I am fortunate to live in Calfornia, we have a decent recycling program here in Silicon Valley. We have two cans for garbage collection--one for the garbage and one for recycling.
For most of us, we have thrown away (in the garbage) all kinds of things that could have been recycled. Soup cans, mayo jars, cardboard, paper, all kinds of glass, aluminum foil, plastic of so many kinds. Where do these go you ask? Landfill...ugg, landfill. That means that things I put in the garbage 30 years ago are still there. I cannot change the past, but I can make the choice to improve the future.
I am at the point that when I am out, say having a burrito from my favorite mexican food place, I take the foil they wrap it in home and put it in the recycle bin. When I eat in the resturant they serve it on reuseable plates...which is fabulous, but they give you a plastic cup and plastic utensils. Yikes! I usually ask the person I am ordering with, why they do it that way. The response most of the time is "I don't know, it's just what they tell me to do." I then speak with great respect to them and tell them about the garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean, which contains largely plastic utensils and plastic bottle caps. They look at me with big eyes and say, "Whoa, that's awful." I then ask them to please tell management--if they are not available at the time--that I, a repeat customer, would like them to make a different choice, a choice for their future as well as mine for a better planet.
I admit, it feels very overwhelming at times, but then I remember that every choice I make, every piece of plastic, or a cat food can that I personally put into recycling, reduces what is going into landfill and reuses that material in a recycled product.
If you and I then choose products made of recycled materials, we are making a difference.
