[speaker001:] [Beep] Yes, um, [breathing] I, I think that Plano has really done a fantastic job. I mean, at least their plans have, are good. Um, how-, however, I was,
[speaker002:] [Noise] [banging].
[speaker001:] maybe you saw in the paper this morning that, um, they've had some problems with,
[speaker002:] With the plastic.
[speaker001:] the recycling on plastic, uh-huh. I thought that was most interesting.
[speaker002:] Well, I just, I thought it was sad that they, it [NOISE] started out as a good program. *two utts?
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] But then people started dumping trash.
[speaker001:] Yes.
[speaker002:] and the wrong objects in there, and I,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and that concerned me, that people were using it as a way to get rid of things they just didn't want to set at the curb or take to the
[speaker001:] That's right.
[speaker002:] dump, and,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and, uh,
[speaker001:] I guess that's going to happen.
[speaker002:] I, it's too bad that people have to ruin,
[speaker001:] Yeah,
[speaker002:] [Noise] a good part thing.
[speaker001:] a really good effort, that's right, yeah.
[speaker002:] But, uh,
[speaker001:] Well, I was thinking about the other day, um, when I, when Dick and I were, oh, many, many years ago when we were first married and he was in graduate school in [NOISE] Missouri, um, I went, oh, I was probably, this was probably, see, it have been like nineteen sixty-seven or sixty-eight, um, we, I went to a meeting, and, uh, one of the, the speakers at the meeting was a woman who was recycling and, um,
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] she was from Saint Louis, and she had this fantastic, um, family effort in, in recycling, and she was dividing her colored glass and her plastics,
[speaker002:] Oh.
[speaker001:] and her aluminum, and I thought wow, I mean, how, one person is doing that, you know, but my, my thought was it's a shame, I mean, it's wonderful that she's doing it and it, but wouldn't it be mu-, much nicer if we all did it, because her effort would have really, um, really, uh, been a good example for all of us. And yet, you know, and we were just sort of talking about it at the time. And here we are, you know, now we're doing it on a,
[speaker002:] Doing it [talking].
[speaker001:] city wide basis in, in communities. So it's wonderful that we've come that far, I think but, *slash error
[speaker002:] What did she do with, if, if she, was she like a group that was doing it,
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] or was she doing it on her own, and,
[speaker001:] I think she was,
[speaker002:] what did she do with the,
[speaker001:] I was trying to remember, it seems to me that she was doing it on her own, and living in Saint Louis, there were places where she could actually take her,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] uh, things herself, uh, and so it wasn't, you know, something that was being picked up or, um, and I think she was encouraging other people to do it if they would. But I remember her saying yes, I have a trash can for this and a trash can for that, and a trash can for the other thing, and [LAUGHTER] I thought wow, that's, that is wonderful, that somebody does that.
[speaker002:] You, you have to really want to do it, though.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] This is, even, even what you recycle, because we, we do the, the, plastics and the,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and the aluminum,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] and the glass and the paper.
[speaker001:] Yes.
[speaker002:] And, um, and, of course, then, you know, you try to buy right too, but, *slash error
[speaker001:] Sure you do, uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Um, a lot of our neighbors say, well, what, you have to rinse out this and you have to make sure it's that, *sd
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and you have to, it's, uh, we, we had neighbors that complained when we got the new garbage cans.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh. Isn't that amazing?
[speaker002:] And I thought what are you complaining about,
[speaker001:] Well, you know,
[speaker002:] when you're only going to get picked up once a month, you know,
[speaker001:] [Lipsmack] Yes.
[speaker002:] or once a week and,
[speaker001:] People, I don't know, they find fault in everything, rather than say this is a good effort.
[speaker002:] Rather than work with it.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I don't know. It's, it's, I under-, I know what you're saying, kind of people like that and, *slash error
[speaker002:] Well, it's for everybody's benefit.
[speaker001:] Well, sure it is. *ba
[speaker002:] I mean, it's, it's not, so maybe we don't realize it in our lifetime, but we, you have to think grandchildren,
[speaker001:] Yep.
[speaker002:] and great grandchildren and,
[speaker001:] Yeah, it's on down the line.
[speaker002:] what kind of quality of life are you leaving them?
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] And, and the, and I have a real concern about that.
[speaker001:] Yes. Yeah,
[speaker002:] Uh.
[speaker001:] I agree. When,
[speaker002:] We've never had much trash, because wh-, while I was raised in a big family, and,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and Gene's family wasn't big, but they weren't rich [LAUGHTER],
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and they had to, to recycle.
[speaker001:] Sure.
