Recycling Obsession

James is obsessed with garbage. I've probably mentioned that before. For a while he was convinced that all he wanted for Christmas was garbage. The obsession with garbage has gone on for over a year now but has just recently branched into a new obsession: recycling. 

I need to make a confession: I'm not always the best at recycling. The house we lived in while in Sacramento had a recycling bin and it was really easy to remember. When we moved away and no longer had the bin I pretty much stopped. 

After reading many, many garbage books to James, many that talk about recycling, he launched a campaign for us to become better recyclers. I asked my neighbor about how recycling works in our complex and was pleased to find out you don't need a special bin because they will pick up recycling from any container. 

James is now our Recycling Vigilante, searching the house for left behind water bottles, reminding me to put old mail in the bin, and keeping his eyes on the garbage can to make sure nothing ends up in the wrong place. We had the missionaries over for dinner and James yelled at one to put his paper in the recycling, not the garbage. 

 

Every other Tuesday the kids drag the bin out to the sidewalk and then, once all the garbage is gone, dutifully carry it back in. I love seeing them work together and I'm glad James has a cause other than his constant search for candy.