While there are those who cherish raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, I hold recycling on street corners and composting in restaurants in special favor. As I become more and more steeped in food reform as a result of my current line of work, I am feeling captivated and intensely concerned about food waste and sustainability. The whole recycling bit goes way back...since I was very young, if green bins were nowhere to be found, I would haul stacks of paper with me until I found an appropriate home for them. Unsurprisingly, I thought Al Gore was THE man. More recently, on a trip to India, I was struck by a simple act of recycling - while visiting my mother's village, when I couldn't find the "dustbin" after lunch, I handed my plate to the servant and watched as he tossed the chicken bones and inedible stems of spices in the backyard. Of course! Was I ever a fool. There was no sophisticated system of garbage disposal there. Return what comes from the land to the land. If you choose to bring in products wrapped in the likes of plastic from the city, then take it with you on your way out or risk "soiling" the pristine land - this observation made my own footprint so easy to understand.
