What can we do to make it better?

There is a lot of blame to go around in the failure of recycling: lack of oversight of the industry, relying on a foreign country to dispose of our waste, our desire for more and more stuff and pure laziness. 

This dire situation is literally growing by the day as more and more recyclable waste ends up in landfills as communities like Old Trail in Crozet abandon recycling altogether. The United Nations now sees plastic pollution as second only to global warming in environmental concerns that threaten human existence. 

While the answers to stymieing global warming seems out of reach for most people, activists say there are many things we can do on an individual level to alleviate our addiction to plastic and slow the flow of them to landfills. 

The mantra goes “Reduce. Reuse. Repair. Recycle.” In that order. 

What does this look like in the life of the average person?

Activists say that just doing these few simple things to reduce our consumption of plastic could be enough to make a serious dent in the growing global pile of plastic waste. Purchasing has power, and if more consumers opt for glass (which is 100% recyclable and in the U.S. more than 80% is recycled), the industry will start to move accordingly. 

Plastic is an amazing invention for the general durability alone which makes them fantastic for reusing. People are pretty inventive. Look around the internet for five minutes and you will encounter hundreds of unique uses for plastic waste. Purchase plastic containers of food with the intention of using the container once you’ve eaten or used everything inside.

Because of the pliability of plastic and the ability to melt under heat, it’s pretty easy to repair. A soldering gun can make quick work of repairing a cracked laundry basket or trash can. It might not be pretty, but you won’t have to shuck out more money for another plastic item, and you won’t be contributing to the landfill. 

While reducing, reusing and repairing plastics will save you money, your health and the environment, recycling plastics is now even more important. Keep in mind the kind of plastic you are buying (check the resin codes — No. 7 plastic isn’t actually recyclable and can be made up of unregulated chemicals) and properly clean the containers out before putting them in your recycling bin.

Given that there is virtually no oversight and transparency with our recyclables, or garbage for that matter, citizens can put pressure on local and state governments to show how and where items are being recycled and how much of everything is ending up in the landfill. 

The federal government can incentivize companies to open plastic recycling centers in the U.S. More importantly, it could focus on what is deemed the circular economy. That means helping companies to consider at the beginning what will happen to their packaging and materials at the end. 

Globally, there is a movement by scientists to develop a single type of plastic for every use that is relatively safe but that is also easily recycled. Creating and endless loop and shrinking the overall manufacturing. 

The mountain of recyclables is growing every second of every day, and it’s clear from scientific studies that the results are ending up in the water we drink and the food we eat.

But around the county and the world, the effort to do something about that mountain continues.

How Boiseans will escape the cuts in plastics recycling — and recycle even more of them

Plastic bag sales fell by 90% at England’s large retailers in past 4 years

City launches initiative to prevent recycling contamination

Tokyo 2020 Olympic medals made from 80,000 tons of recycled mobile phones, electronics

For current best practices on recycling many items locally, check out our local recycling guide.

Locally, there is also an environmental nonprofit, GreenBlue, that prints recycling guides on many products nationwide.

Back to main article Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Recycle? >

*Featured image by Stacey Evans.

*Video by Charlotte Rene Woods.