I got to tour a private island yesterday. The owners are really wonderful people and the island is absolutely beautiful. After seeing the rocks, the landscape, the ocean views and the beach, if I had to guess at what I would see next, I would have not guessed in a million years what I saw. On the back porch of the house was a green bag, filled with green bags. Now let’s think about this.
Island living 101: It’s a lot of work to bring stuff onto the island and it’s a lot of work to take stuff off the island.
Annie had to go grocery shopping when she took us back to the mainland. She not only remembered the green bags, she had to remember to get them from the back porch, walk them down the steep hill, onto the boat dock, then onto the boat. Once on the mainland, she had to remember to bring them off the boat, into the car, and then finally, into the store. Wow! Annie is setting a great example for all of us, not just with green bags, but being green in general.
Green island living: There are no trash pick ups or trash dumps on an island.
We went into the kitchen and the first thing I saw was the old-fashioned heating oven, but right after that masterpiece, I saw the recycling set up. “Paper, or anything that burns” and “trash, no recycling”, and on the counter “biodegradables, for seagulls”. On an island, you can’t just throw your recycling in a large bin out back and wait for your weekly pick up. 
Not only are these people intentional about the trash and recycling, but they have to carry it off the island to the mainland to get it to the recycling center. The thing is, they don’t have to do this, but they do.
I’m very intentional about my recycling, but when I have that little voice in the back of my head, complaining about the extra effort to do the right thing, I will think about my island experience. Thank you Bob and Annie for making the extra effort to be green.