A while back, I got into an online discussion on the topic, “What’s the grossest thing you’ve done to help the environment?” started by someone who thought it was really, really gross that she had swished her smelly dish towels in a mixture of hot water, vinegar, and tea tree oil with her bare hands, rather than throw them away and buy new ones.

The poor dear.

Here is what I posted:

I have encountered some real horrors in my big recycling projects. Some people seem to think bottles can be recycled regardless of their contents and will drop things like cigarette butts or pizza crusts into the dregs of their juice or beer, then drop it into a recycling bin. The worst incident I’ve had was at my church: Somebody partly opened a can of stewed tomatoes, dumped out most of them, and put the can complete with jagged bent-out lid and a couple teaspoons of tomato pulp into the recycling bin…while I was sick and didn’t empty the bins for a few weeks…so I managed to cut myself and immediately get moldy rotting black sludge into the wound (and onto my skirt), and everything in the bin was dribbled with sludge and furry mold!!! But I just can’t bring myself to throw away a whole $10 plastic bin and a bunch of recyclable items, when I could wash them…and then pull the glob of mold out of the drain with my fingers. My cut got infected.

I pretty much “won” that discussion. Not that it’s much of an honor.

Comments are open.  What’s the grossest thing YOU’ve done to help the environment?

Visit Your Green Resource to learn what other people are doing (gross and otherwise) to help the environment.