Letter from Boston

Recycling At Home

By MASAKO YAMADA

A reader recently wrote to me asking whether Americans separate their garbage into different piles when they throw it away. She told me that she'd heard that people in England do not separate their garbage and she was very surprised, considering that many Western countries seem to enthusiastically embrace environmentalism.

It's true that save-the-world-type books have been best sellers in the States, and that many people donate time and money to their favorite charities, but I must admit that on a day-to-day level, many people do not seem to be very careful in cutting down on waste. Of course, there are extreme people who live out their environmental beliefs by exercising self-control in all elements of their lives (perhaps even becoming vegetarian and wearing only plant fiber materials), but these people seem to be rare.

Some cities mandate that residents separate glass, aluminum cans and newspapers from their other garbage, but even then, all other household garbage is put in the same bin. There is no need to separate flammable garbage from kitchen waste, plastics, etc. In my apartment, people even mix glass and newspapers in with their regular garbage. Things like potato peels or rotting fruits are thrown down the drain, since there is a blender-like attachment in the sink called a disposal that turns kitchen waste into liquid.

We used to keep bottles in one of our cabinets to bring to a recycling center later, but they started to stink, and we were afraid that they would attract pests. Lugging glass bottles to such a center is not convenient for many people, especially if they are old or if they don't have a car. It would be nice if municipal garbage collectors collected recyclable items on different days, but that hasn't been the policy where I live.

One local recycling plan that has been around for a long time, and that I like a lot, is clothes donation. Most of my friends are rich enough to be able to afford clothes that they don't really need. Sometimes, they have too many items to fit in their storage space and they need to get rid of perfectly wearable — even attractive — clothing. Sometimes they lose or gain weight and don't fit into their old clothes. Sometimes they just get sick of them. There's the option of trying to sell such clothing cheaply at garage sales, but there's also the option of donating the clothes to charity.

One might envision people at homeless shelters getting these clothes for free. Indeed, this is one destination for donated clothing. However, even people like myself can inherit donated clothing by going to thrift stores. Thrift stores are not fancy shops that deal with antique-quality, secondhand Levi's 501s. They are stark places with racks and racks of donated goods. People buy these goods at very low prices. The proceeds go to the charity that runs the store. It is a good way for charities to get hard cash, instead of just piles of clothing. It's also a potential goldmine for thrifty shoppers.

One of my roommates often gets positive comments on his fashionable wardrobe. I doubt many people know that he's a regular customer at the local American Veteran's Thrift Store. Two of my all-time favorite shirts have come from the Am Vet store. The shirts were in great condition and they cost only $3 (¥360) each. I know that many trendy club goers who are into the retro look go to thrift stores to see whether they can find authentic fashions from bygone decades. On the other hand, some of my ex-roommates went to a thrift store to buy clothes to wear on a rough camping trip.

It's easy to donate clothes, since all you have to do is to drop them off in a box at a thrift store. Sometimes the task is made even easier: I've seen large clothing donation boxes on the street in residential areas. There was a large, blue box across the street from my childhood home in New Jersey, and I recently noticed a large, yellow box in the parking lot of a local drug store. I've always wondered whether people actually put clothing in these boxes. I walked over to the yellow box recently and noticed that someone had put garbage by the box door. This was very disappointing. But I guess it's not too surprising that everyday environmentalism has not taken root everywhere.

Shukan ST: April 9, 1999

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