Recycling, a lifestyle!
— Wednesday, September 1st, 2010 by WBSC
With the threat of global warming and other ecological crises, people everywhere are finding ways to "go green." However, despite the recent upsurge of interest in the environment, some residents at Warm Beach Senior Community have devoted themselves to preserving the Earth for decades.
Arlo Tiede and his wife, Della, have been finding ways to recycle for as long as they have been married. Born in the depression years, they try to reuse as much waste as possible. "We're supposed to be stewards of our resources," he says. "Any waste we do purposefully is wrong."
The Tiede's recycle everything they possibly can-anything metal, most plastics, grocery bags, batteries, electronics, used oil, and anything else that can be reused in any way. They also take old DVDs, CDs, cassette tapes, videos, records, and books to secondhand shops. "There is very little waste that cannot be recycled," he says. "People are too wasteful, they don't separate their garbage." Garbage should be separated into paper, aluminum and plastic.
When the Tiede's came to Warm Beach, they saw a number of opportunities to help the community become more environmentally friendly. Arlo noticed that the thrift shop was throwing away donations that they couldn't sell in the store, such as televisions and computers, so he began taking weekly trips to the Skagit Steel Recycling Center to get rid of it for them. He also handles recycling drop off for the Warm Beach Camp. At the Warm Beach Church, he helped build a recycling program, installing bins and handling their drop off as well.
"God made the whole Earth for our use," Della says, "but is can all be recycled. We feel stongly that you have to save your environment." The Tiede's encourage everyone to recycle, and reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills. It's one of the easiest ways to lessen one's impact on the environment.