Do I or Don't I?

February is, historically, a very slow month in the office. Winter, in the Chicagoland area, is usually a cold affair with snow and the companies to which we provide service don't generally work in the winter. We have just enough work to cover office expenses but that's it.

Now is the time to go through all those files, consolidate and purge. That task has fallen on me because I'm not out in the field as much. Plus, I've been with the company for 13 years now. We save things for 10 years so we're purging things I remember doing. That's been a big help in knowing what to save for longer than 10 years.

I recycle all paper goods. I have two recycling bins loaded with folders and reports just waiting for Friday when my very full recycling can will be emptied and I can add this material to it. I remove all paper clips, but staples aren't a problem, the recycling company told me. Data rolls and photographs are even recycled. But here's the dilemma.

We used to take a lot of photos. We didn't go fully digital until 2010 and some clients still require prints on their projects. We make prints from our digital photos so it's been a couple years since we actually had to buy film. 

The problem is, I have all these negative strips. It's kind of hard to see, but there is a recycling symbol on the plastic film strip holders. I had pitched a day's worth of cleaning before realizing the holders could be recycled. Do I? Do I spend the time to pull all the negatives out of the plastic holders so the holders can be recycled? The recycling fiend that is part of me says, "Absolutely". I don't really have a whole lot to do so it's not like this would be in lieu of doing something I'm putting off. The part of me that just wants the job done says, "Pfft. No. Just toss them." 

Then I wonder if the negatives themselves can be recycled. If I knew that and knew where I could take them that was local, it would tip me in the direction of complete recycling. 

So, dear reader, I'm on the fence about this. What do you think?

Beverage:  Rooibos tea

Deb