Dealing with Debris

Sven is a Lokisman.  This has some very material consequences, one of which is…

 

…Well….

 

…Our home will never be featured in Better Homes and Gardens, that’s for sure.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve seen a trail of debris form in his wake as he moves from room to room.  It’s kind of a gift, but the kind of gift that comes from Loki.

 

I made an impromptu trip to the hacienda last weekend, so Sven didn’t have time to pick up before my arrival.  I didn’t bother with it much beyond taking all the empty drink cans to the big garbage container that the previous owners had left for crushed cans outside the saloon.  This left me with a lot of plastic bottles that have no home.

 

It occurred to me how much I’ve taken recycling for granted, living in cities.  In Montreal they actually give you divided blue boxes to pre-separate your cans, plastics and paper.  In SoCal I just have a big wheeled bin to load with recyclables.  But here in the desert, recycling is actually going to be an effort.  Not only am I going to have to separate the garbage myself, I’m going to have to take it to the recycling plants out on Tangerine Road.  At least I’ll have the satisfaction of getting a little bit of money back—perhaps enough to buy myself another bottled drink.

 

It’s not for that bottled drink that I’ll be doing it though.  I’m a Thorswoman, and Thor is the Son of Earth.  His wife Sif is the field.  Freyr and Gerd are the Vanic couple who represent something very similar, with Freyr being the son of the chthonic earth goddess Nerthus and Gerd represented an enclosed garden.  Recycling and being very responsible for our household garbage is part of my holy duty as the household manager.

 

So this weekend I’ll get three bins, one for paper/cardboard, another for plastic bottles and a third for glass.  We already have a garbage can for non-recyclables, provided by the local, family-run company Talkin’ Trash (http://www.talkin-trash.com).  We’ll use as much of the recyclables as we can; there are hundreds of practical uses for an empty gallon jug, for instance.  We aren’t ready for a composting bin, but that will eventually become part of the plan.

 

I have a huge wish to wave a magic wand and have a pen of goats, a chicken coop and run, vegetable gardens and a pen with a donkey in it RIGHT NOW, but not only is that impossible, it wouldn’t even be a good idea.  At the moment I don’t even have enough time for an herb garden.  Recycling will be my latest step for a while.