In elementary school, I was in some of the worst plays you could possibly think of. I thought theatre was fun, and it sure beat T-ball. It was mostly little community things, some which travelled around to schools in the area, playing to gymnasiums filled with first through third graders who are still really impressed by everything. Once I was a crayon who had the 'blues.' Another time I was a wind spirit who spread joy to all the flowers, letting them know that the recent addition to the garden could help make their bouquet even prettier. I have played a homesick clown, a cantakerous goose, and a farmer down on his luck, in addition to various choruses, townspeople, and countless princes. (To say nothing of 'real' parts in real plays, like the Laramie Project or Tony and Tina's Wedding.)
The second play I was ever in was called "The Treasure Makers." In it, I played a noble upstanding citizen (with an awe-inspiring solo in the second act, if I do say so myself) who is part of a committee who wishes to turn the local junkyard into a much-needed parking lot downtown next to the new art museum. We fought a group of good-hearted ruffians who made the junkyard their home, taking other people's trash and turning it into treasure. Thanks to a deus ex machina, the leader of the good-hearted ruffians and the founder of the committee are long-lost brother and sister, the treasure is considered "pop art" by the curator, and everyone learns a lesson, sings a song, hugs a new friend, and all the adults in the audience roll their eyes.
Every Earth day in elementary school, we would learn about the joys of the three Rs: Reduce! Reuse! Recycle! They were more importantant that Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithemetic, and what's more, they were grammatically correct as well! You can make a difference to the environment! This was before we really knew the difference between Democrats and Republicans (in the mock elections in elementary school, I voted for Bob Dole because we had the same name and I thought that was cool), and it was the environment, not some liberals trying to intrude into your personal life or conservatives drilling for oil. Everyone loves the environment--it's like trees and recess and Bambi and rainbows, all in one!
And then you grow up, and realize that nothing you do can make a difference. The grand disillusionment. Santa isn't real, the stork doesn't bring babies to Mommies and Daddies who love each other very much, and sorting your garbage into paper products, narrow-mouthed plastics and aluminum amount to about a hill of beans in the landfill. Making masks out of egg cartons and making collages from old magazines is fun and all, but it's not going to make a difference. If you and 100 of your friends got together and recycled absolutely everything you used over the course of an entire year, you wouldn't make a difference. People create only 2% of the waste--giggle giggle. More garbage is made in a grocery store over the course of a week than everyone you know could make in six months, even if those six months iunclude Christmas and spring cleaning.
But should that matter? Not really. It still feels good to recycle-- the Earth Day activities as a child worked. And its easier to be 'holier than thou' about the environment, and the people who are 'holier than thou' about recycling are going to be uptight about something, and it might as well be about trees and ponds and Bambi and flowers and rainbows and shit.
However, that's just literal trash. Tacky romance novels, Britney Spears' next album, and most blogs (but not yours, of course--yours is delightful!) are a whole different thought altogether.
