And another thing...

When I went grocery shopping yesterday I picked from my huge collection of reusable shopping bags. Since June 1, Toronto merchants must now charge five cents per plastic bag they distribute, even the little markets and non-food retailers.

That hasn't affected me too much, since I've been bringing reusable bags to the store for years, even before they were heavily promoted. (And I saved my recyclable cans, bottles and papers and dragged them down to Guelph's public recycling bins as early as 1982.)

But the black cloth-like ones made of recycled soft drink bottles, while they're washable, are collectors of lint and hair. While they're still usable, they don't look too hot. I paid 99 cents for most of them, and got a few free at the Green Living Show the last few years. They ARE re-recyclable (is that a word? I guess it is now).

But the ones I like best are made of a light tarp material (plastic coated), and they are larger and have longer handles. I'm sure if I made a pile of all my bags they'd block the front door.

So, it's time to cull---I've had good responses to most of my FreeCycle and ReUseIt posts, so I guess I'll try there first. Someone with a little patience and time to kill can probably clean them up.

UPDATE: Within a few minutes of posting my offer of a dozen used and new shopping bags, I got a response, and the bags were picked up off the porch that very afternoon. A minor step in decluttering...

Reckless Disregard

(n) the phrase Reckless disregard is used to represent (the) utmost stage of negligence in doing anything with a mentality of disregarding the existence of the society and its well being.

I had to look that up to be sure I was going to use it correctly -- turns out I'm not. But I'm gonna say it anyway.

I was an eBay seller (and buyer) for a few years. I had good sales for vintage Pyrex that I picked up on the cheap at thrift stores, and I made enough profit selling used coffee makers to buy a nice Kohler two-basin porcelain and cast iron sink for my kitchen renovation. Then the market, and my enthusiasm, seemed to dry up. But I never lost the habit picking up various boxes and packing material, and now that stuff's all over the house. And even under my desk at work (you get marvellous boxes and things from IT departments).

With reckless disregard ("reckless" being redundant, as one definition said, but that's lawyerly hyperbole), I will break down all the boxes that my own appliances didn't come in (but why I keep those, when I'm not moving any time soon, is beyond my understanding) and put them out for recycling or FreeCycling. (I'll keep the packing material, though, for a number of reasons, one of which is I hate to throw it out. Maybe I will FreeCycle some of it.)

Speaking of recycling, I used to feel smug and self-righteous about ordering the smallest bins the city was offering (even getting a rebate on my garbage bill). But as I took a few items out to my Blue Bin this morning I realized I hadn't put it out two weeks before, and it's nearly full, probably for the first time. I have quite a bit I'm hoping to stuff in by Tuesday at 7 am.

The point being, to clear out unused and extra items to make room for all the stuff cluttering the house. Yes, I still have hope.