About the Book | Climate Change | Ethical Consumerism | Global Poverty | Recycling | War

RECYCLING

“If you are not sure that recycling and biodegradability are important, let me put it this way. The first plastic substance was invented in 1907 by Leo Hendrik Baekeland. Since that time, every single plastic thing we have used and thrown out is still with us somewhere – in the landfills, waterways, oceans and forests - except for that which we expressly, consciously recycled. One hundred years of plastic rubbish. It almost doesn’t bear thinking about. But we have to think about it for the sake of our children.”

(Excerpt from “How to Win a Nobel Prize – A Stay-at-Home Mum’s Guide”)

What we can do as Individuals

It is important to take the four steps towards a more sustainable lifestyle. First and foremost of course, we need to reduce, buy less of everything. Everything we buy should be verifiably ethically sourced, whether from a human rights or environmental point of view.
(See “Ethical Consumerism”)

But even if we are committed to reducing our purchases, it is critically important that we take the next step and prolong the life of everything we own. This is the only way to reduce the mountains of rubbish filling every crevice on the planet.

Repair, Re-use, Recycle

There is a wonderful website I just discovered, www.freecycle.com. It is set up to allow for groups to be established in the town that you live (or there may be one already) to give away stuff for free! It’s like eBay with a conscience. In other words, if there is something you don’t need anymore, you just have to post it online and arrange a delivery or pick-up with the person who asks for it. A brilliant idea and dedicated especially to re-using things to keep them out of landfills.

Another good website which has great practical recycling tips is www.greenchoices.org/recycling.html. Some of the information is UK specific but it has a lot of tips that are equally useful wherever you are!

I know I am labouring the point a bit but it is important to extend the life of our possessions. It is the only way to stop the consequences of the consumer revolution coming back to haunt out children.

Scaling Up

How to go about this? The best bet is to encourage others to join us in reducing, reusing, repairing and recycling. I few organise neighbourhood recycling drives, arrange and organise collection and distribution points for used goods, open the local chapter of Freecycle and lobby for greater incentives to recycle (such as payment for bottles and cans), this would be a great start.

The other aspect is to encourage use of recycled products, for instance by lobbying everyone from the editors of glossy magazines to high street banks to use recycled paper or send advertisements and mailers by email or not at all.

Possible letters are set out below.

Letter to Government on Recycling Initiatives       ( letter in Word format)