Think about what you buy, why you buy it, and picture its entire lifecycle. (Think about its packaging, too.) What is it made from? Where did those materials come from? By what process was it made? What other resources are required for that process? Who made it? How did it get to you? Where will it go when you are done with it? What will it break down into when you are done with it? Can it be reused? Can it be recycled? Are all these costs of creating, disposal, and transportation and the environmental costs of those processes reflected in its price, or are you (or someone else) paying for that cost elsewhere?  Picture it in a landfill near you with all the other things we all are buying and disposing of. Those thoughts may make you less inclined to buy that which you don't need or that which cannot be reused or recycled.

Watch The Story of Stuff, an engaging, entertaining video by Annie Leonard, which poses some of these questions, and provides some answers. Suggest it as a resource for others, since it gives an overview of how everything works, and the picture is not pretty. The present system of making, transporting, selling, buying, using and disposing of stuff is destroying the planet. Only if there is broad public understanding of how things work, and the consequences if we continue doing things as we do them now, will people be motivated to change their ways.

There is a mostly plastic trash pile the size of Texas created by an ocean vortex in the Pacific Ocean. Plastic is not friendly to marine or terrestial biology.

An interesting look at consumption and contemporary American culture using statistics and visual imagery, by Artist Chris Jordan: “Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on. My hope is that images representing these quantities might have a different effect than the raw numbers alone, such as we find daily in articles and books. Statistics can feel abstract and anesthetizing, making it difficult to connect with and make meaning of 3.6 million SUV sales in one year, for example, or 2.3 million Americans in prison, or 426,000 cell phones retired every day. This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs. My underlying desire is to affirm and sanctify the crucial role of the individual in a society that is increasingly enormous, incomprehensible, and overwhelming.”

Reuse anything you can in your house, another cost-saving strategy. Our ancestors did it- "Waste not, want not"; the whole country did it during World War II- let's see if we can too.

• Reuse old toothbrushes for fine cleaning
• Reuse worn-out clothes for rags
• Reuse plastic and glass containers for food storage or storing small items in the garage
• Reuse plastic grocery bags for small garbage bags or as grocery bags
• Reuse salvaged building materials to create new treasures
• Buy products made of recycled materials- it's the only way recycling makes sense

Let others reuse what you don't need anymore. There are many ways to share your extras with neighbors or strangers.

*www.freecycle.org  In Jefferson County, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/JeffCoWI-freecycle/
 
*If you live in Madison or Fort Atkinson, register on the community bulletin board at www.neighbornation.net. Share, offer, or seek stuff and services.
 
*Goodwill Store 1520 Madison Ave. on Fort's west side
* New St. VIncent de Paul Store on the south side of Fort Atkinson near St. Joe's Catholic Church.

*St.Vincent De Paul Store 1438 S. Ryan Ave. on the south side of Jefferson

Twice is Nice 907 Racine Jefferson a second-hand clothing store

 
*Habitat for Humanity Restore (www.restoredane.org) at Cottage Grove Rd. just off Monona Ave in Madison. Also in Milwaukee, LaCrosse, Appleton, Plymouth and Sheboygan.  Public may buy doors, windows, flooring, lumber, cabinets, lights, plumbing fixtures, etc. which are donated to Habitat and not used to build local Habitat houses.
 

*Any other secondhand clothing stores, rummage sales, antique stores, curbside rescue of trash that is not really trash.

*Instead of going shopping for clothing, get together with friends and have a clothing swap party where everyone brings some clothes no longer worn. It's a fun way to recycle your unwanted clothes.

*Save the corks made of real cork (a sustainable product whose use is actual helping to maintain an ecosystem) from your wine bottles. Many companies have now gone to synthetic corks- which are not recyclable. Yemm & Hart Ltd. in Missouri is collecting them to use in making flooring and wall tiles. A civic group or scout troop or environmental club could make collection of these a project. (Thank you Delphine for this tip.)

*Take your old worn-out athletic shoe (of any brand) and go to the nearest Reuse-A-Shoe drop-off location. They will be used to make "Nike Grind", which will then be used in synthetic soccer fields or to cushion basketball courts.

*Learn about donate your worn-out old Crocs so that they can be remade into SolesUnited shoes to be distributed to people throughout the world.

Throughout history reuse has been a necessary ethic, but somewhere along the way we became wasteful.

Fort Sew N Vac 1109 Whitewater Ave., Fort Atkinson repairs lamps so do not throw your old lamps out.

Take your shoes to be repaired at Ron's Shoe Repair at 126 N. Main, Fort Atkinson.

YARD WASTE RECYCLING

Yard waste should be taken to the city compost site located east of Whitewater Avenue on Bark River Drive behind Memorial Park. The compost site will open on Saturday, April 5, 2008. The final day the site will be open is Saturday, December 6, 2008 (weather permitting). The hours are: Wednesdays 3 p.m. to dusk, Saturdays 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

RECYCLING AWAY FROM HOME- it's still important. You might have to take assertiveness training to ask places which do not have recycling containers to make them available, suggesting that you may choose to go elsewhere if they do not offer recycling. If possible, keep your recyclables with you until you can find a place to properly dispose of them.