One man’s trash …

To the editor;
    The recent Newspapers in Education special supplement went beyond excellent, defying words to describe or praise it.
    The letters about trash were exemplary, giving a slice-of-life picture of the pitch-it problem in our throwaway culture. In the letter, “Trash and its effect on our world,” the following stood out: “Money these days is what makes the world go around, and the more people have to pay for something that they dropped out their window, the more thoughtful people may become.”
    The writer’s perception of money controlling too much of our world still eludes many of us. Only in recent years have we said, “Look to the money” whenever a situation in Congress seemed puzzling. Money may explain anything from party politics to starting a war.
    Trash is secondary resources, primary resources discarded for some reason. The bulk of trash now is often plastic made for one-time-use, such as tableware and take-out containers.
    Containers and clean pizza boxes I take to a preschool teacher who likes stuff for her “junk days,” when the kids choose from her supply to create things. She likes egg cartons, a few clean jars for storage, business reply envelopes for playing post office, bits of untreated lumber, and plastic packaging, Granted, this merely slows up the process of recycling or ending in a landfill, but it provides entertainment and a challenge to create, and we get to feel virtuous for our contribution.
    At a Christmas Eve party in our friends’ home we have a joke-gift exchange. Their son, over 40, was pretty much overlooked — what could you give him? — till his mother told me on the phone one day, “He puts a box full of used balls and a price list out on a table during the neighborhood yard sale. People leave money in a container. His last take? Almost $40.”
    From then on during my daily half-hour walk, I would keep my eye out for the stray used baseball, softball, golf ball, wiffle ball or, most likely, tennis ball, in the street at the curb. My collection would be his Christmas gift.
    Last year, he said, “I look forward to your gift. It’s unique and practical.” So far this year, I have a soft compression baseball, a golf ball, four tennis balls, and a field hockey ball. No longer trash. Wish me luck with my “shopping.”
Byrna Porter Weir
Rochester, N.Y.