The Dump

English: Recyclables at transfer station near Gainesville, FL. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The dump, recycling center, transfer station, whatever it is called in your area, is a must visit!  In our town of 30,000, we don’t have trash or recycling pick up, so most people go to the dump. There they recycle newspapers, magazines, junk mail, cardboard, plastic containers, cans, glass bottles and jars, computer monitors, television sets and for a small fee, old appliances, yard debris, bulky metal, etc.  It’s almost a local gathering spot – politicians politic there and neighbors and friends greet each other.  It’s old fashioned and fun.

While this seems a little outdated, it occurs to me every time I go to the dump that everyone needs to experience sorting and throwing recyclables in the appropriate container.  The amount of recyclables in our town alone is shocking!  Multiply that by the number of towns and cities in the US and the world.  Think of all the areas of the country that don’t recycle. According to the Clean Air Council, “Every year, Americans throw away enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times.”  “The average American office worker uses about 500 disposable cups every year.” “Every year, Americans use approximately 1 billion shopping bags, creating 300,000 tons of landfill waste.^”   With the garbage produced in America alone, you could form a line of filled-up garbage trucks and reach the moon or cover the state of Texas two and a half times.  And shockingly, America is not the number one producer of garbage in the world!

Recycling is only part of the answer. What we need is a paradigm shift to focus on reducing consumption at home and in the workplace.  There is a lot we can do: buy fewer disposable products, avoid purchasing products with too much packaging, service appliances to keep them working efficiently, fix things instead of throwing them away, buy local, don’t give into impulse buying, go with quality not quantity, purchase biodegradable products, check out thrift and vintage shops and always use less energy and water.  Reducing consumption is crucial to a sustainable future.

Take your kids, your friends, your students, your coworkers on a field trip to a transfer station and get a tangible look at the amount of trash we dispose of.  It’s eye-opening!

Information compiled from http://www.wisegeek.com, cleanaircouncil.org

 

UPCYCLING

Upcycling is a term not many of us are familiar with, but nonetheless an important concept that differs from recycling. According to Wikipedia, “upcycling is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or a higher environmental value.” Upcycling makes something of equal or better value without downgrading the original material or creating more pollution during the process.  Recycling requires additional processing, is less environmentally friendly, and is not necessarily of better value.  For example, the quality of recycled paper or plastic is lower than that of new paper or plastic.

Image from Terracycle.net

Artists upcycle when they make jewelry out of discarded tin cans or make garden sculptures out of wooden pallets.  The US-based company TerraCycle has diverted billions of units of waste and used them to create over 1500 products such as purses, lunch boxes, picture frames, and coolers made from used candy and gum wrappers, bottle caps, etc.  Their products are now sold at major retailers such as Whole Foods Markets and Walmart, and they have partnered with major brands like J&J, Kraft Foods, BIC, and Aveeno.   Committed consumers around the world send them used products and packages for repurposing that otherwise would end up in the landfill.  (Visit www.terracycle.net)

In developing countries, where new raw materials are often expensive, upcycling is commonly practiced. Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade retailer, sells beautiful upcycled items from artisans in developing countries, creating opportunities for them to earn money.

As a society, we need to reduce waste and consumption.  Some trash is inevitable, but the goal is to keep it out of the landfill.  Recycling is an obvious solution, but upcycling provides a new mindset and an even greener alternative to trash disposal.

Information compiled from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Upcycling, http://www.helium.com/items/1547988-how-does-upcycling-differ-from-recycling