New Dream Adventures of Raven Knight

01/12/12

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
I am at a Walmart with my friend Alicia. We are looking through the store for nothing in particular, just browsing and chatting a bit. I look at a few items, I look at a couple of outfits that I think won't fit me and then I look at the reason why they won't fit… a display of cupcakes and cookies…

I think maybe I'll get a single cupcake that way it will be a onetime indulgence rather than something I keep doing over and over. I pick up the cupcake and without thinking about it I start eating. No one says anything to stop me and I finish it soon, absently tossing the wrapper in a trash can. Alicia and I go to the front to check out. I go to pay for my cupcake and I realize I threw the wrapper away… I have nothing left of it! What I am holding is two empty toilet paper tubes… um… I have no idea why I picked those up… but the cashier is giving me a strange look at the idea I am looking to pay for them. So I figure I'll just go throw them away while Alicia checks out. She has selected a couple items including shampoo and soap.

I go over to a trash can and toss the tubes in and then I do a double take. There is a huge stack of paper in there, it looks like someone emptied a file cabinet or something. It is not dirty with other trash and it is clearly recyclable. I grab a cart and take the paper out so I can put it in a recycle bin somewhere. I notice some of it is even blank, I can use that! I look back to make sure I have it all, I have taken a stack about a foot tall! There's a bit more paper, and someone threw away a perfectly good binder! There is also a school text book in there. It isn't one I have interest in, but why throw it away? Donate it to Good Will or something! I take the backpack, binder, and book out.

There is a bit more paper in there which I also take. Alicia is there beside me now asking what I am doing. I comment to her how wasteful people can be. The cashier who checked us out is also looking. I ask her if she can believe someone threw all that away instead of recycling and donating. She says she had thought the same thing when someone threw it in.

Alicia and I are walking back to my car, I am wondering how I am going to keep the paper from going all over the car. I decide I can put some of it in the backpack. I open the backpack and find a pair of sneakers in there that look brand new! I wonder if they will fit me… who would throw those away?! I am looking at the sneakers and thinking if they don't fit me, maybe they'll fit Alicia. I am about to try the shoes on when I wake up.