Christmas has ended and there are trash barrels full of fun, colorful gift wrap and bows. Much of that discarded paper and plastic can be recycled. If you have a Great Aunt or Great Grandmother who has lived through the great depression, you know they will certainly recycle those ribbons and bows. We have a policy on littering here in the Lone Star State. So, recycle and Don’t Mess With Texas. Just make sure that you keep up the holiday generosity by keeping your trash in the barrel and in your car. Even the worst Christmas present doesn’t deserve the holiday toss out the window at 70mph. Calm down, take a deep breath and re-gift it next year. Just make sure you don’t give it to the person who gave it to you. No one needs a naked Barbie flung onto their windshield on the way home from a new years eve party.
Within the next few weeks, there will also be a bone dry Christmas tree (or Hanukkah bush) at the end of every driveway. Even that tree can find a happy afterlife at a recycling facility where they can turn it into compost or mulch for your spring garden. Home Depot even has a Christmas tree recycling program. Heck, maybe in the spring, one of those bags of mulch you purchase will be from your own darned tree. And, did you know that there is probably a free compost and mulch facility in your area. You have to bag it and haul it yourself. But hey, it’s free.
The Don’t Mess With Texas program was not only put into place with the sole intention of keeping our highways and roads beautiful. There are other residual effects from the act of littering. Our roads are stunning! In Texas, even the wildflowers on the side of the freeway are all scattered here for our enjoyment (I always envisioned Lady Bird Johnson in the back of a big black limousine, hi-ball in one hand, handful of wildflower seeds in the other, window rolled down just a smidge. Just enough to slip a few seeds out the car window as she’s driven up and down our Texas highways).
And the mulch they’ll use may be all that is left of Christmas past and the future of spring yet to come. Happy 2016 to you, my friends. Let us welcome a new year free of litter and mindful of the beauty of our land.
Until next week…
Daun Thompson
Writer / Comedienne / Artist
Recycle and Don’t Mess With Texas – Comedy Defensive Driving