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I love to re-use things. I admit to buying Classico Spaghetti sauce for the mason jars with the measurements on them. I take apart broken equipment in the unlikely event I might need any of the antique metal gears inside for a pressing project, and I have strict rules on what items may or may not be thrown out without prior consultation, just in case I could use it for… something. I realized my reputation as a re-user was firmly established when Colin brought over two dead cell phones for me to repurpose and I actually got giddy with glee.

I may have taken it a bit too far. Today at dinner I actually caught Adam’s hesitation as he looked at the plastic wrap he just pulled off the raw ribs and the little flick of his eyes toward me told me he was running through the list of approved items he could throw away and he was thinking to make sure there was nothing I could make with the bloody plastic. That dear man had no idea he was marrying the recycling police when he uttered the fateful “I do” a year ago. He knows it now.

For a re-user like me there are only two days in the year we like as much as Christmas: Community Spring Cleaning Day. Yes, I know Spring is generally a ONCE per year event, but the creative minds at city hall couldn’t think of another name for the “Spring Cleaning” day in fall (I guess “Fall Cleaning” was taken?) so the October event in Oakville is also called spring cleaning. Spring Cleaning is the day when the City of Oakville allows you to curb your large items and appliances. But before the pick-up comes the prowl. Trolling down the street with wagons and pick-ups checking out everyone’s junk for a goldmine of their own. Our current city of Mississauga does not have this day and I miss it. One spring cleaning day we put a futon we did not need on the front lawn and timed how long until someone picked it up. 5 minutes and 45 seconds later we were trading bet money and shaking our heads. By the time the garbage truck comes there is little left for them to take.

It’s blog action day, and blogs all over the planet are posting their ideas for making the world a better place. I personally think the world would be a better place if there was less shit in it. Sorry, I don’t like to swear, but that’s what it is. More specifically, less one-time-use-specialized-consumer-trash-that-can-only-function-one- way-and-then-must-be-added-to-the-local-landfill-soup. Although I have a tendency to be a bit eccentric about it, I think it is helpful for us all to take a damn good look at the crap we generate. I know if you want to buy anything these days it is hard to avoid the blister-pack problem, but keeping the phrase “there’s gotta be something I can make with that” in my head is the way I fight global pollution, one broken toaster-oven at a time.

P.s…. do you realize how hard it was to write the “one-time-use…..” sentence above without automatically hitting the space bar between words? Try it… harder then you’d think. I’m just sayin’…