Waste not

Our Mother is a champion Reducer, Reuser and Recycler of waste. She held onto cottage cheese containers for years until they were taken by recyclers. She sends us letters in envelopes that are provided with bills (with the bar codes marked out so they don't go to the utility companies). She's given us some great canvas shopping bags that we use every time we go to the grocery store. They were probably shipped to us in a reused box. She has probably increased by years the lifetimes of several cities' landfills by reducing waste and inspiring others to do the same.

(I hope Mom has limits. I hope that reusing or recycling toilet paper is "NOT" one of her activities. I advocate the first "R" in that department through the use of Jasmin.)

We go to concerts and shows at the California Center for the Arts, Escondido, where we often are sitting next to a woman who has been volunteering time helping in a school's kindergarten classes for the last 14 years. A few months ago she mentioned that she uses magazines and the artwork on all those address labels that charities send out in their fund raising efforts. She said that if we had anything like that she could take them off our hands.

So imagine my surprise when Mom asked if I had any idea what she could do with all the artwork from the thousands of address labels charities have sent to her in their fund raising efforts. I told her about Lu and how she uses these stickers with her kindergarteners.

Mom sent her big box of address labels to give to Lu.



Lu would have been happy just to get sheets of address labels. She said that she cuts the names and addresses off and shreds them. But Mom was way ahead of Lu. Mom had cut off the address portions of the labels and organized the pictures into many categories. They were in reused window envelopes labeled with the kinds of stickers they hold. The envelopes were arranged alphabetically.

Today we went to a concert by the San Diego Symphony where we always sit with Lu. We took the box of stickers to her tonight. Lu is thrilled to have these. She says the kids just love this sort of things. Some apparently become treasures for some kids. And some become very special presents for their parents.

Thanks, Mom! You've brought great happiness to many kids. And to Lu.

By the way, the concert was pretty good. They played Mozart's 40th Symphony and Dukas's "The Sorcerer's Apprentice." Those are always good to hear and they played them well. It also included John Corigliano's "Pied Piper Fantasy." It had interesting rat squeaking, scurrying, and gnawing sound effects but went on way too long. Maybe if I heard it more I would appreciate it more but I sure did get fidgety.