the hidden dangers of recycling

the above image is a representation of a can that jade and i open every morning for our cheap pot of coffee brewed french press--to fancy it up.

HOWEVER, the above image is also a representation of the container we use about once every other week to transport powdery detergent to the laundromat.

you sharp ones may see where i'm going with this post.

well, last night was a typical multi-tasking spree of making dinner, working on my laptop and washing a pick up bed's worth of nasty clothes that had been, for unknown reasons (actually, i know very well the reason, and it has something to do with my boss's habit of throwing anything in his hands in his pick up bed as he gets in the truck and leaving it there....for months), rotting under a nasty web of autumn leaves, rusted out boat engines, broken bikes found on the curb, rain and snow. I gathered this soppy mass into the laundry machine, ratcheted it up to HOT, fed in my 19 quarters (really, doesn't this seem excessive?!) and dumped probably four times the amount of detergent a normally dirty load of clothing should require, doubting even this would strip the smell that could only be described as foul from the load.

only the detergent wasn't white. it was brown. and suddenly the clean, fresh smell of the laundromat was replaced with the distinct smell of starbucks.

of course. i had grabbed the actual coffee grounds. not detergent. coffee does not clean clothes. or maybe it helped? don't they give you coffee beans to sniff between smelling perfumes to clear out the last aromas?

i looked sheepishly around to find four sets of polish eyes laughing at me. sometimes recycling can be dangerous...