow, I have turned into a cause guy. Which is foreign to me. I spent many years (decades) as an apathy guy. I am wearing a blue shirt today to show support for autism awareness. Yesterday I spent my lunch hour with a good friend talking to a group of hard-working people about the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life that is coming up in early May. (You will hear more on that one later.) Riding to work today (5 consecutive days without burning petroleum to get to work!) I was freezing my butt off and wondering how I became this cause guy - being an apathy guy is often much more comfortable.

April is a great month for causes and celebrations.

If you are a frequent visitor to MH, you know this one is near and dear. April 9th is a A Day Without Waste. Please visit the site and see what you can do to support this uber-important cause. Our affluence has made us consumers who give little thought to the amount of waste each of us creates every single day. Try for one day to see how close you can get to creating no waste. I tried it a few years ago after watching No Impact Man. I failed miserably, but I have been striving for waste reduction ever since.

(One of my favorite poems)

If you want to celebrate National Poetry Month in Lubbock, be sure to mark your calendar for April 25th at 7pm - Robert Pinsky and Laurence Hobgood will be performing PoemJazz at Texas Tech. If you like poetry or jazz, this is a phenomenal opportunity to see two true artists collaborating.

My struggle with Earth Day is that I want it to be Earth Decade. Every April 22nd is Earth Day, but I keep reading that many will be celebrating Earth Day on the 27th this year. I will keep looking to see what Earth Day celebrations you can find in our area.

May your causes be worthy of your time!