I remember my late grandfather telling me a story about how people would come to his auction sales with their own metal cups. They had to if they wanted to drink something, as the plastic revolution had not yet begun.
For a while, our workplace tried to adopt that same old-school approach. For any event that entailed food, we were to bring our own plates and cups. A good thought, but one that ultimately ended up in the trash heap of eco-friendly ideas.
The world’s ambitious recycling plans seem to be heading in a similar direction.
While recycling has gained prominence – sometimes viewed as the elixir to our wasteful ways – it’s up against some major headwinds. It turns out that a good portion of our recyclables is not actually being recycled. China, our biggest "consumer" of recyclables, has finally said enough is enough and will no longer take our greasy pizza cardboard boxes, along with all the other junk we try to pass as recyclable.
Philippines President, Rodgrigo Duterte, a leader responsible for thousands of deaths in his country, made a very big deal over some made-in-Canada trash mistakenly sent to his country six years go. Never mind his righteous grand-standing, the escapade showed that we have a bad reputation of mixing waste (yes, even adult diapers) with our recyclables. Or, in this case, of simply mislabeling garbage shipments.
Our city introduced blue bin recycling only a few years ago. For $8 a month, we can fill a blue bin (same size as our garbage bin) every two weeks. There’s no policing and no hassle. Leave your bin in the alley for longer than a day and you never know what you might find in it (last time we found the leftovers of a wine-making kit). I believe it's a good program, but sometimes wonder where all the "recyclables" end up.
Fifteen years ago we were surprised to learn that our community glass recycling bins were actually heading to the landfill. Who knew that glass is actually one of the toughest materials to recycle, especially when it’s broken?
But overall, we’re doing pretty good at keeping our garbage out of the oceans and waterways – most of it is properly buried in landfills or incinerated. Most provinces also have recycling fees for tires, electronics, and beverage containers. These items are now recycled religiously. The power of a deposit has enormous potential.
In the future there could be legal requirements for companies to recycle a percentage of their production. This would put some onus on industry to do their part, too. It would certainly be a bolder step than banning one-time plastics, as the federal government has recently proposed. While well-intentioned, this will do little to protect our oceans (95% of ocean garbage comes from less developed countries) and could cause more waste.
Starbucks, for example, already got rid of its straws but at the same time introduced more plastic into its lids. More resources are actually used to produce cloth and paper bags than thousands of plastic bags. Most of our plastic bags end up in the landfill, but the cloth bags will end up there too... eventually (we've got a closet full of them!)
If we're not careful, our waste problem could become a resource-use problem, contributing to deforestation and higher emissions. We delude ourselves to think we're off the hook just because we no longer use plastic straws.
Protecting the environment often requires whole-sale changes in the way we operate as a society. The little things we do, like bringing our own cup to a party, look good and are good, but too often are just that – little.
If we're not careful, our waste problem could become a resource-use problem, contributing to deforestation and higher emissions. We delude ourselves to think we're off the hook just because we no longer use plastic straws.
Protecting the environment often requires whole-sale changes in the way we operate as a society. The little things we do, like bringing our own cup to a party, look good and are good, but too often are just that – little.
