Earth Day is April 22nd and, here in Melrose, the weather will be perfect for the great Keep Melrose Beautiful clean-up, complete with a sign up sheet and suggestions of areas in our city that need a bit of extra care. I look forward to putting on my gloves and filling up a few trash bags, joining our community in celebrating pride in our city and the cleanliness of our streets.
In many ways, Earth Day reminds me of Melrose Random Acts of Kindness Day. April 22 is not the only day of the year to be kind to Mother Earth, but is a celebration of all that we can do. It’s a refresh, a new beginning, and there is no doubt it is timed perfectly, with trees and flowers showing us how beautiful it is to start anew.
In the weeks leading up to Kindness Day, when we hit the streets and shower Social Media with the reminder to celebrate kindness, we sometimes hear the suggestion that kindness should be celebrated every day. We agree wholeheartedly. Every single day of our lives should be a celebration of all that is kind; we are astounded by the people we meet who live in that way. For every day warriors of kindness, November 20th is a day to turbo charge.
Rebecca is one of those turbo-charged people when it comes to loving our earth. Although she is a big believer in Earth Day, her commitment to our planet is a year-long project. You might have bumped into her posts on the Melrose Community Facebook group, where she eagerly encourages others to entrust her with hard-to-recycle items year-round.
Rebecca is a passionate contributor to Terracycle, an organization committed to collecting typically non-recyclable items. Terracycle, with the help of people like Rebecca, has diverted millions of pounds of valuable resources from landfills all over the world. Pretty amazing, right?
Rebecca first got involved with the Terracycle initiative as a parent at Roosevelt Elementary School, where, together with other committed volunteers, she collected juice boxes, squeeze packs, pens, highlighters, and more for recycling. When the pandemic changed our world, it took away her collection spot, too.
But never fear, Rebecca’s got a porch and she encourages others to visit said porch at 33 Woodland Avenue in Melrose.Leave any of the recycling items on her list. The list changes occasionally, so best to check Zero Waste Melrose or reach out to Rebecca directly to be sure you are leaving the right stuff in her care.
Rebecca sorts the items you leave and stores them at her home until her collections meet the minimum weight requirement for delivery to Terracycle. She lives with a family of kindness warriors, who support her in her recycling mission and occasionally join in on the sorting and storing. When I asked Rebecca why she feels compelled to go above and beyond in ridding our world of throw-aways, her response was simple: “There’s too much waste. We’ve got to do what we can. This is what I can do.”
It sounds simple but I guess all the great ideas do.
Earth warrior, turbo-charged, every single day.
#rebeccakind #earthkind #thisismelrose
