RECYCLED CANDLES
Hello, my name is Dave and I recycle candles.
Hello, Dave.
I burn candles at dinner parties, like when I invite people over for Thanksgiving and other special events. I also burn them while I do yoga and during meditation. Since I don’t burn them continuously day and night, they last a while. But, by doing both yoga and meditation on a regular basis, I go through a fair amount of candles.
I didn’t start out recycling candles. I just tossed the ends away after they burned too short to light anymore. I was wasteful and I’m ashamed. I started to recover, one candle at a time.
I had an idea of reusing the ends and making new candles. Like most ideas, it was vague at first. It started as a seed of awareness which took root and sprouted. I only half-heartedly pursued it. I never told anyone and kept it hidden. It was my little secret.
Instead of pitching them in the trash, I stored the unused ends in a bag. When that bag became full, I dumped them into a larger bag. I stored it on an empty shelf in my meditation room. Then, I started a second bag, followed by a third.
When the shelf filled, I decided it was time to quit thinking about it and commit myself to action. It embarrassed me admitting I didn’t how to proceed, but I read about it and gave some thought of how to achieve success. Then I actually made the first step.
I purchased a roll of wick from the local craft store. Returning home I placed several candle ends into an electric rice maker until I could fit no more. I switched it on and slowly the solid ends melted into a pool.
The bits of partially burned wicks embedded in the candle ends fell to the bottom of the pan. Using a slotted spoon, I scooped them up and threw them out. Specks of burned wick too small for the slotted spoon to capture lined the bottom of the pan. As the ends melted down, I added more which also melted. I scooped out their unused wicks, too. I continued until the pan was full.
Lining up old half-pint canning jars left over from making salsa, I poured molten wax into each one using a ladle. The ladling motion churned the specks of burned candle wick. Some of it ended up in the jars. Instead of viewing it with disdain as unsightly flotsam, their presence displays the progress I’ve made on my road to recovery.
Cutting the roll of new wick into appropriate lengths, I knotted the ends and dropped one into each jar. I taped the upper end onto wooden skewers I’d snapped into pieces long enough to rest crossways atop the jars. The submerged wick curled a bit, but remained fairly centered. The candles will burn sufficiently well.
As they cooled, the center of each candle shrank, leaving a crater in the middle. Using a hand-held propane torch I keep in the garage, I melted the outer walls of the candles. The wax filled in the craters and made the candle tops level.
From what was previously discarded waste, I breathed life into it, infusing it with renewed purpose. I now have a set of candles to burn.
Hello, my name is Dave and I recycle candles.
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