I like to think I’m a man of many talents. I write books. I play guitar (a little). I can even juggle. But in this post, I’m going to pay tribute to another of my talents. One which, in the grand scheme of things, may not be so highly regarded. But one which I, personally, hold in quite high regard. One which I firmly believe helps to make the world a better place.
I’m a finely-tuned, one-man garbage disposal machine.
Yes, you heard right. But just in case, I’ll repeat it anyway. I’m a finely-tuned, one-man garbage disposal machine.
Looking after the environment is important to me, and though, like most of us, I could do more, one thing I’m always keen on is minimising waste. In particular, I detest the idea of food going into landfill. After all, what is more valuable than food? We need it every day to survive. In my book, food should never, ever be wasted.
Which is why I do everything in my power to ensure it doesn’t happen. Every day, after dinner, I sort through whatever food has been left. Whatever I can put together goes into my little lunch box. It gives me great pleasure to divert all leftovers from the rubbish bin and into next day’s lunch, or possibly the day after that. I like to ensure I have enough food left over to give me a couple of day’s worth of lunches – I define this concept as lunch credit (I hope one day to receive a Nobel Prize in economics for this work).
There are so many benefits realised by this amazing talent, from both a personal perspective and at a much broader level. I’m contributing to the environment by reducing the amount of material going to landfill. Plus I get to enjoy some seriously tasty lunches – way better than anything available from the meagre options at my workplace. And I save money to boot. Win, win, win.
I can’t help thinking my talent for disposing of garbage goes further than just the consumption of leftover food. As a writer, I like to think I have a talent for using leftover ideas – the ideas that nobody else thinks about, or would consider as usable for their stories. I like to think I have the ability to take the detritus no other writer would touch, and turn it into fun and compelling stories.
So whether it’s uneaten food or strange and unloved story ideas, I rejoice in my talent as a one man garbage disposal machine.
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