[Music]
we all care about something but where
would you go to find the most deliberate
display of care would you go to a
state-of-the-art health care facility or
perhaps a beautiful well cared for
garden or maybe a museum for the
preservation and care of great works of
art we all care about something I don’t
think you’d have to look far I think
that we can find extraordinary examples
of care right in the back parking lot
yeah next to the garbage inside the
recycle dumpster yes yes the recycle
dumpster it’s much more much more than
the place just to go and throw out your
old cardboard paper or plastic and
aluminum you’ll see the recycled
dumpster is really a container filled
with wisdom ancient as the dow
unexpected leadership and acts of
extraordinary care because recycling is
an act of caring and i really care about
that in addition to my work at City Year
an education focused nonprofit fueled by
national service a couple of years ago I
decided I wanted to start a small
business and so I chose recycle
collecting and with any small business
especially when you’re first getting
started right you have to be really
hands-on and I was okay with that I
remember one day hmm
I was way out in the country in a
backwoods lot standing waist-deep in a
recycle dumpster
now I remember this particular time
because it had rained the night before
yeah and I’m standing in this recycled
dumpster it’s a steaming 100 degrees and
there’s surrounding me was all this was
a soggy wet cardboard and spiders frogs
and an assortment of other little
critters now I was horrified like what
if somebody sees me where’s my dignity
where is my pride the fact is that this
was you know there was nobody around for
miles but still I remember I looked up
into the pine trees and I lamented
dramatically Gail Gail Gail why why in
the world are you doing this and then I
heard my own voice answer the question I
am doing this because people really care
and that is the moment that everything
shifted you see what I discovered as a
recycle collector is that something kind
of mysterious happens in the workplace
environment if you have a person who is
really passionate about recycling the
folks that would contact us they weren’t
the senior leaders of the business okay
but they also surprisingly weren’t the
folks from facilities ground or
maintenance from what I could tell there
was no work-related reason that some of
these individuals should be contacting
us at all I mean I can assure you that
the phrase Go Green was not in their job
duty or responsibility but yet and still
they’re the ones calling around asking
for information even requesting a quote
now that got my attention I started to
ask them about this I would ask them all
and they all said exact
we the same thing I believe recycling is
really important and I think we should
definitely be recycling here so there
you have it they really cared so they
were compelled to take action and the
next thing you know they would just lead
the charge I mean it was fascinating
when you think about what these
individuals were able to accomplish
their willingness to sort of take this
cause and then they would push it
through this maze of indifference and
resistance and they would champion it
all the way up to the top they did not
ask for permission to lead they were not
elected nor appointed they felt
authorized to take action simply because
they cared and because they cared so
deeply they were able to powerfully lead
and their leadership inspired others
along the way I mean it certainly
inspired me so now I’m starting to think
is this really just about recycling I
mean is there something else going on
here so I started to take a closer look
and this is what I saw if the workplace
environment had no recycle program in
place these were often the same
individuals that would just take the
initiative step up to the plate and do
the recycling themselves and they would
take this action even when it wasn’t
required there was no financial reward
or incentive to do so and for the most
part their actions were not even
acknowledged but none of that mattered
they would take the action anyway even
though they could not tell you which
tree they had helped to save or where
this aluminum
can would end up five years from now
they took the action because they cared
and they believed that this action was
going to have a great impact on the
world and so they would faithfully take
this action day after day after day
now I understand almost everybody agrees
right that recycling is good for the
environment yes but not everybody does
it and certainly not everybody cares
deeply about it so what makes us care
deeply about anything at all why do we
donate our money to support our favorite
charities why do we volunteer why do we
do service why do we tutor and mentor
that struggling student and what does
any of that have to do with recycling I
just felt that there was some sort of a
connection I just couldn’t find that
missing link and then one day I found it
written on the pages of that ancient
Chinese philosophy the Dow ditching the
Dow dear Ching written in what the sixth
century BC the Dow dear Ching is still
one of the most translated works of
literature in the world and there it was
three little sentences and I was
perfectly clear the Dow is an empty
vessel it is used but never filled oh
the unfathomable ten thousand things the
Dow is an empty vessel okay so if it’s
empty that means there’s nothing there
and it is completely and totally reduced
it is you
but never filled but so if it’s never
filled they can certainly be reused oh
the unfathomable source of ten thousand
things yeah that’s a very good
definition for what it means to recycle
I could almost see those green chasing
arrows of the recycle emblem sort of
hovering above the page this is reduce
reuse recycle and this is us when you
strip away indifference when you cut
through our complacency when we get rid
of all of this garbage that is weighing
us down then we are reduced to our
highest calling and that is our care and
our care is just like the vessel of the
Dow it is there it is always available
to us when we lead when we take action
from that place that’s when we can
create things we never dreamed or
possible so that’s my theory I call it
the Dow of reduce reuse recycle
is this about recycling yes yes it is
but it’s also about leadership and
possibilities and people people who
