Recycled Memories

When I think of being environmentally conscious, I remember my parents. Their everyday lifestyle and that of many in post-WW 2 America, showed their awareness, although they never heard the term “environmentally conscious.” People were more respectful of resources. Having gone through the Depression, they didn’t have access to the abundance we both enjoy and abuse today. They reused, repurposed, recycled, and upcycled (RRRU), as a way of life. Clothing and footwear were repaired rather than discarded. There were small appliance and TV repair shops, cobblers, folks who mended, and businesses that paid for scrap metal. Things were used to the nth degree rather than tossed at the first sign of wear. In my father’s workshop, there was a small bucket for scrap metal, and places for newspapers, cloth scraps, and scrap aluminum. All of these went to the scrap yard, paper drives, the rag man, or whatever the appropriate drop-off place was. Food waste went into an in-ground bucket that was picked up by the garbage man and taken to a pig farm where it was used to feed the pigs.

A favorite memory is going to the produce market in the North End on Saturday mornings with my mother to get fresh fruits and vegetables from the peddlers. Under the green overpass (pre- Big Dig) spread before us were all the varieties of fresh produce. Some will remember the peddler putting all of the items in bags as he tallied the purchases which went into the cloth shopping bags my mother then took home to wash. There was no plastic back then. (I still use glass jars to store food as my mother did.) Milk was delivered to our door in glass bottles that were set in their holder when empty so they could be recycled for the next delivery. There were bread men, egg men, and others who delivered goods on a weekly basis.  

While there’s no going back to “the good old days,” we have somehow reinvented some of these opportunities right in our own neighborhood. My concern is that we don’t all intentionally take advantage of our community’s offerings to RRRU. To wit, if you haven’t been to Newburyport’s Recycle Center, please visit.  We can recycle things there like empty toothpaste tubes, pens, and many other items through the Terracycle program. TVs, appliances, electronics, scrap metal, Styrofoam, and more can be disposed of there. Textiles and footwear can go in the Nock Middle School bins. From home we can recycle newspapers, plastics, bottles and cans.  We can get a little green bin and compost our food waste and we can go to the Farmer’s Market for produce. Finally, we can think about how what is ready to be discarded can be upcycled for a new use.

You, too, can be an Enthusiastic Environmentalist. Our planet is begging you. Generations to come will thank you for it. The effort is worth it. It just takes some thought about how you dispose of your trash. Please consider this new, fun way to approach trash disposal knowing that it’s the right thing to do.

Jeanette Isabella is a motivational speaker, life coach and author of "Someday is Here!" as well as a well-known contributor to a caregiving fabric found in greater Newburyport. She is an ACES Advisor on the Education/Learning team and may be reached at: redchair123@comcast.net.

ACES and its Youth Corps invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter via the “Join Our List” link on this page. Please consider joining our community of stewards who commit to Make Every Day Earth Day by contacting us at acesnewburyport@gmail.com. We can make a big difference together.

This educational column first appeared in The Daily News of Newburyport on July 12, 2024.

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