Not the Hottest Topic!

 

*

We might as well face facts. Recycling is NOT a hot topic. Even though this is a recycling blog, I won’t shrink away from saying it. Mention recycling and most people’s eyes glaze over. Why?

Because it’s boring, perhaps? Because it makes us all feel a bit guilty? Maybe. Because recycling is part of that whole environment/save the earth scene. Not everyone is excited by that.  So what can THIS recycling blog do? Well, we can shift the focus. We can talk about something that everyone is interested in. Do you want to know what topic is evergreen? What topic fascinates people most of all?

I’ll tell you out straight, as Dubliners used to say in former times.  The hot topic is making money. In these difficult times, when people have to tighten their belts and cut their expenses, making money is the topic that catches everyone’s interest. Articles on how to double your income and cut your expenses will never go out of style. It’s a topic that’s dear to everyone’s heart for sure. 

***

I won’t say that Greta Thunberg was wrong. She certainly wasn’t wrong. But she came across like a clever-clogs who wanted to put everyone in their place. Sadly, people with a personality like this are not the most popular. They may get top marks and win all the awards and deservedly so. But no one wants to be around them. As a former school know-it-all, I know that only too well. BTW, I wasn’t an all-rounder who got top marks and won awards, I was just really good at one subject. But I got a taste of Thunberg-like rejection in my formative years and I never want to go through anything like that again. Just saying.

People probably think of recycling as something that causes expense. As in, if you want to get your bottles into the recycling system, then drive to the local bottle bank. Right? Or maybe the cost of having your rubbish taken away to a recycling depot is annoying you as taking away rubbish was once the duty of the local authorities. 

**

I once came across a woman who made a doormat for her kitchen by creating yarn out of polythene bags and knitting it up. She probably got a lot of satisfaction out of it and probably saved money too. The price of a doormat. But how many people have the time and energy for a project like that? People with children don’t have a minute. That said, I came across a housewife who cut the legs off an old pair of jeans and made a bag out of the jeans. That’s a great idea if you have sewing skills. Oh, yes. Reduce, reuse and recycle!

Suppose you have an empty coffee jar. It sounds like a great idea to use refill packs to fill up the jar next time. So you don’t have to buy another jar and clutter up your storage space. Yeah. But! Some of these companies are quite savvy. Sometimes buying a refill pack is more expensive than buying a jar of coffee. So you might like to check the price of the refill packs to be on the safe side. Maybe use the old jar for storing rice or flour. So the old jar will save you the cost of buying a new jar. Sounds exciting? No, not really. 

So many people thought that with the smartphone revolution, laptops and computers would go out of

****

style. But that isn’t necessarily true. Parents are buying laptops for their school going children. Many students have to take Zoom classes nowadays. This is something that started during the pandemic. Although schools have reopened, Zoom classes appear to be here to stay. These laptops are costly. They don’t come at less than €1000 a lot of the time. So if you need to buy more than one laptop, you are going to be financially drained.  

This is the beauty of the recycled computer. When you buy a recycled computer, you get a refurbished model that will work as well as a brand new one. Yet the cost will be significantly lower. By buying a recycled computer, you’ll have taken a significant step. You’ll have kept some tech waste out of landfills and you’ll have saved yourself a significant amount of money too. What’s not to like?

So maybe you should pay more attention to articles and blogs on recycling in future. Being recycling aware can save you a significant amount of money. If that’s not a hot topic, I don’t know what is!

Thanks for the images to Pixabay

* Lisa870@pixabay.com

** Engin_Akyurt@pixabay.com

*** tiburi@pixabay.com

**** kalhh@pixabay.com