As a kid, I thought that I was an environmentalist because I turned off the lights when leaving a room, used a reusable water bottle, and recycled. It turns out that these things are the absolute bare minimum and the difference they make could be seen as negligible in the grand scheme of things. Recycling is like a Band-Aid, it might reduce the chances of things getting worse, but it does not actually solve the problem. At least Band-Aids are a visual reminder that there is something wrong, while recycling acts as more of a camouflage, completely disguising the bigger issue.
If recycling is actually not so great, then why do people do it? As humans, we like to feel that we are doing good and recycling is advertised as the end all solution to the massive amount of waste that people generate. Think about the classic green triangle with arrows and the catchphrase “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” It is the only environment related thing that is taught in nearly every elementary school because it is seen as the only solution needed. Classrooms across the country are united by the small green bins that sit in the corner of the room. After years of seeing these bins, this pesky little symbol has infiltrated our brains and filled up the entire space reserved for caring about the earth. If I could weed this symbol out of each individual person’s brain I would. Maybe that would allow us to spend more time and energy making changes that will truly have an impact.
So, why isn’t recycling a great solution? The process of recycling a bottle requires staffing to collect and sort the bottles, energy to melt them down, and machines to reform them into something new. This does total up to be less resource intensive than creating a new bottle, but nevertheless, it still uses resources that could have been conserved by using a reusable bottle. The same goes for paper, glass, and practically anything else that we mindlessly throw into those green bins.
In addition to the fact that recycling isn’t as impactful as we would like to believe, we often do it wrong which makes the problem even worse. A disturbingly high percentage of the population engages in “wish cycling” which is the act of putting non-recyclable items in the recycling anyway with the hope they will be recycled. About 25% of recycling is contaminated, which results in more money being spent sorting, lower quality levels, broken sorting machines, and even unsafe working conditions.
You must be wondering, Katie, do you recycle? Of course I do! Even though it is an imperfect system which masks a problem, recycling beats the alternative which is sending everything directly to the landfill. When possible, I choose package free or compostable options rather than recyclable, but I will always choose recycling over trash. For package free options, check out refill shops or local farmer’s markets. Vendors tend to sell things like soap without any packaging whatsoever, so you don’t need to worry about recycling or composting any materials. Online shops also offer sustainable products, but shipping can unfortunately use quite a bit of packaging.
Although I am not optimistic that recycling will save us from the climate crisis, improvements to the process could potentially give a boost to the spirits of environmentalists and lead to further actions taken by those who are intrigued by the sustainability movement. Sometimes it just comes down to sustainability culture. People need to have the desire to save the planet or nothing meaningful will ever get done. No matter how many bottles we recycle it won’t matter if they are still produced at massive rates. This is your sign to invest in a reusable water bottle, stop wish cycling, and look into more impactful ways to help the environment. If we want to see any progress against the climate crisis, we need to work together to change the way things are done, starting with our own actions.
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