I'm Curious

When Brian and I got married and moved into our new home, we opted for the smallest city-issued trash can we could choose. And for the first many years of our marriage that was just fine. We wondered what would happen when we had a baby. I mean, that would feasibly add a great deal of diapers into our daily trash quota. But somehow, it was still enough. Even when we had two babies in diapers it was still enough. And there has almost never once been a time where the smallest trash can was not enough. In fact, often, it was half empty. Now, we are not by any stretch of the imagination the greenest people you'll ever meet. Admittedly, we are thrifty and do like to be frugal. We also recycle a lot. It's a bit of a joke, but Brian likes to laugh at me every time I ask "Can I recycle this?" Probably because he hears it so very often. Reagan and Maddie have also taken a liking to recycling. Their favorite chore is to take things to the recycle bin in the garage. We are actually almost outgrowing our recycling bin. Every trash day, Brian rolls the garbage can out to the curb and heaves the recycling bin next to it. I look out the window and I see all our neighbors also putting their garbage cans out on the curb. Some of them put recycling bins out too. Not all. But all of their garbage cans are the gigantic size. Like I could easily fit several children inside. I wouldn't, of course. And I stare at their trash receptacles in fascination. Here's my question: What in the world are they throwing away? You know you have too much time on your hands or an over-active imagination when you start wondering what your neighbors are throwing away. Now, I would never go so far as to go look. But still...it really makes you wonder. I understand that recycling takes a little more time, and it is a personal choice. Still, for us it's been one worth making. We've saved a fair amount of money by not upgrading to the giant trash can size. And I'm hoping that the smaller trash can will always be a reminder to be more careful about what we are throwing away, what we consider trash, and that we don't just want to consume consume consume.