USGN Article - August 2002
Terry & Barbi Franklin
Written by Terry Franklin

Recycling – In Your Own Backyard
 

In the community where we formerly lived, a truck would come by each week to pick up all the used bottles, cans, and plastic that we had to be recycled. I’ve always thought that this was a good idea…Our new home, located on 5 acres outside of Nashville doesn’t have this convenience – the nearest recycling facility is 10 miles away. Sad to say, we’re not doing as much recycling as we used to…. But recently I did some “recycling” in a different sort of way.

Last year we bought a new riding lawn mower, one of those “zero-turn radius” ones you see being towed on flat-bed trailers by commercial lawncare folks. Yeah, I’m proud of it…I should be – it cost as much as my car!!

After mowing the yard a few times, I passed the coveted tractor key to my oldest son. But after a few weeks I noticed that the yard was “shrinking.” He wasn’t getting the far edges of the property where there were weeds. I mentioned it to him and it got a bit better, but there was still a large area that had become overrun with grass, weeds, vines, etc.

Finally I decided to get out there and give it a try myself (Okay, so I won’t be getting “Parent Of The Year” for this move, but someone once said that you have to choose your battles wisely with your kids!) He was right. It was a Vietnamese jungle out there!

The weeds were anywhere from 3 feet to 7 feet high – some had turned into small trees. Added to this were sinkholes that were invisible because of the overgrowth. It was slow going – I got stuck more than once – but I did it. By the end I had “recycled” about 1/3 of an acre of land. I even saw a gate leading out the back of the property that I had never seen before.

Sometimes we have to reclaim land in our personal lives – maybe it’s a marriage that has gone south, or a loved one who has taken a turn in the wrong direction. Sometimes our schedule can get so overgrown with “weeds” that there is no time for God. All of these are good reasons do a little “recycling.” It will take effort; it won’t be easy, but it will be worth it.

Sometimes that recycling project…is in your own backyard!

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