Reduce & Reuse... or else!

Having let this corner of the internet languish until things got really real (apparently), I was compelled to post today, thanks to the Boston Globe reporting that we are all about to be smothered, once and for all, by our own garbage.

Massachusetts municipalities are being overwhelmed by a dramatic spike in the cost of recycling household waste after China refuses to take our tainted tons of detritus.

In true American NIMBY style, we have been shipping our recyclables to China, India, and Vietnam. Single-stream recycling has made us increasingly lazy about what we toss into those green bins, and China, for one, has put its foot down, requiring a much higher level of purity in what we send them. They are even refusing to take mixed paper and a range of plastics.

The results are a sudden and rapidly growing backlog in recyclable waste – plus the bowling balls, hoses, and food scraps that we throw in for good measure.

The town of Plymouth has cancelled its curbside recycling program.

Braintree is considering cutting its budgeted transportation project or – get this – educational spending!

Towns are paying up to $70 per ton to haul waste to landfills or incinerators. That's cheaper than a  Brattle Theater membership, but lot less inspiring. More to the point: the Charlestown recycling plant processes around 230,000 tons per year. That’s over $16,000,000 per annum to bury or burn the evidence of our shopping addiction. THIS IS INSANE.

I'm so sustainable, I recycle stock photo footage of landfills.

We worry about climate change, and it’s real, but it might not matter what happens in ten years if we all suffocate this summer under the mounds of laundry soap bottles and take-out containers that are about to eat our cities and towns.

Good news: the City of Boston is pursuing a zero-waste agenda, with the hope to be carbon-neutral by 2050.

More good news: while towns and recycling plants spar over costs and plan to cut 5thgrade History class (it could happen!) to pay for this mess, WE, THE PEOPLE have an amazing opportunity to make change in our daily lives and stop the insanity.

Let’s cut the trash in half. Or, more!

Let’s be real and recognize that it’s not about how to pay for it – the key is to avoid it. Reduce, reuse, and forget about recycling, because we can’t afford it and we’ve used up the privilege of shipping it to Asia. Enough.

I’m inspired to cut down on household waste and I think the key is LESS PACKAGING.

Up next: inspirations for buying and tossing less.

IDEAS, anyone??