Recyling revival

A recent interview in The Waitsburg Times with Markeeta Little Wolf, managed to simultaneously inspire and embarrass me. It was a reminder of just how complacent I have become with recycling since moving here. In California we had curbside bins for glass, plastic, paper, yard waste, and regular trash. Recycling was easy! Although a bit more challenging here, Markeeta has inspired me to become more aware of the little things that I can do to make a difference.

California and Washington are similar in that they are "divided states." Northern California has Silicon Valley, a snooty wine region, snowpack, and they consider themselves the elite region of the state, while Southern California proudly boasts movie stars, mansions in Malibu that burn, fall into the sea and get rebuilt, as well as cool muscle beaches. However, what both regions agree on are environmental issues and water conservation. During many drought years, the state motto was; "if it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down." Ok, not classy, but effective.

In Southern California we were only allowed to water lawns on select days of the week, which became contentious, to say the least. People would report their neighbors for watering an extra day, causing the culprit a fine. But, eventually most of us learned to live with dead grass, just don't touch the swimming pool, that's sacred!

As a newbie to Washington, my observation is that this state also appears to be divided. The "west side" has tech industry, sports stadiums, traffic, rain, and dictatorial recycling and composting rules, while the high desert east of the Cascades, has moderate climate, wheat, apples, great wine and no traffic. Yet, sadly, we have not conquered recycling here in Waitsburg and Walla Walla.

I almost feel guilty drinking wine and not having a convenient recycling center. However, I recently learned I could collect my bottles and bring them to Basin Disposal in Tri-Cities, (thank you Susan D). Since I go there weekly to play tennis, that's the plan (aha! guilt free wine drinking, restored).

Recently I visited cousins in Seattle, and after brewing a cup of tea with a tea bag, I was instructed to separate the bag from the string and staple. The bag is compostable, the string, tag & staple are regular trash. Now, is that recycling at its purest; or overkill?

In California, the grocery stores incentivized us to use our own bags by charging for their bags (plastic or paper) and bestowing generous savings on gas. In Los Angeles, like swimming pools, cars and driving are sacred! Here, the stores shower you with plastic bags.

One major concept in the Jewish religion is "Tikkun Olam," which basically translates to "repair the world." We are taught that we should leave the planet better than we found it for future generations. We are encouraged to act compassionately to all people, and improve the welfare of society at large, to help perfect the world. So, I resolve to do better, however, it may not include separating tea bags into recyclable parts and trash.

Some easy lifestyle changes, inspired by Markeeta, that I resolve to try:

•Containers from store bought yogurt, sour cream, etc., will be washed and used for leftover storage, so they are not single-use and wasted.

•Buy as many products that are made from recycled material as possible. I just purchased 2 indoor-outdoor carpets for $20 each from Costco made from recycled plastic.

•Always, take my own bags into the grocery store.

•Recycle bottles and check out Markeeta's plastic recycle system.

I did try her homemade laundry detergent recipe, it's a hit. Also, I taught her about bamboo paper towels. Shared knowledge and guilt free wine drinking, a good start to repairing my world.