[speaker002:] And, and, you know, the fu-, well, they didn't, they just used things, they didn't,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] throw things away,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] before they were used up and,
[speaker001:] Yeah. Well, I know, um, I guess I got a good example from my mother, because she was always [breathing] very, very conscientious about recycling things, and she is to this day, and, you know, I mean, she'll even,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] um, if she, for instance, she, she would take the waxed paper out of a cereal box and use that for, you know, when she made cookies, it would go on that or,
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] if she needed to wrap something for, needed, uh, sandwich paper or something, she'd use that.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] She just, she recycles everything. And I have done the same thing. I recycle like zip lock bags and,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] things like that. My kids get the biggest kick out of that. Although, they do the same thing [LAUGHTER]. I mean, they
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] I think they give me a hard time, but I think they know that that's,
[speaker002:] They've picked up the hab-,
[speaker001:] it's the right way [LAUGHTER].
[speaker002:] Well, they do, and when they actually get out away from the home,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and have to do their own buying of things,
[speaker001:] Yes, and they appreciate how much it costs to do that.
[speaker002:] Th-, and then they say, well, hey, you know, mom used to do this and
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] dad used to do that,
[speaker001:] That's right.
[speaker002:] and pretty soon they're, they're figuring out that's not such a bad way *slash error with utt2; one utt to go. *slash error
[speaker001:] That's true, yeah. *slash errortwo utts
[speaker002:] But, *%
[speaker001:] Well, I don't know, you know. I, I wonder how, how you instill in people the necessity for doing just a little bit extra to, to make this whole thing work. I mean, the extra like washing out bottles and jars, or the extra of actually, uh, making sure that, uh, you take stuff over to, you know, some people are compl-, now are complaining because the stuff isn't picked up at the curbside, you know,
[speaker002:] [LAUGHTER].
[speaker001:] and I think golly Moses, you just do your part. You know, people are not, you, you, you can't be waited on all your life and expect things to always ha-, work ou-, out.
[speaker002:] Right. Well, see, this, this is what concerns me. You, over in Europe they don't have the kind of waste we do here.
[speaker001:] No, that's right.
[speaker002:] You, you've got to be in a country, even in, in Mexico,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] you don't see things thrown away,
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] like we do here.
[speaker001:] Yeah, yeah.
[speaker002:] I mean, what we throw away is, is a ransom, a king's,
[speaker001:] Yes.
[speaker002:] ransom to most people,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and I, and even to people in our country,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] who scavenge for food and,
[speaker001:] Yeah, yeah.
[speaker002:] and, and I, I think you have to get into a period of need,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] bef-, you can't tell a person that lives in a hundred, two hundred, three hundred thousand dollar house that have all that they need,
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] and all that they could want
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] that they've got to be careful.
[speaker001:] No.
[speaker002:] This is, uh, I, this is why I thought Jimmy Carter was never very po-, very pos-,
[speaker001:] Uh. *slash error
[speaker002:] you know, people didn't like him.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Because he tried to say,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] turn off the lights [LAUGHTER],
[speaker001:] Yeah, right,
[speaker002:] conserve this, do that.
[speaker001:] do those little things, yeah,
[speaker002:] And, and, uh,
[speaker001:] that make a lot of difference, uh-huh.
[speaker002:] the pe-, I, nobody wanted to hear it.
[speaker001:] Yeah. Yeah, it's, I, you know, and,
[speaker002:] It's,
[speaker001:] I think you're right, though. I think that it has to really hit home before,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] the message sometimes. Or you have to grow up with it being im-, important in your life,
[speaker002:] [Faint] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] um, oh, oh, um, before the message really takes hold sometimes. And, um, I don't know, it's, uh [breathing], it's just really interesting to me how now more aware of things I am than I, even myself, than I used to be,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] a few years ago. I mean, like I, I'd go to the, um, to the U T D, um, cafeteria for lunch sometimes
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and they use styrofoam plates, when they wouldn't,
[speaker002:] Um.
[speaker001:] need to use styrofoam plates.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] You know, and I think to myself that's, that's crazy. I wonder if, you know, maybe I need to bring that to someone's attention, you know,
[speaker002:] Uh-huh, uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, and, uh, I'm seeing more and more of that, and, and I think it's, uh, just McDonald's effort to reduce the number of, of styrofoam, uh, boxes that they use,
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] for hamburgers and stuff, I think is a good, good example, you know, that even,
[speaker002:] Huh.
[speaker001:] industry is willing to do it.
[speaker002:] I, I think the big question too we're looking at is, would you be willing to pay more for a product,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] so it can be recycled.
[speaker001:] Well, I think that may, that's kind of what it's coming to, I'm sure.
[speaker002:] That's, that's right and,
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] and, uh, do we have to wait until all the landfills,
[speaker001:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker002:] are full and there is nowhere else to put our garbage.
[speaker001:] That's right, yeah.
[speaker002:] Or, and I don't, with the mind set of the American public, I think what they will do is start paying Mexico
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] to take our trash. *slash error
[speaker001:] Wow. That doesn't,
[speaker002:] That isn't, that isn't harmful. *sv
[speaker001:] wouldn't surprise me. Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Or they will go dump it out in the middle of some ocean.
[speaker001:] Yeah, yeah. Uh, *slash error
[speaker002:] That's the way we solve problems.
[speaker001:] I know it, and unfortunately.
[speaker002:] And it's sad.