Resources

My wife and I were recently in Boulder, Colorado. If there were a poster child for trying to do the right thing by way of the environment, this might be the place. Let’s ignore all politics for a moment and whether you agree or disagree about that, and talk about the act of “being good.”

We helped clean out a garage that hadn’t been cleaned out in decades. We had to dispose of scrap metal, scrap wood, Styrofoam, old paint, long-expired rat poisons and plant sprays, road flares that had moldered, and some old gardening tools. The last of which were functional but found in triplicate and such.

Let’s say the act of cleaning out the garage was a good act for the person in question. Let’s also set those few hours to the side. When we were done, we had perhaps one full SUV worth of things to dispose of and/or recycle. Some were easy; they went right into the recycle bin, like old cans and bottles. That was a little bit of effort to sort one from the other, but then the second step in this process is where it hit me.

We drove the remaining waste to the recycle site, which takes scrap metal for reuse and such. At one station, we gave back our electronic devices, including a non-functional Walkman from the year 1985 (a historical find). They sent us a few hundred feet down to take Styrofoam. Still at the same site—no big deal. The same site at a different station took the spools of old wire, rebar, and things they deemed resalable scrap metal. Then they sent us around the corner to the true scrap metal dumpsters. I don’t know what happened to those materials after us.

Then we were directed to two other off-site locations: the sheriff’s office for the flammable flares and the city dump for the wood. But on the way, we had to stop at the toxic waste site for the legacy paint and poisons. Oh yes, and giant bricks of lead… because perhaps the previous garage owner was trying to stop large doses of radiation?

At the toxic processing site, we had to pay them to take our waste. Not a lot, but not a little. Then we had to pay to get rid of the scrap wood, which was being mashed into pulp based on the activity on site for being placed in a landfill. We had to pay again—not a lot, but not a little.

Then we went to the sheriff’s office, where we waited to try to get someone to come take the flammable road flares. About thirty minutes in, we were told they were all too busy today and that we should come back another time. I was with my wife and it was fine, but if this were my Saturday, my personal time, which had not been slated for the day to do this, and I had other things to do, I am fairly certain I might have been annoyed.

The entire thing took resources. Doing the right thing was a ridiculous amount of time and money. The entire three-hour process could have been achieved by chucking it all in the waste bin in 30 minutes and walking away, charged nothing and costing no time.

Some of our most self evident resources

Being “good” cost resources. We often expect people to do the right thing, myself included. But we forget that the road to good has roadblocks. They are not insurmountable, but there is a certain level of privilege that comes with doing the right thing. Many people do not have the extra money to get rid of that garbage the right way; they have demands on their time that don’t let them spend the afternoon on it.

I frequently say things with regard to AI, or Amazon, or supporting magazines and the like to do the right thing. I know that takes time and I know that takes money. This time of year, as we are often shopping for loved ones, we take the fast road: a gift card, a trip to Amazon to avoid lines or stores. But the right thing, where more people need your help, is at retailers who are just barely getting by.

I guess I am saying, I know it takes resources. But sometimes we should do the right thing anyway. Sometimes it takes an extra twenty bucks and an extra hour in the car and an extra trip to a website for that small print press that takes up 10 minutes of time because they don’t know how to make a website as cleanly as Amazon does. But doing good is always going to cost you more.

It costs time to exercise, but you will statistically live longer. It costs time and money to stop at the brick-and-mortar store for that small business owner, but you just supported their family and dream directly. It costs time and money to recycle, but you are doing a very small part to protect the environment. It takes time to go pick up that bag blowing in the wind on your front yard, but now it never ends up in the ocean floating about to be eaten by fish. It takes time to take care of those items you own to make them last so you can save money. It takes willpower and time to not buy the new thing because what you have works just fine, and you can save money and the environment by reducing your personal consumption. It takes time and/or money to go drop some food off at the food shelter, especially at times of year when you aren’t being reminded of it like at Christmas or Thanksgiving. It takes emotional effort to go help someone you don’t like, or someone who doesn’t believe what you believe. It takes effort to love someone correctly because it is a requirement of time, consideration, and effort. Etc., etc., etc.

To live life correctly takes resources. But it makes life better for you and for everyone around you too. Live life correctly as best as you are able. Look at your resources and spend them wisely.