Yesterday, we celebrated Earth Day and tomorrow residents throughout Troy will come out en masse to perform our annual city-wide cleanup. For 40 years, Earth Day celebrations have been held to remind us that there is only one Earth and, as stewards of our planet, we are responsible for maintaining her. This is not a new concept. However, living in a disposable society has softened us and we have become accustomed to throwing things away and buying replacements. Our grandparents didn't throw things away, they found new uses for them.
I can remember adding string from the bakery boxes to the HUGE ball of string my grandmother stored in the drawer of her china cabinet. And wrapping paper - Gees, we had to carefully open gifts so that she could save the paper and reuse it. Sound ridiculous? Not to me. You see, I understood that Grammy and Papa had started their family during the Great Depression. Back then, jobs were hard to find and there wasn't the money to go buying new things. People had to be creative. My Papa did everything from working for WPA, entering boxing matches in hopes of winning the prize money, did a little vaudeville and even made sure that the "thirsty" people of Troy had a little something to "wet their whistle with" to support his growing family. And Grammy re-purposed EVERYTHING. Nothing was thrown away that could be used in a new way. So, I was taught the value recycling LONG before it became the thing to do.
Personally, I think everyday is Earth Day. There is still a ball of string in the drawer of my grandmother's china cabinet. I add to it every time I go to Bella Napoli. You never know when a piece of string will come in handy.
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