In some countries people throw out old pots and pans on New Year’s Eve to get ready for the new. In our neighborhood it was the “Second Annual Electronics Recycling Event.”
Who knew there was such a thing? Carol had spotted this one coming weeks in advance. An environmental group had commandeered a corner of the park for Saturday morning and we were invited to bring our gold, frankincense and myrrh…and all those electronic things in the house that we didn’t need anymore but couldn’t throw away.
There was that giant old computer screen and the tape player gathering dust on the shelf (who played tapes anyway?) and modems from before the days of wireless. We packed three boxes and two bags of stuff. I had no idea where it all came from. We even asked our neighbors if they had electronics to get rid of.
“Here let me take that,” said the guy at the park. I handed him a computer that had seemed modern at the millennium. How fast things aged.
I returned to the house feeling a little wistful. I like using things up until they wear out—my favorite jacket I bought at a church rummage sale 25 years ago—but you can’t do that with electronics. They become outdated long before they wear out. I wondered if the same thing was happening to me. Would I become outdated before I wore out?
Maybe not. As long as I recycled. It’s good stewardship.
Rick Hamlin is the executive editor at GUIDEPOSTS.
