Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The other day, a friend of mine noted that there wasn't a recycling bin in the common room for my department and expressed her surprise that I hadn't launched a crusade to get one.

I sighed and shrugged my shoulders. "You pick your battles," I said.

The truth is, I'm a little over recycling. I know, I know. I'm an environmentalist. How can I be over recycling?

Don't fear, I still recycle my cans and bottles and paper. But I no longer care so much to crusade about to make sure that its easy for everyone to recycle.

Why?

Because every single recycle bin on my campus is contaminated on a regular basis with trash. Because I see people throw their aluminum cans in the rubbish when the recycle bin is just NEXT to the rubbish bin. Because I know the people who go to my university are smart, well-educated people, and yet they cannot figure out how to properly recycle their recyclables.

But it's not just getting people to recycle that causes a problem. There's also the problem of what one does with the recyclables.

Because for most recyclables other than aluminum, there isn't much of a market for recycled goods. So a lot of your recyclables end up in storage, or in the landfill, or on a boat to China.

Recycling is good and we should do it, but make no mistake, recycling is not the answer.

First we need to reduce our need for disposable goods. Then we need to reuse disposable goods, and then, as a last resort, recycle.

Now you might wonder how to reduce your need for disposable goods. Never fear, in the next few weeks, I'll be posting a series to help you. If there are specific things you would like me to address, let me know!