This article first ran in the Lenten Organizing Challenge and The Spirituality of Clutter.

The idea is to elevate little eco-friendly changes you can make in your day – to – day life, to make a big and positive impact on our world.

Let me start with the Bottom Line On Top:  Make good choices, even if you just take little steps.  Many little steps in the right direction will still get you where you need to go.

So here is the rest of the article….

We are a (pretty) Green family.  We reduce, we reuse, we recycle, we re-purpose.  We have been Green for a long time, so that the kids know what to do to be Green, and why it is important.

I have four trash receptacles in my kitchen.  Under the sink, we have a garbage can on one side, and glass and plastic recycling on the other.  Under the desk there is a paper bag for paper recycling.  Then there is the Magic Little Basket on the top of my refrigerator.

Ok, so the basket doesn’t actually have magical properties.  It’s rather boring, 10 inches square, lined with a jaunty fabric and it matches the one next to it that holds reusable lunch bags.  But it does make Being Green really easy.

The Magic Little Basket holds 2 recycled plastic canisters, and some freezer bags.  One canister holds used household batteries, and the other holds used prescription medication bottles. One bag holds burnt-out light bulbs, another has small, used (and broken or obsolete) electronics like old cell phones and static-y earphones.   The third baggy has old eyeglasses in it. What do all of these items have in common, other than living together in a basket in my kitchen?   A couple of things, actually.

These are sort of things my clients and I come across in kitchen junk drawers, bathroom medicine cabinets, desk cubbies and workrooms.  One client calls them Detritus.  I call them dregs, or minutiae.  None of these words are very positive.  They all mean approximately “the unwanted particulates that settle to the bottom”.

Why do these things accumulate?  First, they are small and inconsequential.  Second, they had value once, so it is difficult to just toss them away.  Finally, my clients realize they probably shouldn’t just toss them into the trash.  Maybe they have heard that the CFL light bulbs contain mercury, or about the new law making it illegal to through electronic waste in the regular garbage.

The other thing they have in common?  They are all recyclable.

So, make your own Magic Basket (or bag or box or whatever), and make a regular habit of taking care of recycling.

For example, I dropped off the household batteries at the Walgreen’s camera counter.  There is also a drop box at our local library.  The medications go to my local police department, many now have permanent collection sites, to keep prescription pain medication off the streets.  The light bulbs go to Home Depot, or other home goods stores.  The broken electronics can go to my kid’s school, we make money from regular recycling drives.  What can’t go to the school drive can go to our local E-Waste recycling site.  Many towns now have these E-Waste sites available to their residents.   The eyeglasses go to my dad, who works with his local Lion’s Club, and if you don’t happen to know my Dad, the Lion’s Club is a national organization with drop boxes in public places like libraries and pharmacies.

The important thing to realize is that all of these errand stops are right in your neighborhood, and dropping things off regularly won’t take a lot of time. But these little stops can make a really big difference.  These little changes keep mercury, acids and other toxins out of the ground and water table.  Recycling gives money to schools, and sight to people who need glasses. It is the right thing to do, which is what makes my Little Basket so Magic, and it really is Easy Being Green.

Make good choices, even if you just take little steps.  Many little steps in the right direction will still get you where you need to go.