by Cassie Kerner
My dad really suckered me in when he asked me to write a “green” story for The Regular Joe. He 
knows how I feel about this kind of stuff, and that even though I’m still on the East Coast, I couldn’t resist sounding off on how a “bottle bill” might benefit my hometown. Then he forwarded the emails, both pro and con. I was really surprised by how many people took the time to respond.
Now, dear old dad calls again and asks, “How about editing the Joe Green page every issue?”
I’m sure there are many better qualified candidates out there, but maybe no others that are willing to work for free. So, in spite of the old adage, “you get what you pay for,” I will use my minor in Environmental Policy for something after all, and do my best.
This issue, I want to talk about The Regular Joe “Clean Team.”
When faced with the issue of trash in the park, some people spend their time looking for somebody to blame: fast food restaurants, our “throw-away” society, etc. Others focus on who isn’t doing their job. Fortunately, there is also a group of people who decide to step up and take action. This Regular Joe “Clean Team” is one such group of volunteers who literally took matters into their own hands and started picking up the trash. What a revolutionary concept! A couple of weeks ago these nice folks went over the Felix Street Square by hand, and filled eight trash bags with litter. It only took half an hour, so they cleaned up the lot across the street, too, adding four more bags of garbage. Everything was separated into paper, plastic, glass and aluminum, ready for the recycling center.
You want some instant gratification? Stand back and look at a city park right after you clean out all the trash.
Plans were made to meet at the
Want to get out in the fresh air and meet some other like minded folks? Bring some gloves and a trash bag. Bring a friend, too. You can also nominate your block, or any other mess you see, to go on the Clean Team’s list. Email us a picture if you want. The Regular Joe “Clean Team” is cleaning up this town, one block at a time, and we’d love for you to be a part of the team.
Sidebar
A few issues back, a contributing writer mentioned the small things we can all do to benefit the environment. One of her suggestions was to take your own reusable bags with you when you go shopping. This wasn’t the first time I had heard of the concept, but I love this idea, and have recently started implementing it myself. You don’t necessarily think about the number of plastic bags you acquire and eventually throw away, but it’s a LOT. According to one source, the average family of four uses 1,000 plastic bags a year, 80% of those from grocery stores. Crazy, don’t you think?
The Regular Joe is looking into printing some reusable grocery bags and making them available at local retailers. In the meantime HyVee carries some, and I’m sure there are other sources as well. More details will follow as they are worked out. If you own or work for a local business that would be interested in selling The Regular Joe reusable shopping bags to your customers, please let us know!