Anna recycles

By K.J. Cardinal

Today Anna took her first step...toward being an environmentally conscious person.

With a 30-gallon garbage bag full of empty beer cans and bottles, Anna and I ventured to the "recycle center" (read: liquor store) today to do our civic duty and recycle.

I was a little concerned how Anna would handle the weird smell and loud noises that come from the machines that crush the cans and smash the bottles, but as always she seemed to be rather unphased. Actually, I would go as far to say that she rather enjoyed it.

She appeared to be amazed by the fact that the cans would just disappear. When I'd put one in the machine she'd stare at it for a second and then look at me, to ask "What happened to the can?"

I'm pretty sure that Anna had this reaction for all 132 cans and bottles that I recycled. It was pretty funny.

As I left the store, I couldn't help but think how much my Papa would get a kick out of seeing Anna's reaction to the recycling. Afterall, Papa was the king of recycling.

He really used his Yankee ingenuity to come up with quite a few innovative ways to recycle cans. Throughout my childhood I can recall him crushing cans with sledge hammers, presses and even a contraption he made to go with his wood splitter. He was really a pioneer.

Anna has a long way to go to reach Papa's level. And, in order for her to do that, I better keep on drinking. So, I'm up for the challenge...consider it my way of giving back to the environment.