The other night at Easter dinner, my Aunt was taking her recyclables and washing them to put into her green bin, that then would be taken out to her blue bin for pick up. After she placed it in the bin she said to me "I would have never thought I would have to some day have to wash my garbage before I throw it out". I laughed and said, well what are we really saving. We had to make the big plastic bins in a factory and we had to make the green plastic ones too, not to mention the fuel on the vehicles who pick up the blue bin at the end of it all." She laughed and said, well that is another evenings worth of discussion right there. Ever since I have thought it over. What are we saving exactly?
So if the purpose of this, "wash your garbage and recycle" thing is to save the environment then why is it really not doing much at all, in-fact I would wager we are making things worse not better.
Take for instance how it all started. So we had to get the word out about the new blue bin idea. It is probably different in other parts of the world but here on garbage day there is a separate truck that comes and picks up our "recycle blue bin". When this process began we had numerous pamphlets and notices about what was going to happen. Then a huge one explaining exactly what could and could not go in the bin and how you had to wash out your tin cans, milk containers etc. No food in the bin - basically. Then they delivered this massive blue bins to each house, with an attached plastic bag inside the "directions" and a black marker to write your address on your new bin.
So now every Friday when the garbage is picked up, a separate truck comes to get the blue bin. The blue bin has to sit by the curb facing a certain direction because the truck picks it up with it's fancy arms and dumps it in the back.
So, we had to make how many blue bins? Millions I'd wager. We had to build how many new trucks to do this... thousands I'd imagine. We had to use up how much paper, plastic and make the bins, pamphlets, notices? I'd hate to think. How long I wonder will it take this massive bins to decompose? Now we take all this "recyclable" material to a new refinery - sort it and then guess what - MORE emissions as we break it down to "re-use". I am just not getting how this is helping our environment at all. What are we trying to save exactly? Its not the ozone because with all these new emissions how could it be? It's not the landfill because we just produced how many more things to do into it, including truck parts. It's not our water because now we have to waste how much water to wash our garbage out that we didn't use before? What is wrong with this picture?
I understand the need to save the planet but I really think we are getting it all wrong. This isn't the way to do it and there needs to be a re-evaluation of it all. I Even went on to think about other things. Like how people (we tried this ourselves) when they have babies go to cloth diapers. Well then most people get a service to clean them. Guess what that means. Another truck, more detergent and chemicals. Even if you do it yourself you are using more detergent and chemicals to clean them. Not much of a "save the planet" idea at all.
These "smart cars" which are supposed to run on battery. Well the obvious problem here is they need a special factory to be built in and it emits all kinds of nasty things. The facts are in the entire time you will own that car you will not EVER make up for the emissions you caused in it's production! So that's not a help either.
I think people trick themselves into thinking they are doing a greater good for the planet so they can go to bed at night and think its a good dead done. Problem is though, we are causing more damage than what was happening before we tried to help! Mother Nature is shouting "with friends like this I don't need enemies"!
So what do we do? I wish I knew! I do think that we need to re-think our process and our ideas. It just isn't making sense to me at all. Until then, I guess I will continue to wash my garbage and use the blue bin - just so my neighbors don't think I am "anti-environment".
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