really care people like Sally Sally
worked at the same insurance company for
over 20 years and every day she’s the
person that would go in and make sure
that the office ran efficiently and then
everybody else had what they needed to
do their jobs but every night Sally is
that person that would go around to all
the offices collect the cans and the
bottles put them in her car and take
them home to recycle them and my friend
Patrick Patrick is a retired lieutenant
colonel who spends all his time
volunteering at his church now Patrick
created one of the most strategic
faith-based recycle programs I had ever
seen and he enlisted like-minded
volunteers from the congregation and
they got together and created this sort
of zero waste policy because to them
recycling is stewardship and stewardship
of the earth is their ministry I met
bill and Helen at a college and Cheryl
at a little elementary school but these
educators felt that this is not a
subject that’s just left to the
classroom it is a core value but how can
our schools our institutions of higher
learning expect our children our future
leaders to learn these values when they
fail to recycle themselves so Sally and
Patrick and Bill and Helen and Cheryl
they didn’t just care about recycling
they felt personally responsible they
could no more turn their backs and walk
away from this issue then you or I could
turn our backs from a friend in need
when I met them when I began to
understand everything they had to go
through to make this happen then I
became an extension of their care and I
felt responsible to honor it so you see
it was their caring that kept me in that
recycled dumpster this is the dowel of
reduce reuse recycle this is what it
looks like to be your caring and take
action for good and recycling is that
the perfect analogy because it
demonstrate this type of caring that
inspires you to keep taking action over
and over again but recycling is only
half of this story here’s what I mean
let’s just fast forward and say that the
recycle movement wins
yay and we have this glorious planet
that we’re gonna pass on to our future
generations but what if at the same time
what we are handing to our future
generations is a world where caring is
at risk because we have squandered and
wasted opportunities to take action for
good
impossible did you ever think we’d be
living at a time when 46% of our
beautiful rivers and lakes would be too
polluted to swim or fish or that every
second an acre and a half of forest land
is eliminated chopped down and destroyed
if the way that we treat each other is
but a mirror reflection of the way we
treat the earth are we at risk of
becoming a care less Society but the
story doesn’t have to end here because
we all care about something so what’s
next how about this we use the recycled
dumpster as a powerful affirmation yes
the same recycled dumpster that you and
I see every day that recycled dumpster
reminds me that my caring creates the
world in which I want to live so how
about you what do you care about because
that’s your aluminum and like aluminum
the possibilities are endless I want to
thank you for recycling and I appreciate
you care
you
we all care about something but where
would you go to find the most deliberate
display of care would you go to a
state-of-the-art health care facility or
perhaps a beautiful well cared for
garden or maybe a museum for the
preservation and care of great works of
art we all care about something I don’t
think you’d have to look far I think
that we can find extraordinary examples
of care right in the back parking lot
yeah next to the garbage inside the
recycle dumpster yes yes the recycle
dumpster it’s much more much more than
the place just to go and throw out your
old cardboard paper or plastic and
aluminum you’ll see the recycled
dumpster is really a container filled
with wisdom ancient as the dow
unexpected leadership and acts of
extraordinary care because recycling is
an act of caring and i really care about
that in addition to my work at City Year
an education focused nonprofit fueled by
national service a couple of years ago I
decided I wanted to start a small
business and so I chose recycle
collecting and with any small business
especially when you’re first getting
started right you have to be really
hands-on and I was okay with that I
remember one day hmm
I was way out in the country in a
backwoods lot standing waist-deep in a
recycle dumpster
now I remember this particular time
because it had rained the night before
yeah and I’m standing in this recycled
dumpster it’s a steaming 100 degrees and
there’s surrounding me was all this was
a soggy wet cardboard and spiders frogs
and an assortment of other little
critters now I was horrified like what
if somebody sees me where’s my dignity
where is my pride the fact is that this
was you know there was nobody around for
miles but still I remember I looked up
into the pine trees and I lamented
dramatically Gail Gail Gail why why in
the world are you doing this and then I
heard my own voice answer the question I
am doing this because people really care
and that is the moment that everything
shifted you see what I discovered as a
recycle collector is that something kind
of mysterious happens in the workplace
environment if you have a person who is
really passionate about recycling the
folks that would contact us they weren’t
the senior leaders of the business okay
but they also surprisingly weren’t the
folks from facilities ground or
maintenance from what I could tell there
was no work-related reason that some of
these individuals should be contacting
us at all I mean I can assure you that
the phrase Go Green was not in their job
duty or responsibility but yet and still
they’re the ones calling around asking
for information even requesting a quote
now that got my attention I started to
ask them about this I would ask them all
and they all said exact
we the same thing I believe recycling is
really important and I think we should
definitely be recycling here so there
you have it they really cared so they
were compelled to take action and the
next thing you know they would just lead
the charge I mean it was fascinating
when you think about what these
individuals were able to accomplish
their willingness to sort of take this
cause and then they would push it
through this maze of indifference and
resistance and they would champion it
