You may have heard that with the current downturn in the economy, there is a shrinking market for recyclables. Just when we were all getting the hang of which plastic numbers go where, we are now finding out that our virtuous efforts aren’t as effective as we had hoped. The problem is that much of our recyclable waste is shipped to China and with the economic downturn getting worse over there, the prices that the recycling industry is willing to pay for the more lucrative recyclables like mixed paper and aluminum, have dropped considerably. Many of the ware houses and recycling depots are simply stockpiling cardboard in the hope that the prices will rise over the next few months. So what should we be doing at home? Should we still be stuffing our amazon.com cardboard boxes into our recycling bins or should we be stockpiling them in our garages or bedroom closets? We still should recycle whatever we can, however, now is the time to make a massive and concerted effort to reduce the amount of packaging that comes into your home. If we take recycling out of the equation, we are left with only 2 of the 3 big R’s: Re-use, recycle and Reduce.
Re- use whatever you can. If you get a box or a package through the mail, always plan to re-use it. I have a drawer for old padded and manila envelopes and I stash all my old boxes in my garage, as I never know when I might need one.
Reduce the amount of packaging you buy. It’s an interesting experiment to go into a store and examine every which way in which you can go home with less packaging. That’s why I love bulk bins – they eliminate the outer cardboard box for cereals and grains. It’s also why I love my Soda Club Machine www.sodaclubusa.com because by making my own sparkling water at home, I eliminate a couple of large cardboard boxes (and the glass) monthly. How are you reducing your packaging?
In my business we try to never buy new packaging materials unless the size of the product is very unusual and we need a special size box. We reuse all the boxes, Styrofoam, air cushions, Kraft paper, foam peanuts, etc. We also request that some of our suppliers who do not use environmentally friendly packaging rethink what they use. We have other suppliers who are light years ahead of us in their practices. One in particular,Chuck from Nepalese Paper (www.nepalesepaper.com) reuses his envelopes. He turns them inside out or upside down to get a clean side for the address. When he reuses Styrofoam he stamps it with a cute verse assuring all his customers that he never would buy this to use as packaging, rather he is passing it along to keep it out of landfills. I keep working to be more like Chuck and hope our customers appreciate our efforts.
This was a really interesting post to read, I had no idea that the depressed economy would have such an effect, and as you stated, we have all just got used to recycling! I will try to reuse and reduce more…
Loved your book! Have a question. Our local bakery, the Upper Crust used none biodegradable plates. After reading your book, I approched the owner ‘Jim’ to request he use ‘green’ plates. Jim said he would have to raise his prices by 25 cents just for a cup of coffee. Can you help him found something less expensive?
We’ve been saving glass jars and taking those to the bulk bins so there’s no need to take the plastic bags. We have several totes in each car for our groceries, and now buy milk from our local co-op that comes in returnable, reusable glass jars.