Reframing our Consumption Habits

Reduce- Reuse- Recycle- the slogan popularized in the 1970s around the first Earth Day. 

Championed as the solution to the rising amount of waste in the 1970s.

I’m not going to tell you it’s not important to recycle….but I am going to tell you, it should be towards the bottom.

There’s a lot of talk about the importance of recycling and yes, it's important to recycle!

But recycling, well, it's also not the best solution. And yes, A LOT of money was spent to make you from thinking otherwise.


Recycle Smart MA has a great updated chart to help you think about the way in which you consume.

Recycling often makes people ‘feel good’ and get that hit of dopamine, just like donating or purging closets, that ‘spring feeling.’ But what if you fully understood that a great deal of that recycling didn’t get recycled or ended up in the ocean? What if you fully understood that all those clothes you never wore and donated just ended up in the landfill, or in a pile in the desert that is visible from outer space?

It’s hard, I get it. But that simple *deep breath* and pausing to think about our consumption makes a BIG difference. Yes, I become so annoyed when my appliances break and it’s cheaper to buy a new one than to fix it (*insert rant about planned obsolescence here*) or when a -not so old- iphone starts breaking down, but what can we do?

I like to use the Recycle Smart Framework for ways in which I can challenge the status quo.

What are some ways you can add your ideas to the Framework?

In store we have a place for you to add ideas, want to add ideas from afar? Let us know your thoughts!

Rethink:

  • How can I wrap a gift basket without the cellophane?

  • How can I reduce the amount of gas I use?

Refuse:

  • I don’t need any utensils with my take out

  • I don’t need that free swag that’s going to end up in the trash next week.

Reduce

  • Can I buy that locally and save the excess packaging?

  • Do I NEED that new Owala color?

  • Can I rent a dress for the occasion? Or borrow a friends?

Reuse

  • Oh this magazine would be perfect for collage, maybe the art teacher wants it

  • Wait, I don’t need a new plastic bottle of dish soap, I can just refill it!

  • All those vegetable peelings, I could freeze them and use them for broth.

Repair

  • I don’t need a whole new spray bottle, I can just get a new nozzle

  • I can take my shoes to a cobbler to fix the broken heel

Rot

  • I don’t need to throw my banana peel in the trash (if you’re new here, THINGS DO NOT COMPOST IN A LANDFILL EVEN IF THEY ARE COMPOSTABLE :) I can let it rot in the compost (and no that doesn’t mean throwing it in the street like Donkey Kong)

  • Oh that toilet paper roll is perfect for the browns in my compost

     

Recycle

  • Yes, recycling is still great! But remember it takes time and ENERGY and resources

  • Not all recycling is created equal…. Plastic is harder to recycle and ‘degrades’ in quality as you recycle it. Aluminum however, is infinitely recyclable (always opt for aluminum over plastic when you can!)

  • And last…Landfill or on the South Shore…often the incinerator.

Back to blog