all the way up to the top they did not
ask for permission to lead they were not
elected nor appointed they felt
authorized to take action simply because
they cared and because they cared so
deeply they were able to powerfully lead
and their leadership inspired others
along the way I mean it certainly
inspired me so now I’m starting to think
is this really just about recycling I
mean is there something else going on
here so I started to take a closer look
and this is what I saw if the workplace
environment had no recycle program in
place these were often the same
individuals that would just take the
initiative step up to the plate and do
the recycling themselves and they would
take this action even when it wasn’t
required there was no financial reward
or incentive to do so and for the most
part their actions were not even
acknowledged but none of that mattered
they would take the action anyway even
though they could not tell you which
tree they had helped to save or where
this aluminum
can would end up five years from now
they took the action because they cared
and they believed that this action was
going to have a great impact on the
world and so they would faithfully take
this action day after day after day
now I understand almost everybody agrees
right that recycling is good for the
environment yes but not everybody does
it and certainly not everybody cares
deeply about it so what makes us care
deeply about anything at all why do we
donate our money to support our favorite
charities why do we volunteer why do we
do service why do we tutor and mentor
that struggling student and what does
any of that have to do with recycling I
just felt that there was some sort of a
connection I just couldn’t find that
missing link and then one day I found it
written on the pages of that ancient
Chinese philosophy the Dow ditching the
Dow dear Ching written in what the sixth
century BC the Dow dear Ching is still
one of the most translated works of
literature in the world and there it was
three little sentences and I was
perfectly clear the Dow is an empty
vessel it is used but never filled oh
the unfathomable ten thousand things the
Dow is an empty vessel okay so if it’s
empty that means there’s nothing there
and it is completely and totally reduced
it is you
but never filled but so if it’s never
filled they can certainly be reused oh
the unfathomable source of ten thousand
things yeah that’s a very good
definition for what it means to recycle
I could almost see those green chasing
arrows of the recycle emblem sort of
hovering above the page this is reduce
reuse recycle and this is us when you
strip away indifference when you cut
through our complacency when we get rid
of all of this garbage that is weighing
us down then we are reduced to our
highest calling and that is our care and
our care is just like the vessel of the
Dow it is there it is always available
to us when we lead when we take action
from that place that’s when we can
create things we never dreamed or
possible so that’s my theory I call it
the Dow of reduce reuse recycle
is this about recycling yes yes it is
but it’s also about leadership and
possibilities and people people who
really care people like Sally Sally
worked at the same insurance company for
over 20 years and every day she’s the
person that would go in and make sure
that the office ran efficiently and then
everybody else had what they needed to
do their jobs but every night Sally is
that person that would go around to all
the offices collect the cans and the
bottles put them in her car and take
them home to recycle them and my friend
Patrick Patrick is a retired lieutenant
colonel who spends all his time
volunteering at his church now Patrick
created one of the most strategic
faith-based recycle programs I had ever
seen and he enlisted like-minded
volunteers from the congregation and
they got together and created this sort
of zero waste policy because to them
recycling is stewardship and stewardship
of the earth is their ministry I met
bill and Helen at a college and Cheryl
at a little elementary school but these
educators felt that this is not a
subject that’s just left to the
classroom it is a core value but how can
our schools our institutions of higher
learning expect our children our future
leaders to learn these values when they
fail to recycle themselves so Sally and
Patrick and Bill and Helen and Cheryl
they didn’t just care about recycling
they felt personally responsible they
could no more turn their backs and walk
away from this issue then you or I could
turn our backs from a friend in need
when I met them when I began to
understand everything they had to go
through to make this happen then I
became an extension of their care and I
felt responsible to honor it so you see
it was their caring that kept me in that
recycled dumpster this is the dowel of
reduce reuse recycle this is what it
looks like to be your caring and take
action for good and recycling is that
the perfect analogy because it
demonstrate this type of caring that
inspires you to keep taking action over
and over again but recycling is only
half of this story here’s what I mean
let’s just fast forward and say that the
recycle movement wins
yay and we have this glorious planet
that we’re gonna pass on to our future
generations but what if at the same time
what we are handing to our future
generations is a world where caring is
at risk because we have squandered and
wasted opportunities to take action for
good
impossible did you ever think we’d be
living at a time when 46% of our
beautiful rivers and lakes would be too
polluted to swim or fish or that every
second an acre and a half of forest land
is eliminated chopped down and destroyed
if the way that we treat each other is
but a mirror reflection of the way we
treat the earth are we at risk of
becoming a care less Society but the
story doesn’t have to end here because
we all care about something so what’s
next how about this we use the recycled
dumpster as a powerful affirmation yes
the same recycled dumpster that you and
I see every day that recycled dumpster
reminds me that my caring creates the
world in which I want to live so how
about you what do you care about because
that’s your aluminum and like aluminum
the possibilities are endless I want to
thank you for recycling and I appreciate
you care
you
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