Struggling to find a dessert appropriate for the Park Place
Literary Society (neighborhood Book Club), the above magazine title captured my attention from inside my neighbor’s bin.
Wednesday is recycling day in our neighborhood, a magazine “Southern Lady” peaked out at me as I was walking Daisy.
I was Eve and this was my apple. If I chose to pick this up, am I recycling, repurposing or stealing?
Do not steal. Deuteronomy 5 v. 19 HSB
A wee bit gauche, the question was placed on my Facebook wall in hopes friends would prevent an errant deed on my part, and waited. Letting on I had it in my possession, I simply asked “would it be stealing if I was sitting here reading it now?”
Here are the responses I recieved:
Noelle- I would say no. BUT (lol) if you walk away with it, maybe.
Sharilyn- No way. You are actually recycling it.
Sandy- Nope! You know what they say about one person’s trash…
Tim- No. because once they throw it out it’s no longer their property.
Noelle- Is any compensation paid to the homeowner for his recyclable items? ( in Seattle you get a small sum back)
Tim- Good point, put it back when you are done.
Margaret- I know you will do what is best dear sis, you have an honest and clean heart.
The winning recipe came from my own, BHG Better Homes and Gardens (New Cook Book) page 81, Blueberry Buckle.
Hoping to hear your thoughts,
Trish
Trish Southard 
I remember this recipe.
It was as favorite of my Mom’s and I have made it many times.
Good choice.
If the magazine seems interesting, approach your neighbor
and ask her if she would mind sharing it when she is done.
I am sure she will say yes.
Nice picture and great post!
Peggy
Stealing is taking the gift not yet given. Enjoying the magazine your neighbors put in the trash might make them happy. If they are at home, go introduce yourself and let them know that the magazine they were recycling caught your eye and that you are on a mission to come up with a recipe. I say use every opportunity to connect with others. If they are not at home, and there is no compensation for recycling, taking it to use before it goes through further processing is not what I would call stealing. If there is compensation for recycling, and you take it without asking, then of course that is stealing.
We recycle almost everything here in Portland, Oregon. Previously we had to divide the paper, tin cans, and non-returnable bottles,etc. Now we have a big blue bin to put everything but glass….glass goes in a yellow bin. Yard debri goes in the big green bin. There is no compensation, we pay extra here to recycle, because some people just don’t know how to sort. Now we have to pay to have the big blue bin….all kinds of paper, tin, plastic, etc. sorted by the professionals so it doesn’t end up in the landfill. Whatever way recycling occurs, it is care for all creation.
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Wow, what a simple but fascinating moral dilemma.
Did you come to a conclusion yourself yet?
My thought was the same as some others, which is that you are great about introducing yourself out of the blue. I think this is a great excuse to say hello and get to know another neighbor–after all, you share an interest in a magazine, so you already have something in common! You could strike up a magazine sharing relationship, where she loans you her stack when she’s ready to recycle, and every once in a while, you give her some blueberry buckle (just for fun)!
And if you really got into a particular magazine, you could see if you could share a subscription sometime.