Recycle. Reduce. Reuse. These are all great and necessary tools for protecting the environment and the resources we need to survive. However, we need to realize we can’t recycle our way out of the mess we have already created. Even if we as consumers recycled everything possible, we would still only decrease greenhouse gases (responsible for warming of the planet, reduction in polar ice caps, and climate changes globally) by 6%. Six percent. That’s just a drop in the pond.
The driving force behind necessary change is to RETHINK our lifestyle, habits, needs.
RETHINK: Could you combine trips so you use less fuel and produce less air pollution and decrease wear and tear on our roads?
RETHINK: Do you NEED to shower every day? Could you conserve water with sponge baths, or 3 minute showers?
RETHINK: Do you NEED a new couch? Could you just recover the one you have?
And most importantly, we need to RETHINK the way we produce and ship materials. Many countries in the world already practice Extended Producer Responsibility, meaning that companies are financially responsible for reducing the impacts of their manufacturing processes. For more information about Producer Responsibility, visit the Product Stewardship Institute.
Be an advocate. When you see unnecessary packaging, too much virgin content in a product, annual variation of product design making successive parts incompatible, contact the manufacturer, and your legislators.