The 10c that made a difference...

Today I'm not going to talk about parenting for a change. I'm going to talk about recycling.

Growing up in the 90's, I watched Captain Planet. It was all about saving the world from pollution. I wish Captain Planet would come back on the TV for kids to be inspired that the power is theirs to make a difference in this world.

Not only did I grow up in the 90's, I grew up in South Australia. Before there were recycling bins, before there were even WHEELIE bins, we recycled. Why? Because we got paid to do it of course!

Have you ever noticed on your bottles and cans it says this?

It used to say 5c when I was a little girl (so that means it has doubled!). I remember if we had a drink we would stash it in the boot of our car or in our backpack until I could pile it up with our 'collection' at home. We had a special section of our backyard especially for bottles and cans.

I remember there is one man in my home town, who every Sunday morning would get up before the sun, and drive around the local football oval to collect the cans and bottles from the night before. He makes a small fortune.

When I was on holidays, and sometimes on the weekend, Mum said that if I cleaned up our massive collection of cans and bottles and load them in the back of our Suburu Station wagon ('Scooby' we used to call him), I could keep the money. I remember making $20 from a truck full of cans and bottles. (Today that would be $40!)

As much as I love living in Victoria, I have noticed that South Australia is a cleaner place. Nobody leaves their cans and bottles on the street and this is why. I don't want this silly ad from Adelaide becoming true for Victoria.

You can distribute these postcards from Colleen,
or just sign up online!

So naturally when I saw Greens MP Colleen Hartland's little ad pop up on my facebook these memories of recycling came back to me.

"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors: we borrow it from our children"

- A quote on my Mum's fridge.

I would love for my Children to grow up with the same values I learnt from watching Captain Planet. I want them to value recycling and keeping our planet healthy.

Those who know me know that I'm not really big into politics, but this is something I am passionate about. I believe Colleen is on the money (pardon the pun) about recycling, and I know first hand that this works.

So if you think we should make the world a better place, and should get 10c back for our drinks (I know it doesn't sound a lot, but it does add up!), I would encourage you to head over to this page to ask the lovely bloke Ted Baillieu to consider this lovely gesture for our state and our planet.