You Are Trash!!!

  Some folks would much rather toss things in the garbage than to spend a bit of time and effort to revive, reuse or repurpose it.  The thought of "making do" is out of the realm of many folks. The "toss it and buy a new" mentality has filled the landfills beyond capacity and have literally made dumps of so much of our beautiful Earth.  This makes me sad. Personally, I have a tendency to use things even beyond their durability stage.  I save things to the point that my kids worry about my "hoarding problem".  I figure it is not really hoarding if you actually use the items.  It is more like commonsense.

  This "Don't toss it" thought must be something that was drilled into my head as a kid.  I can remember Granddad telling me to "Put that up.  You may need it some day."  He was right.  So it is easy to see why my brothers fall right in that almost hoarding group as well.  My oldest brother was doing yard work for an elderly lady when he noticed that her neighbor put a potted plant in the trash.  Granted, the begonia was past its prime and looked sort of sad.  He felt bad for the poor plant and snagged it off the trash heap.  After a bit of loving care, he brought the plant down to me.  "Here.  I got you this out of the trash."  Sweet!  My brother obviously thinks very highly of me if he brings me trash....hmmmm.  Anyway, he handed me the plant, gave strict instructions on how to care for it and said he had beans cooking back at his house.   With that, I became the proud owner of a begonia. 

  Since the plant came to reside here, it has bloomed profusely and is now making seed pods.  The thing has doubled in size with my following his detailed care instructions.  The man sure can make things grow.  But just think.  This plant was doomed.  Tossed aside as trash by the previous owners.  How sad.   What a waste.