Recycling: WHY BOTHER?

First off, we all do the best we can, as we try to address the dramatic dynamic of climate disruption. There are the big, global aspects that can seem beyond reach for many of us, and then there’s the low hanging fruit, as it were, which is in our backyard—literally.

How we dispose of our mundane waste material matters because of the sheer number of consumers that release an immense amount of trash every day—increasingly so! That waste ends up piled in stressed-out landfills (creating methane pollution) or swirling loose in pockets of our stressed-out planet, such as the huge swaths of garbage found in the oceans on both sides of North America. Uggh. (Begin your web search HERE to see for yourself.) We are undeniably overloading the earth’s waste capacity with our careless habits.

Attitude is everything, as they say, so even before making any changes in the flow of waste out of your home, realize that the number one “best practice” is to limit and decrease the single-use items and packaging that come into your home.

Groups like the Toward Zero Waste movement recommend a handy approach using “R” words, one version being:

• Refocus—Be more waste conscious. Pay attention to your waste habits.

• Refuse—Just say “No” to unnecessary items and packaging, esp. single-use items

• Reuse—Think creatively about repairing and repurposing things.

• Rot—Arrange your kitchen for composting, so that all unused waste food can be reinvested in the earth.

• Recycle—Understand that, as important as it is, recycling is still a last step to consider after the above measures.

If you're overwhelmed at times by the size of this serious dilemma, but at least want to feel like you’re more a part of the solution than the problem, it’s really not a big bother to adjust your disposal habits a bit and reduce your landfill contributions. Plastics are the worst. Avoid plastic packaging as much as possible, but at least keep it out of the landfill.

Regularly shopping with your own bags and buying in bulk with your own containers are two of the most impactful behaviors you can cultivate. The amount of packaging you will avoid makes a huge difference and sends an important signal to retailers and manufacturers. (See also the section nearby on Composting food waste.)

We bother to recycle (and compost) because if we don’t, guess what happens: we foul our nest to an ever-increasing degree, which is not the legacy we want to leave for future generations, is it? It is worth the bother to think globally AND act uber-locally. *****