Mom: Oh, say, Patsy ~ would you mind taking out this rubbish before heading off to school?
Patti: Goodness, Mom. What if I’m late?
Mom: Don’t worry, Sis: The bus doesn’t leave for another twenty minutes. You’ll be fine. Oh, and don’t forget to recycle the trash properly, okay? You remember how to do that, don’t you?
Patti: Um… could You remind me one more time just to make sure, Mom?
Mom: Alright, it’s simple enough: Metal (aluminum cans) go in 캔, hard plastic objects go in 플라스틱, vinyl and soft wrappers go in 비닐, milk packages are separately in the place for 우유 패키지, paper goes in the 종이 container, and cardboard boxes belong in that big stack off to the right side (it’s unmarked). Oh, and the food garbage is put in the canister over on the left with the lid shut tightly.
Patti: Good grief, Mom! It’s all so complicated. I’m in a hurry…
Mom: You’ll do fine. You’re lucky you don’t live in Toronto where they have 17 different categories of recycleables. And there’s one ridiculous town, in Japan, Kamikatsu where they have 45 different categories for every possible type of plastic, cardboard, metal and so forth!
Patti: Wow, Mom! That might even be fun—and rather educational too I bet!
Mom: Okay, Hun ~ you better be off on your way now, or you will miss the bus.
Patti: See you Mom ~ thanks for everything. Sorry about complaining…
Patti at the recycle depot:
Patti: Hmmm… Okay, food garbage…. (lifts the lid) Yuck—this stinks!
Neighbor: Hi—you’re Patricia who lives next door, aren’t you? That’s so animals don’t get in.
Patti: Hello Mrs. Kim. By the way, what kind of animals come around here?
Neighbor: Mainly cats. They tear the bags open and make a big mess. And crows get in too.
Patti: Ugh… I’m glad I’m a people—I wouldn’t ever want to eat garbage!
Mrs. Kim sighs: Well, Patricia, actually some homeless people with nothing to eat do just that.
Patti: Oh my goodness. Don’t they have food programs for such people?
Mrs. Kim: In fact there are “soup kitchens” and also hostels for poor people with nowhere to go. But somehow these “bag people” like to rummage around. And they can even find good things like gold trinkets in the waste basket.
Patti: Why would anyone throw away gold?
Mrs. Kim: Sometimes if a couple had a big fight they act like half crazy and throw out jewelry. But more often we’re talking about mobile phones and computers, which have gold in them.
Patti: Gold? Why gold?
Mrs. Kim: It’s the best conductor, so it’s an essential metal in most electronic devices.
Patti: Why don’t companies recycle them?
Mrs. Kim: They do. But mainly old TV sets and mobile phones are sent to China or Vietnam where labor is cheap and they can scrape out the circuit boards for valuable metals and parts.
Patti: Ah, so “metal” isn’t just metal. I guess there are many different types.
Mrs. Kim: There sure are: Mainly aluminum, but also iron, tin, lead, nickel, copper, titanium… Actually there are 92 different metal elements among the 118 on the periodic table.
Patti: Wow, Mrs. Kim—how do you know all that stuff?
Mrs. Kim: I’m the chemistry teacher at Bosung Girl’s High School. Women are in the profession too.
Patti: Where does all the metal come from?
Mrs. Kim: It comes up from under the earth with volcanoes. But originally it comes from asteroids that hit the earth a long time ago. And even before that it was formed by supernovas.
Patti: Supernovas!? What are they, magic shops?
Mrs. Kim laughs: No, dear—supernovas are stars when they get too old and explode. That’s when all the higher elements are formed. And gold and platinum come from black holes when they merge.
Patti: OMG ~ that means all this junk we’re throwing out comes from the sky!
Mrs. Kim smiles: Yep. People don’t have any idea how rare and precious our planet Earth is. That’s why we should recycle things as much as possible, don’t waste resources, and protect our home, this beautiful planet.
Patti is back home after school: Hi, Mom, hi, Dad! I’m back!
Dad: Nice going, Patti ~ how was your day today?
Patti: Guess what? When I went to throw out the trash, I met Mrs. Kim, you know, who lives right next door? I never knew she was a chemistry teacher. She taught me all about where our “trash” comes from.
Mom, curious: Oh, really? Well, we buy it at the store, use it, then throw it out, right?
Patti: There’s much more! The trash comes from the stars!
Dad laughs: Yeah, like cosmic dust raining down, right?
Patti: Well, she explained how asteroids hit the earth, and they came from exploding stars and black holes colliding.
Dad: Well, not so fast. That’s a process that took billions of years.
Mom looks at Dad: What do you mean?! God made it all in six days. It says in the Bible.
Dad: Okay, yes, but, let’s not argue about that. Sometimes we have to keep our knowledge in separate boxes. I know God made this universe, but we can’t be sure exactly how He did it.
Patti: Okay, Mom and Dad, I’m home ~ let’s do “Huggies”
Mom, Dad, Patricia, and Jeff all end the day with a short prayer and a big hug. Mountie looks on, wagging his tail happily.
williamstoertz 