Header taken from "Messenger" - Art by Kurt Vonnegut

Well we've been open for a while now & already had our first Art Show. It was a great success & I can't wait to have more! We've got more cleaning up in the back half of the bottom floor that we should be finished with soon & then we can start on the top floor, again. Our goal is to remodel the small bathroom that is already upstairs, so that we can go ahead and move in! So in about 6 months, we should be living Downtown!!

The Loft
 
Before & After
 
Our Wedding

 

9.18.2007

Landfill...

I promised a post about the landfill and here it is…..Finally!! ;) And just keep in mind that I am a Terrible writer!! This story had such a huge impact on me I know I could never do it justice in words…but here goes anyways…..

We had some boxes of floor tile that we pulled up at 111 that were in the way and needed to be taken out to the landfill. We got our manifest filled out and were ready to go. Well Joe and his Dad and Mom were ready to go that is….I had already decided I was going to stay at home and clean house…I didn’t want to go to a landfill! I was cleaning the house when my phone rang, it was Joe letting me know he had forgotten the manifest and could I please bring it up there to him. Still giving me the impression that I was not going to the landfill…I was just bringing him the manifest and then I was leaving. But he tricked me!!! I ended up in the van on the way to the landfill!! I’m not really sure what I was expecting to see (and smell) when we got out there…but what I saw (and smelled) wasn’t it!! The smell was HORRIABLE!!! You know how bad rotten eggs and bad milk smell?? Well put both of those smells together and multiply it by 1000!! Luckily Dave had air freshener in the van that helped a little bit. ☺ So as we start to smell the landfill you still cant really see anything yet…its all behind the large “hill” that is to your right. So as we pull the van around and up the hill there it is…..This huge massive area full of trash! Yes most of it is already buried (hints the “hill”) but there is still a lot not covered. As we were sitting there waiting for the worker guy to dig a hole for our garbage 2 or 3 trash trucks come and dump their loads and I was just amazed at how much stuff can be in a single garbage truck! Imagine dumping tuna fish out of the can…you know how it kinda keeps it shape…Well that’s kinda what the garbage did…until a bulldozer came and started plowing it down. The guy finally finished digging our hole and we had to drive up into the actual land fill part (before we were just sitting at the edge of it). Other garbage was literally inches from the end of the trailer. At first I just refused to get out of the van, because if the smell is this bad while I’m still in the van…I Don’t want to be out in the open air with it!!! As I sat in the van looking around I was over come with emotions….anger at all the people who had wasted so much….resentment for those who let us get this wasteful and those who don’t care….absolute sadness the nature we had destroyed, you could tell just beyond the fill that this area used to be full of beauty and life….and most of all, guilt. I had helped fill this place up…how many bags and bags of crap have I just thrown out without a second thought? I eventually had to stop just sitting and thinking and help Joe get the heavier boxes off the trailer. But once that was done I stood on the end of the trailer for a second just looking out at the massive pile of garbage, and I was overcome with the urge to cry and vomit at the same time…while I never did vomit I did have to hide a few tears (cause I knew Joe would probably give me a hard time).

I know it probably sounds cliché and some will call me a tree huggin hippie, but that trip was a life changing experience for me. For a while now I have believed that Global Warming is not just a hoax and that we as occupants of the planet have a responsibility to take care of Mother Nature, and Joe and I have been trying to live a “green lifestyle.” But, the landfill really made things even more real to me! Now instead of just turning out the lights, we are now turning out the lights and recycling all paper, plastics and aluminum that comes through our home. Since we started working on 111, we have been going by “green” standards and using as much reclaimed wood in our remolding as possible, and now we are also recycling everything that we absolutely possibly can.
And if that makes me a Tree Huggin’ Hippie…than so be it! I will gladly wear “Tree Hugger” on my messenger bag once I’m riding my bicycle instead of driving a car (which will be once we move to 111).

8 Comments:

  • Amen!! I recycled in Austin and it was picked up at curbside. It really did hurt me here not to recycle, so I have a bunch of unused trash canes. I put plastic bags in them and recycle really more then they want. I wash everything first. They do not accept glass at Christians in Action, but they said bring it on and we will do something with it. Also food cans. They can be sold somewhere, but I do not know where. It is surprising how little trash I have now to put out two days a week. :)

    By Blogger Mema, at September 18, 2007 9:00 PM  

  • I am a garbage collector and we often find that people are amazed at how tightly our truck crushes the garbage. I liked your tuna can analogy. Could you recognize anything in the pile? You ever see the garbage truck working?

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at September 18, 2007 10:23 PM  

  • Mema, I would love to have curbside recycling here in Paris!! Jill and I are working on a presentation that we have on the 1st for Leadership Lamar to try and get my class to sponsor a recycling facility here in Paris. Who knows if it will actually happen, but doesn't hurt to try!!! Good for you for keeping it up!!

    Anonymous, First, Thanks for commenting!! And I was seriously amazed at how much was pushed in that truck! I saw a lot of plastic bottles laying around and cardboard boxes and those wooden pallets that big industrial businesses use (Christians In Action will take those)! And Joe saw a toilet seat and a soccer ball...also a lot of magazines. All I saw the garbage truck doing was pushing the stuff out....

    By Blogger Kari, at September 19, 2007 4:19 PM  

  • It certainly does force it in tight - the crusher puts 3000 lbs of pressure per sq inch on all that garbage. Had a woman this morning who was totally mesmorized seeing her old couch, tv and bags go into the truck up close.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at September 19, 2007 5:22 PM  

  • eloquently put i must say! although i think you were just going to relax in the bath and not clean house, good on joe for tricking you to the landfill ;)

    as a society we are very wasteful! my problem is i keep things that should be thrown out but i usually find a use for them and there is nothing wrong with hugging a tree now and again. i can think on far worse things to do.

    so the landfill was a nose closer but an eyeopener then?

    By Blogger Cal, at September 20, 2007 6:14 PM  

  • I had to go to a landfill once...and only once as I will never go again. Perhaps someday every city will have some type of recycling. What did you decide to do with the floors in your house?

    Aunt Darlene

    By Blogger Darlene, at September 20, 2007 7:46 PM  

  • Thanks Cal! And no I was not going to relax! I really was cleaning.....I promise! ;) Yes a nose closing eye opening experience...

    Aunt Darlene, yeah I hope i never have to go agian!!! Hopefully we will have recycling in Paris this time next year!!! Fingers crossed.....I have a presentation on Monday for my Leadership Class!!
    We still havnt done anything to the floors.....kinda sad huh...its just concrete still :)

    By Blogger Kari, at September 25, 2007 8:51 PM  

  • Thanks Cal! And no I was not going to relax! I really was cleaning.....I promise! ;) Yes a nose closing eye opening experience...

    Aunt Darlene, yeah I hope i never have to go agian!!! Hopefully we will have recycling in Paris this time next year!!! Fingers crossed.....I have a presentation on Monday for my Leadership Class!!
    We still havnt done anything to the floors.....kinda sad huh...its just concrete still :)

    By Blogger Kari, at September 25, 2007 8:52 PM  

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