The big beautiful blue bin.

With all the fires and traffic and abuse of the foster care system and panther sightings, my estimation of the fair City of Angels has been rather trampled on this week.

But I'll say one thing for this city:

We sure can recycle!

Our big blue bin (30 gallons larger than our black trash bin) has a list of items printed on its lid, and I always thought the variety was pretty great. All types of paper, aluminum cans, plastic bottles, etc. We recycle as much as we can, including paper towels (which Winston then pulls out of the kitchen recycle bin and shreds, at which point they go back into the recycling bin).

But last week, I caught a glimpse of a notice on the side of a garbage truck that said plastic bags can now be recycled! This is very exciting to me, because I'm one of those people who saves every single plastic bag in hopes that I'll someday remember to take them to the store and shove them in the already-overstuffed bag recycling can. For two years, I have forgotten to do this. And now I find out that I can just put them in my own blue bin.

Heavenly.

Intrigued, I went to the LA City website and looked for a list of what is and isn't recyclable.

Here's the link. Styrofoam! And soup cans! And wire hangers! And laundry baskets, which puzzles me... who goes through laundry baskets that quickly?

So anyway, I'm happy because now LA has at least one checkmark in the plus column, which has been achingly empty this week (writers' strike... construction at every stage of my commute...).

I have to admit, I'm kind of obsessed with recycling. Throwing something away that could be recycled gives me the heebie-jeebies. And visiting other communities, where recycling isn't a part of the lifestyle, shocks me. If my cold conservative heart is weeping with every landfilled Dasani bottle, Al Gore must be a sobbing mess.

Happy Friday! TGIF, and I can't think of the last time I meant that so sincerely.

Oh! New Winston video up at Youtube: