I once went to a supermarket and after a long time standing in line, my thoughts drifted away to memories of vacations and plans of all the things I would like to do next. I was pulled out of my daydreams by the harsh reality of seeing a woman, quadruple-bagging her purchases. She gave everyone a guilty smile and uttered the ultimate justification of all the sins: ” I recycle”. That made me think…
Remember that phrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”. Those verbs stand in this order for a reason.
The reason being — producing less trash on the planet. The concept of recycling has been around for thousands of years. The modern era of recycling started in the 70’s. The environmental movement of the 1960s and 70s, heralded by the first Earth Day in 1970, pushed the idea of recycling forward and made recycling once again become a mainstream idea.
And yet, the Pacific Garbage Patch has become the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and it gets greater and greater as we go. The whales are no longer committing the poetical suicides by throwing themselves on the shore — it’s enough for them to simply live in their usual habitat.
Plastic and microplastic are everywhere, including our bodies. Clearly, our efforts are not succeeding in the face of the mass production of the industrial age. And the culture of disposable goods adds up oil to this fire. So what’s wrong with our recycling system? Nothing really, the question is rather what's wrong with the political and economical system. Only 9% of all plastics we produce actually get recycled. Where do the rest 91% go? Yes, you got it right…
So since the dawn of plastic mass production in 1950 up to our times, we still co-exist with 61% of this plastic. And we better get used to it because we still have over 300 years to go ( remember how it takes 400 years for plastic to degrade). Recycling has a market for it and it’s a multi-billion dollar industry. All your plastic waste has a price tag on it. The waste has to be processed, baled, and put on the market. And if none is interested in buying it — it doesn’t get recycled. At the end of it, only 40% of the plastics from your garbage bin get recycled. The rest…well you know that already.
China is not interested in processing our trash anymore.
The recycling industry had another surprise waiting for us in 2018. In 2016 China imported and processed two/thirds of the world’s plastic waste. And this wasn’t our problem, it became however in January 2018 when China stopped accepting recyclables from other nations. Since then, all these plastics are going to a landfill and create even a higher strain on the environment. So, you're only a true hero when you reduce. It’s easy (apart from breaking the habit of course).
So, you're only a true hero when you reduce. It’s easy (apart from breaking the habit of course). This is what YOU can do:
- BYO water bottle
- BYO Tupperware for leftovers or eat “for here” in the restaurants
- Don’t use plastic straws. None ever looked sexy as an aspiring anteater
- Don’t just BYO grocery bag, BYO produce bags
- Buy in bulk and package-free
- Look out for package free personal hygiene products ( soaps, toothpaste etc.)
Prepare to be stared at, not understood, and later on copied by people who were not aware but now (thanks to you!) know how stuff works.
