A few days ago I decided to enjoy the weather and shoot some photos for my blog post about Autumn in Harrisonburg. It was a beautiful day and I was able to get some really great shots of the leaves beginning to change and some scenery right outside my apartment. As I was walking and enjoying my surroundings I came across a Martin's grocery bag tangled up in prickly stems, blowing in the wind. Not only did it distract me from what I was doing, the print on the bag caught my attention. "Please Recycle Me". To be honest I laughed at the irony of this scene. It was so great I decided to photograph it as a sort of public service announcement. My picture is below:
So I began to think... what is the importance of recycling? What is our role in recycling? How does it affect our local environment?
The Importance of Recycling:
Recycling just makes sense, why spend money, time and resources on something that we have already produced? In 2009 Americans produced 4.3 pounds of trash per person per day. (Source) According to this statistic the 2 parent - 2 child household would produce 6,278 pounds of trash per year. That is more than the weight of a fully grown adult giraffe. Or the collective weight of 32 adult American males. According to the 2012 consensus, the average American lives 78.64 years. So the average American will produce 123,425.48 pounds of trash in their lifetime. How many people live in the U.S.? 313,900,000. The current population of the U.S. will produce 38,743,258,172,000 pounds of trash in its lifetime. If you are as confused at how to read that number as I was, it is 38 trillion 743 billion 258 million and 172 thousand pounds of trash from the U.S. alone. To put that into perspective, that is more than double the number in dollars that is the U.S. National Debt. Unfortunately the U.S. makes up only 4.45% of the world's population. So imagine the amount of trash the current population of the world produces in its lifetime. The number is simply incomprehensible. That is the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling.
Our role in recycling:
Reducing:
Do you ever look at the packaging of products? Let's think about it for a moment. We are shopping in the grocery store and we are in the cookie isle. It just so happens to be the best time of the year and there are girl scout cookies on the shelves! My favorites are the Peanut Butter Patties and the Samoas so I toss a box of each in my cart. Next stop is the water isle so I grab a 24 case of water bottles. Then I head to the milk isle and pick up a gallon of 2% milk, what's better than milk and cookies? As I'm in the dairy isle I remember I need eggs so I grab a dozen and put them in my cart. Oh, I also need raisins for a snack so I grab a bag of those and some string cheese would be great as a snack too! I'm all finished shopping so I head to the cashier and I am convinced by the impulse buying shelves near the register and I buy a pack of gum. The cashier bags up my groceries and I leave with 3 plastic bags, oh wait 4 plastic bags because the milk is double bagged. And I head home in the car.
Now picture this: We bike to the Farmer's Market today and we remember our reusable bags! (Which we got for free at a promotional event on campus. Or from Target as they gave away 1.5 million reusable bags in 2013 to get guests excited about sustainable living. Or we purchased a few from our favorite grocery store for 99 cents each.) And as we shop the farmer's market we come to a realization that practically nothing is packaged. Fruits and vegetables are out on display free of packaging, the eggs are in cartons that are recycled from customers or we bring our own carton and the milk is in a glass container which we bring back each week to be refilled. The cheese we purchase is packaged but not nearly as much as the string cheese from the grocery store which is in a plastic bag and each piece of cheese is individually wrapped in plastic. We grab some raisins from the lady who sells nuts and dried fruits in bulk. We use a small plastic bag here but it is nothing compared to the packaging for raisins at the grocery store. In order to get to the raisins we must open the plastic bag and then open the dozen small cardboard boxes. And instead of purchasing water bottles we carry our own reusable water bottle which can be refilled as many times as we like!
Notice how I purposively used "I" in the first scenario and "We" in the second. That is because purchasing foods with excess packaging in the grocery store is thinking about convenience instead of impact. "I" holds the individual accountable while "We" indicates a group effort. In this situation,"We" is positive and "I" is negative. Reducing should be a positive experience and it should be experienced with others! Take friends to Farmer's Markets and enjoy the outdoors, tunes of local musicians and the conversations with local farmers!
Reusing:
Buy used! Almost everything we purchase can be purchased used, except for food of course. Clothing can be purchased at thrift stores and Goodwills. This also reduces the use of plastic to wrap new clothing, cardboard boxes which new clothing is shipped in and the transportation of these boxes of clothes which reduces carbon dioxide and pollution! And much of the clothes from thrift stores are donated locally and in good condition. If you shop at a locally owned thrift store you are also helping your town's small business owners!
Bring your own silverware and tupperware to work and school instead of disposable brown bags and plastics.
Be aware of items that can be reused such as glass packaging! Pickle jars, salsa containers and Mason jars can all be reused as drinking glasses. This is also becoming a popular trend because of the vintage/hipster lifestyle and it is a fun conversational item. Imagine having friends over and enjoying a beer or glass of wine in a recycled pickle jar or salsa container. You would spread recycling awareness to friends and family while having a good time!
Recycling:
Recycling goes beyond plastic bottles, plastic bags, newspapers and white paper, recycling is a mindset. If you change your mindset you will be able to recycle almost anything and help people along the way! Did you know: your christmas tree can be recycled and turned into mulch, your car can be recycled and you will receive a tax deduction and your computer can be donated to your local library to promote education for those who cannot afford a computer? Cell phones, tires, ink cartridges, magazines, paint, books, batteries and hangars can all be recycled in some way. Check out the full list here!
Lastly, Recycling's affect on our local environment:
"Decomposing garbage generates methane, which is about twenty times more effective than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the Earth’s atmosphere, according to the Environmental Protection Agency" (source). This methane is directly affecting our local environment and health because landfills are much closer to our homes than we think. My landfill is located at 2400 Grassy Creek Rd, Harrisonburg, VA, only 8.5 miles or 16 minutes from my house. The environmental impacts are right down the road.
On a more positive note recycling employs 10 times more people than traditional waste disposal firms do. So by recycling we are also stimulating our local economy by providing jobs to community members!
Jack Johnson couldn't have said it better! Check out his video!
Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
~Ryan
"The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway" Michael Pollan
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