Glasgow Daily Times, Glasgow, KY

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July 2, 2009

Recycle and reusing part of not being wasteful

By JIMMY LOWE

GLASGOW — We recycle, reuse, pass down, and pass on at our house. Always have. My wife and I both came from families that did the same.

It’s not just an economic issue with us. We believe this habit is a responsible way to avoid being wasteful. Occasionally, this allows us to preserve something with a sentimental attatchment to the family.

Gift bags, boxes, and bows go from family member to family member in our series of exchanges. A time or two, we’ve even been known to receive and pass on the same gift. The antique dining table in our home, for one example, was once in the dining room of my wife’s parents’ home. Also, I use a desk that was once used by my grandparents in their home. Who knows who used it before them? It’s an old, yet still useful, piece of furniture. We are likely to pass it on to another family member one day.

Worn-out cotton socks and tee shirts aren’t tossed in the trash until they have served us as dusting and cleaning rags.

Those plastic grocery bags that make sure we don’t crack our eggs before breakfast time also make serviceable trash can liners. We keep a few next to a changing table where the baby grandson sometimes gets fitted with a new diaper.

Quite often a child outgrows clothes that outwear the child. Just as my brothers and I passed down clothes during our childhood years, our children did the same. Now the grandchildren keep that family tradition going. The same goes for toys. It sometimes gets to the point that the kids don’t know who originally owned what.

A fern saved from a grandparent’s yard has followed us to three separate locations and been successfully transplanted with each move.

Old toothbrushes make suitable corner scrubbers in bathrooms. Of course, we have to be certain which brushes are which when it comes time to brush our teeth.

After Cool Whip and cottage cheese containers are emptied, we wash and keep them to send food home with our children when leftovers are worth a second chance on a table.

Wax paper liners that were originally cereal bags make appropriate storage bags for wrapping sandwiches or freezing muffins.

Gallon jugs that once contained milk now contain water and are stored in the garage for emergency use. There have been times when they came in handy.

While bought pie crust pans can’t be successfully used as Frisbees, they can be used for baking biscuits. They give biscuits a crunchy bottom that are so good.

I could go on with our list, but you get the idea.

There is one more bit of recycling, though, that I will mention. It’s the most important of all. My wife and I have been blessed to receive love from our parents and grandparents and we pass it down through the generations with every chance we get.

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