Why do people ignore the reduce and reuse part? - Page 2

[BlessedOne]

Originally Posted by leila1213

I have to disagree with you there. Not using in the first place (ie reducing) is 70% more efficient than recycling. I can not see how bottles and bottles and bottles of WATER that has been trucked around the country can even compare to one little filter that you replace every few MONTHS. You know it takes energy to recycle, right? And, it's still plastic once it's been recycled. It's still made from petroleum. I'm just kind of befuddled by your statement.

what I am saying is that the plastic bottles are going to be produced anyway (whether we buy them or not), so a recycler might as well buy them and recycle them instead of a non-recycler buying them and throwing them in the trash.
Just because WE are not the ones using them does not mean that they are not going to be used at all. They will.....and to me it is better that they be recycled than thrown in the trash.

[EnviroBecca]

what I am saying is that the plastic bottles are going to be produced anyway (whether we buy them or not), so a recycler might as well buy them and recycle them instead of a non-recycler buying them and throwing them in the trash.

Uh, no. If the company is making 10 million bottled waters a month and can only sell 8 million, they'll cut back to making only 8 million a month. The environmental damage of 8 million bottles trashed + 2 million recycled is more than the damage of 8 million trashed + 0 recycled.

I see your point about the water filters. I just drink tap water myself. I even (gasp!!) drink from PUBLIC WATER FOUNTAINS!!! A lady in the park last weekend yelled at me and my kid for setting a bad example for her kid. Pittsburgh has some of the safest tap water in the world.

[laohaire]

I thought about this thread for a while, trying to put my finger on the dynamic mentioned here. I think that recycling is a very basic, one-step habit. It requires sorting trash, nothing more. Many (most?) cities have made recycling easy, just part of trash pickup. So it's a first step.

Reducing and reusing requires a lot more thought than your average person has been trained into - and therefore more effort and commitment.

We live in a disposable culture. We are encouraged to buy more. A big selling point for many products is "making your life easy" - paper (or plastic) plates so you don't have to do dishes, disposable diapers you don't have to wash or dry, I won't even bother giving a list to people who obviously know the drill.

Recycling fits into that disposable culture! I mean, it's not required, but it's not out of alignment with it. Companies don't care, you recycling their products don't lose them any money. Reducing and reusing goes against our capitalist, buy-buy-buy (sell-sell-sell) culture. And therefore it's not only not encouraged, but actually discouraged.

[SeekingJoy]

Originally Posted by 4clothkiddos

I sort of eased into the whole mentality too....sort of like the frog in the pot of water. Poor froggy! Years ago, I would have jumped out. Now I'm just stewing away.

I'm a froggy.

I always recycled, bought used, etc, but my desire for a natural birth brought me to MDC, and we all know where that can lead. As someone with friends and family who still don't even recycle and perceive the first two R's as "low class" (I HATE that term), ITA about trying not to judge baby steps on a shared journey.

[fanniefarkle]

I stumbled across this thread, and as one who mainly only recycles, thanks for getting me to think about my consumption. For years now I have used only cloth in place of paper towels, napkins, pads, and (mostly) toilet paper. I need to read more posts to see where else I can reduce and reuse!

[tygrss]

Originally Posted by laohaire

I thought about this thread for a while, trying to put my finger on the dynamic mentioned here. I think that recycling is a very basic, one-step habit. It requires sorting trash, nothing more. Many (most?) cities have made recycling easy, just part of trash pickup. So it's a first step.

Reducing and reusing requires a lot more thought than your average person has been trained into - and therefore more effort and commitment.

We live in a disposable culture. We are encouraged to buy more. A big selling point for many products is "making your life easy" - paper (or plastic) plates so you don't have to do dishes, disposable diapers you don't have to wash or dry, I won't even bother giving a list to people who obviously know the drill.

Recycling fits into that disposable culture! I mean, it's not required, but it's not out of alignment with it. Companies don't care, you recycling their products don't lose them any money. Reducing and reusing goes against our capitalist, buy-buy-buy (sell-sell-sell) culture. And therefore it's not only not encouraged, but actually discouraged.

Ooooh! Very good post! I think that you're on to something here!

[Ruthla]

Have you seen the latest Brita commercials? They're promoting their filters as an ecological alternative to plastic water bottles. One of them shows a person driving, and the camera is focused on the water bottle in the cup holder. Then it says "45 minutes in traffic, 1 million years in a landfill" or something to that effect. There are more in the series.

Recycling is the thing that gets the most money- so companies promote it more. Paper can advertize that it's made from recycled materials, but who's going to advertize for reducing consumption and not buying anything at all?

Reusing can make money, by the people selling the reusable items. Brita filters are the first example I've seen of this, but I could see more companies following suit. Of course, nobody makes money off of reusing food containers or things you already have in the house, but plenty of items designed to be reused as alternatives to disposable products could be advertized as such.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by laohaire

I thought about this thread for a while, trying to put my finger on the dynamic mentioned here. I think that recycling is a very basic, one-step habit. It requires sorting trash, nothing more. Many (most?) cities have made recycling easy, just part of trash pickup. So it's a first step.

Reducing and reusing requires a lot more thought than your average person has been trained into - and therefore more effort and commitment.

We live in a disposable culture. We are encouraged to buy more. A big selling point for many products is "making your life easy" - paper (or plastic) plates so you don't have to do dishes, disposable diapers you don't have to wash or dry, I won't even bother giving a list to people who obviously know the drill.

Recycling fits into that disposable culture! I mean, it's not required, but it's not out of alignment with it. Companies don't care, you recycling their products don't lose them any money. Reducing and reusing goes against our capitalist, buy-buy-buy (sell-sell-sell) culture. And therefore it's not only not encouraged, but actually discouraged.

I agree with you!

In my first post upthread, I was basically just venting along with the OP. What I posted was true: I have been talking about the 3R's for about 15 years and have noticed most people barely know anything about either of the first two and may or may not participate in the third, but are definitely aware of it (recycling).

If I were to participate in a deeper discussion on this topic, I totally agree with Loahaire. I'd go so far as to say many of the people I've talked to about these concepts (reducing and reusing) are COMPLETELY OPPOSED to them. It seems to go against the grain of what they are doing with their lives, which they define as giving their children more than they had growing up. The more, more, more and buy, buy, buy (consumers) and sell, sell, sell (companies) concepts are VERY entrenched in the average American lifestyle, IME.

Folks here are an awesome breath of fresh air, as far as I am concerned, when it comes to these topics. Even those who speak about only recycling right now seem to be open to learning new ways, which is a lot more than can be said about other people I know (at least online and certain family members). IRL, I have a group of friends who are more like-minded than not and I am finding more folks like this in my ever-growing new circle of friends through my DD's school. Between this site and another site (hybrid vehicles discussion) and my in-person friends, I have great hope for eventually making a positive change in our society!