Once it became clear that a large portion of our recycled waste was just being sold and off shored to poorer countries, I stopped giving a fuck about recycling and stopped doing it. What I did start doing was doing everything I could to eliminate plastic from my life, or reuse what I did have until it broke.
The old ad slogan was “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in that order because that’s the best order to try for. If you don’t need it, don’t get it. If you do need it, try to use it multiple times. If you can’t use it again, then try to recycle it. But the absolute best thing you can do is not get the thing initially.
Only a small percent ends up recycled and there’s some plastics that it’s cost prohibitive to recycle. Aluminum cans is another one I try not to introduce into my life as well. They have better margins for recycling but it’s easier than plastic to not include into your purchase.
Once it became clear that a large portion of our recycled waste was just being sold and off shored to poorer countries, I stopped giving a fuck about recycling and stopped doing it. What I did start doing was doing everything I could to eliminate plastic from my life, or reuse what I did have until it broke.
The old ad slogan was “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” in that order because that’s the best order to try for. If you don’t need it, don’t get it. If you do need it, try to use it multiple times. If you can’t use it again, then try to recycle it. But the absolute best thing you can do is not get the thing initially.
Only a small percent ends up recycled and there’s some plastics that it’s cost prohibitive to recycle. Aluminum cans is another one I try not to introduce into my life as well. They have better margins for recycling but it’s easier than plastic to not include into your purchase.