Recycled Bride

My recycle bin is wheeled out each fortnight chocked full of boxes, kids art work (that I’ve managed to sneak in,) and plastic containers and tins. Its garden waste mate is crammed full of grass clippings, leaves, branches and snails I haven’t been able to heartlessly crush. Veggie and fruit scraps are split between composting and fodder for the kindergarten chickens. Even our rainwater is being gathered in two water tanks on our property, nurturing my veggie patch and roses. We try to make a clean footprint on earth when we can, but I draw the line at showering with a bucket. Luckily with young children I have the ‘kids safety first’ excuse.

Recycle is the buzzword of the 21^st century and most households are trying to do their bit for the environment. Companies make an enormous amount of money in recycling and reusing materials and impressing the government with their ideas to access even more funding. Take Visy Recycling for example. They recycle 1.2 million tonnes of paper and cardboard a year and use the raw materials to make boxes, displays, beverage packaging etc. It's great to recycle but forget about how much they are emitting in the process!

Kindle is trying to pulp our books and get us all onto e-books. Again, how much electricity do our laptops and Ipads burn? The only burning with a book is the ‘midnight candle’ so to speak.

I try and recycle something every day. The kids’ soggy cereal gets recycled into Wonka’s breakfast. Opened envelopes transform into shopping lists and any unstamped postage stamps get another trip in the postie’s satchel. I can even recycle leftovers into a whole new dinner while still adhering to the five food group mantra.

Architect, Shigera Ban, built a cardboard bridge out of 250 recycled cardboard tubes and paper, with plastic stairs. Perhaps The Three Little Pigs makes us skeptical, but this bridge can hold the weight of 20 people at once. Don’t believe me? Check out ecoble.com for other creative recycling ideas.

The reason I chose to explore recycling was a friend’s sister-in law had the best recycling statement at her wedding and looked stunning too. Ever heard of a wedding dress made of recycled paper and metal? Gone are the days of crepe and satin. Here comes the bride with the environment in her stride.

What do you recycle? What could you be more creative at recycling?  Children are our best educators at recycling and reusing. They also say that many people meet their future partners at weddings and this bride is trying to give us all a future.

P.S. The beautiful bride married on a very rainy day but her dress remained in tact. Not sure how she went with airport security though.