Traveling across the world to recycle!

Island in the sun!

This Christmas I travelled to Barbados in the Caribbean, and while I was there I called up a local recycling company that came to the house I stayed at and picked up our trash. They even paid me for picking it up! I wasn't a lot, but enough to keep the momentum going for those we left behind after our vacation in the sun was over. It felt good being able to do something for this beautiful island and for not adding my family's bags of trash to their massive landfill.

Anyhow, when the locals saw how excited I got about recycling my plastics and cardboard they just laughed. That said, Barbadians are probably more environmental friendly than us tourists who only drink bottled water and buy packaged food from the local supermarket. For instance, the locals are incredible when it comes to making the most out of the food they buy and they throw very little away, putting us Scandinavians to shame. One Christmas, a friend of mine fished out a sad-looking pepper from the trash can telling me it was good enough to eat, and she was probably right. So basically, we have a lot to learn from each other. I bring my recycling enthusiasm to Barbados and they make me think differently about the food I throw away.

Until next time (and I hope it want take another year until then), live green!