How Much Is Enough?

When it comes to recycling and other actions to protect and defend the planet, is there a point that is enough? Must we grab every single piece of recyclable trash and repurpose it—is our self-respect as 21st Century Land Lovers inversely related to the amount of stuff we throw into the recycle bin? (And I'm ignoring here the amount of things thrown into the regular trash. I'm assuming all Land Lovers are going to bring into their homes items that, almost exclusively, can be recycled rather than thrown away.)

DarlingGrandChildren spent Saturday afternoon and night with me. While they were there, a tissue box was emptied and a toilet paper roll was emptied. I threw them into the bathroom trash can. DarlingGrandDaughter picked them out of the trash can and placed them on my dresser, next to her stuffed animal. On Sunday morning, they were in her arms as she walked to the car. She planned to set them aside for use in some as-yet-undetermined craft.

I wanted to call my daughter-in-law and apologize for sending trash to her house. And yet she created this monster by so carefully and skillfully teaching her children to be Land Lovers. For me to have insisted that DGD just throw the trash away would have been to negate the excellent job her mother is doing.

I know that, when I was a child 50 years ago, we didn't give one thought to the cleanliness of the planet. I so clearly remember driving down the road and tossing gum wrappers and paper cups indiscriminately out the window. And I remember, 15 years or so later when we, as a country, started noticing the piles of trash along every roadway. So I'm not quarreling with recycling and repurposing and making sure there's a planet remaining for the use of our children and grandchildren and their progeny.

I'm merely posing the question—is there an amount that it's okay to throw away rather than save? Must every single toilet paper roll and tissue box and yogurt container be turned into a bed for a stuffed animal and a holder for rings and a bike helmet for one's doll? (With a tip of the hat to the CleverNesting ladies, who repurpose on a daily basis, for a very clever blog post.)

Isn't there some trash that can just be trash?