The Lorax (who says, “I speak for the trees,”) is a Dr. Seuss character who is concerned about the health of our planet.
And I really do try to be a good earth citizen. Our blue recycle bin is almost full every other Monday, when it gets emptied by the city’s truck. I try to keep in mind the issues of heating and cooling our home, and we don’t put the thermostat ‘way up or ‘way down as the seasons change. We have compost bins, and I take our kitchen waste out there, so it will break down into good, nutritious compost that I can spread on the garden and flower beds. A couple of days ago, I took a plastic bag full of other plastic bags to the grocery store, which has a bin to collect these bags that should not be in the regular recycle bin.
Our local recyclers do not accept glass. Glass is recyclable, but there isn’t a buyer for it, near enough to make it feasible. If I’m shopping, and there’s something I want to buy and it comes in glass and it comes in plastic, I purchase the item in the plastic container. I do try.
I’m stymied, though, in one area. Cash register receipts. The physical length of a store receipt is astonishing. There’s a little welcome message at the top. Then, there’s store information. Then, maybe, a list of my purchases and the prices. Then, the total. Then, a bar code in case I bring the item back to return or exchange. Then, a phone number to call to enter a drawing for a prize. Then, more and more stuff. They’re about six times longer than they need to be.
Here are my receipts. Notice the small, small little rectangular one, at the center bottom. It’s from Drug Emporium. It’s got the name of the place, the date of purchase, the purchase price, tax, and total. That’s it!
I’ve done quite a bit of shopping the past few days. My purse was bulging from the receipts. Also, some stores print out coupons for more stuff. And, I have printed out coupons that I get online (additional use of paper). Sometimes I end up not using them (they expire before I realize it; they’re for a product that no store anywhere in the area carries). But I recycle them if they’ve gone unused.
Really, the amount of paper used in store receipts seems unnecessary. And let me remind you, this pile of receipts in the photograph is from two days. (Okay, it’s from the two days before Thanksgiving, which makes it a little unusual.) I know that there are digital coupons that I can download to my phone. I’ve not used many of those, but maybe I need to pursue that a little more energetically.
Then God said, “Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1:11, 12 (NIV)
I am thankful for the trees, and all the rest of Creation. Lord, help me do my thankfulness each day.