Taking Out the Blue Box Even if China and India Don't

Whooee! Well friends an' foes, Pryminister Harper's still on the all or nothing bandwagon and he's gonna act as waterboy for his American Idol at the G8 Summit. Harper's refusing to act on climate change unless China and India act, too.

Here in my little town, the county comes and picks up our trash and recyclables on Fridays. Today bein' Thursday, I'll be out in the shed sortin' recyclables and makin' sure there ain't any recyclables mixed in with the non-recyclables. Later on tonight, I'll hike the trash barrel and the blue box out to the street. Usually, the blue box is crammed full and there's a tiny little trash bag. Composting helps, too.



Now, my recyclin' effort hardly amounts to squat in the big picture. Hell, it don't even amount to 2% of my street. If I didn't recycle, hardly anyone would notice and it probably wouldn't amount to a millionth of a percent of what gets recycled here in Norfolk County. Why should I take a few minutes from my busy Thursday to sort out recyclable stuff? Why should I carry both a blue box and a garbage barrel out to the street on Thursday nights?

Then, there's my do-nuthin' neighbours. They're born and bred Canadians but I'll call 'em the Indias and the Chinas. A couple doors down, we got the India family. They got four boys and they generate a heap of garbage. I see it when I walk by with ol' Spot on Friday mornings. The Indias usually got three bigass garbage bags and a half-full blue box. Sometimes, it's all garbage and no blue box, at all.

Down the street a little further, we got the Chinas. They ain't Chinese. Their fictitious surname is China. They got a bigass RV, 2 SUV's, a 24' power boat on a trailer, a riding lawnmower, some ATV's and some snowmobiles. They never, ever put out a blue box.

Now, I wouldn't mind if the county were to enforce some bylaws and restrictions that would give these anti-Earthers a not-so-gentle nudge in the right direction. That might do some good for ol' Mother Earth.

What sure as hell won't do any good for ol' Mother Earth is if I say I'm gonna quit recycling until my neighbours start doin' their share. That'd only make things worse. And who's gonna worry about me, anyways. Like I been sayin' to anyone who'll listen, I ain't even responsible for 2% of the total problem. Why should I act like a responsible citizen?

JB