My moral reasoning is: if Allied Waste hauls away our paper and yard waste, it should receive the benefit of our other recyclables that have monetary value. And if Allied Waste gets more incremental revenue, our future garbage rates will be lower (okay, I’m not that naïve).
It does seem silly to stand guard over trash for the benefit of a multi-billion-dollar waste-handling company, but a teaching moment could arise from a dilemma that I recognize is self-inflicted. The youngster has become keenly interested in opportunities to earn extra spending money. For the past three months we have stored aluminum cans and plastic bottles in the garage. Last Saturday was the big day; he would share in half the proceeds from our trip to the buyback center.
We loaded the van with three boxes of recyclables and drove to the Rite-Aid parking lot in nearby San Mateo. Pick-up trucks, each laden with many more times our quantities, were at the front of the line. We transferred our stash to shopping carts, then to plastic barrels for weighing.
Our collection.
Another family's efforts.
The clerk refrained from laughing as we rolled the barrels onto the scales, the needle barely budging. He handed me $6.46, the fruits of three months of collecting and two hours this Saturday morning. I concealed my disappointment and handed the entire boodle to the youngster. He’s still learning the meaning of labor, and I can’t let him think that his time (or mine) is too valuable for certain kinds of work. That "wisdom" will come all too soon. © 2007 Stephen Yuen
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