Friday, March 20, 2009

Sustainablity

What does that word mean to you?
To me it simply means to live and provide the same quality of life to future generations.
How does sustainability relate to recycling?
If you still are throwing away items that are recyclable then to be blunt, that is not sustainable.
There are a lot of other issues that relate to sustainability such as energy, food, and population growth. I know recycling will play a vital role in the sustainability of our current existence on this planet. We have such a huge need in the US and across the glove to standardize recycling as only a small percentage of what we buy is currently being recycled. Our recycling sustainability is directly linked to market conditions for buyers and sellers of recyclables. This is currently in disarray due to the lack of consumer confidence and therefor lack of production in the manufacturing sector.
So what should you do? Stockpile recyclables that are currently not on your towns list of accepted recyclables? No, but let your elected officials know that the way we currently do business; buy, use, recycle a very low percentage of what we buy, and then throw what is left is not sustainable.

I know there are growing outlets to send specific consumer waste items like wrappers and the like to companies that will re-purpose them, but that is few and far between. Realistically the average consumer can only recycle what their municipality will collect. When I first started Go RISE Up (www.goriseup.com) I assumed that education was the key to recycling but being in the game for over a year now I know that legislation and enforcement coupled with education are the 3 keys to recycling.