The Killinger Family Blog
Week 1
Lights, Camera, Recycle
This week’s discussion about recycling had a interesting twist. A cameraman came along to film us. Of course, the kids were quite excited and star struck at the same time. As always, there are people coming and going from our house and today was no exception. Not sure what if anything will actually be aired but to answer your immediate question we only have 4 kids.
Once we all got over the initial stage fright it was down to the business of recycling. My family is very interested in this program and improving our recycling. While we already do a lot, we know there is more that we could. What better way than to get private lessons from an expert! We already learned ways that we are working too hard.. like removing labels for cans or trying to find that amazingly hard to find little symbol on plastic containers (All you need to know is if it's a bottle or even easier that it has a screw on lid) and ways that we can improve like setting up recycling containers around the house.
Next week we start experimenting with composting and changing our buying habits to reflect our recycling state of mind.
Cheers,
Andy
Week 2
Brown is the new Green
I remember my first trip to the Rocky mountains when a was about 8 years old. We drove for hour after hour and then in the distance we began to see the faint outline of the mountains. I was so excited to leave the dirty, windy, hot flat lands and enter the world of snow covered mountains. Our old station wagon strained to climb the steep grades so my dad finally pulled into a scenic overlook.
The view was amazing but there was something not quite right. The parking lot was filled with pop can tops, broken glass, cigarette butts, blowing newspaper, food wrapper and just about every other piece of garbage you can imagine. My heart sank, this wasn’t what I expected at all. Sure it was like every other rest area we had seen on our trip but how could you stand there in front of this view and just drop garbage?
Times have definitely changed. Thirty plus years later my family and I go to the mountains whenever we can and rarely do we find anything near that amount of garbage. Occasionally, you’ll find someone that seems to have missed this evolutionary step but in general we are much more aware of our role and impact on the environment.
Recycling occurs even in my hometown of Cincinnati, about which Mark Twain said ‘If the world ends, I want to be in Cincinnati because they won’t know about it for 10 years”. Being Green is everywhere and ever growing. In a single generation we have gone from environmental slobs to keeping our rooms straight. Being green is great but the next step is to be brown.
This past week we were introduced to composting. You collect food scraps excluding meat, dairy and bones, combine it with yard waste, throw in some water, turn it once a week and in about two months, you get compost. Compost is a dark brown soil additive. Not only does it reduce our impact on landfills, it’s great for our lawns and gardens. Finally, it reduces water usage! In fact, our instructor told us that in a study they conducted, it saved 28% on water usage.
If just the houses in Stapleton did one 3 cubic yard pile per year we would remove a pile of garbage as big as Coors field.. every year. So stay green and add a little brown.
Week 3
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle… Oh my!
The Wizard of Oz has long been one of my favorite movies. We watched it every time it was on TV as kids and now share it with our kids. While the experience of wonder that my brother and sisters shared isn’t the same for kids raised on special effects, it is still a wonderful story. We love to mimic the best lines ‘I’ll get you my pretty… and your little dog too!’, eat popcorn and figure out times when we have been like each of the characters. It seems with every viewing, I notice something profound about that movie.
The wizard is a fake or is he? Believing that someone else can solve your problems doesn’t work but being acknowledged sure does. We all know that main characters are looking for traits that they already possess. And that flying monkeys are absolutely terrifying!
Global warming seems like the Wicked Witch these days. What could goofy, ill prepared characters do to get its broom? Well, the answer is in the small steps that lead to some destination and the taking of those steps day after day after day. This week we covered buying with recycling in mind. Now if you are like me then the trip to the grocery store is preprogrammed. I grab things based on remembering what I think was in the refrigerator. Sometimes my mental picture back fires and we end up with enough sour cream to build a snowman. Sometimes it totally forgets the one thing that we really need… toilet paper!
Adding a check for recycled content and packaging considerations seems like a lot but I also know that once I figure what is the best I can resume my shopping style and know that even if I do buy too much at least I’m buying too much of something that has the maximum recycling value.
Week 4
The End of the Beginning
This week we wrapped up our participation with Denver Recycles’ Stapleton Recycling Challenge. Our final results were amazing. In the span of 6 weeks we reduced the weight of our garbage by almost 50% (20 lbs to 10lbs… not bad for a family of 6) and we somehow increased our recycling weight by almost 30 lbs! I’m still amazed by that as we thought we did pretty good already.
Additionally, we have all noticed ourselves paying more attention to our impact from the kids asking me whether or not something is recyclable to my wife and I both finding many new ways to reduce our impact on the planet. As an example, when we remember, we grab a cup from our house to use at lunch instead of another paper cup being wasted. Simple, easy and helps reduce our garbage.
The whole experience has been educational and fun. On completion we got a visit from Marv the milk jug that had the kids wide eyed and slapping high fives. We also got a wonderful bag of goodies from Forest City. The best part was the bag itself which was made with a bunch of recycled parts. Check out www.alchemygoods.com!
We are very thankful to Becky Wike Goyton and everyone at Denver Recycles for putting on this program and selecting us to participate. And while the program is ending we know it is just the beginning for us looking at how we can make a difference.