plastic waste / reduce, reuse, recycle, restore
I've always hated waste, partly because I was very poor when I was young and partly because I want everything to have a purpose and be valued. But I didn't think about it beyond a vague dissatisfaction until I saw an article with pictures of this:
Click to viewand it made me cry and it turned my stomach and it showed me that not only are we filling up the earth with shit in landfills, but we're also filling up our oceans. We're killing creatures with our laziness and selfishness. We're poisoning ourselves.
Since then I am constantly aware of plastic waste. WHY, WHY, WHY are so many objects intended for temporary use made with permanent materials? regular plastic takes HUNDREDS of YEARS to become useful again -- in the meantime, it is murdering our world. I do what I can to reduce, reuse, recycle, but it feels so pathetic in the face of so much complete indifference. There's a lot of apathy in the face of suffering but this gets to me so much because it is so TANGIBLE.
The local recycling business doesn't do glass (wtf??), so I save up our recyclables and take them to a place that recycles glass too. I feel so strongly about this that it makes me cringe to go to out and see people throw away a #1 or #2 plastic or glass, though I haven't quite worked up the guts to ask them for it so that I can take it home, wash it out, and save it for recycling. (and the germophobe in me finds that a little gross) However, I have been thinking about asking my neighbors if they'd like me to take their recyclables... I don't want to do it alone, is the only thing -- I'd be happy to collect and drive them to the place if I had someone to do it with. I don't like interacting with strangers alone in a private place.
When shopping, I use bags that are made from recycled plastic bottles (which makes me want to cry in mingled joy and despair! we could USE these things instead of ruining the world with them!). If I forget the bags, I get only what I can carry. I ask for paper cups rather than plastic or styrofoam, but I still feel dreadful about that -- I NEED a good reusable coffeemug! I got one and then discovered that it will not hold 20 ounces. ... Okay, just went searching and bought a 20 oz ceramic mug even though it is pricey because I NEED to be more responsible.
I really want to find some way to do more. Maybe get over my fears and become a free recycling person for my neighbors, ack!