Don’t just get mad, get solutions

I had a church member call me the other day.  She informed me that they would no longer be recycling because the bin outside the church was constantly full.  They ended up throwing their plastic, glass and tin in the trash.  This was frustrating because I was excited to bring this opportunity to our church and community.

I was in the shower the next day and God put a thought in my head.  Part of the frustration that we had in our recycling was due to the fact that the company we use (run by a great, but overwhelmed entrepreneur) is the only option in our area.  I began wondering what other options we might have.  I started by identifying the problem.

Plastic waste in particular takes up a ton of space.  A family can go through trash bags full of milk jugs, water bottles, egg cartons, product wrapping and foam cups in a week’s time.  I built a bin at home and quickly noticed how rapidly the container for plastic would fill up. I learned a few practical steps such as crushing water bottles and recapping them, sloshing a small amount of hot water in a milk jug making it easier to collapse, and even breaking the plastic down chemically.  At one point I kept a glass jar filled with acetone.  I would dissolve egg cartons and foam cups into little white gooey blobs in order to save space.

It was there in the shower that God gave me an epiphany.  The church member who had had it with our church bin was a retired chemical engineer!  He had a unique background that might give him insight into other possible options for us.
I gave him a call later that morning and asked him to kick around some ideas regarding solutions to storage and disposal of the plastic.  I began to wonder who else in our church might have different vocational skills and resources at creating new solutions.  What if we were to come up with a better option that would not only help us but our community and even our recycling provider?

Here was my take away.  Anger and frustration are not only normal responses to broken systems, they are also important to finding answers.  Anger and frustration can fuel us to come up with better solutions.  When stated, this seems like a no brainer.  But how often do we get frustrated and angry and then simply stop there?  Sure we might be justified in griping and moaning to others when institutions are inefficient, or businesses offer lousy customer care or how we are inconvenienced by poorly engineered merchandise, but why stop there? Why not be a part of the solution? For one, frustration that isn’t handled correctly turns to bitterness and cynicism.  But frustration and anger aimed at solutions is healthy and helpful. So next time something gets your goat, consider solutions to the problem.

Have you come up with solutions that were originally fueled from frustration?  Share them with me.

Any ideas on our recycling challenge? Be a part of the solution.