Can We Lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Our Own Home? Recycling

Photo Courtesy of Faith Model

Part IV: Recycle Right

Stephanie Miller on her book Zero Waste Living the 80/20 Way: The Busy Person’s Guide to a Lighter Footprint.

Interview by Faith Model

FM: What do you mean by “recycle right”?

SM: “Recycle right” simply means knowing your jurisdiction’s recycling rules and following them carefully.

I was struck a few years ago by a data point I came across in Paul Hawken’s Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming. The authors show that if household recycling rates improved enough that the “laggards” (countries and cities whose recycling rates are 35 percent or lower) increased their recycling rates to the levels of the front-runners (with recycling rates of 65 percent or more), we could avoid greenhouse gas emissions per year equivalent to taking 600 million cars off the road. That’s hugely i

impactful!

Recycling is something many of us think about on a daily basis, so why not spend a few minutes getting it right? It’s as simple as doing an online search for “recycling rules near me” to learn about your local guidelines. This search should direct you to the website maintained by your local government body that administers the recycling program. It’s in their interest that you get it right, so they provide great materials on “do’s and don’ts” that you can print and place near your recycling point in your home.

About half of the U.S. population has access to a residential recycling program. My hope is that the other half will have improved access as a result of some of the pending legislation.  Meanwhile, for the rest of us, we can feel pretty good about the contribution we are making by recycling with intention, an individual act that makes a difference.

FM: Can you explain “wish cycling” and some of the other pitfalls people fall into with recycling?

SM: Ah, “wish cycling!” This is when we place something in the recycle bin that we really hope is acceptable but we are just not sure. We have all done this, right? I know I used to.

The problem with “wish cycling” is that, if we get it wrong, we are creating inefficiency in the system. (We indirectly pay for this inefficiency through our local taxes). What is worse is that wish cycling can create contamination for the rest of the otherwise-recyclable items in the bin or even cause worker safety issues.

The worst offender—and I admit I used to do this!—is when we toss our recyclables in a plastic bag before placing them in the bin. That plastic bag does not belong in the recycle bin. Why? If it is not caught early in the sorting process, it can get stuck in the metal rollers, gum up the machinery, shut down the entire facility for hours, and possibly cause worker injury when they try to remove the plastic bag.

In fact, this is the most common mistake well-intentioned individuals make. The thin plastic film is recyclable but not by residential programs. Instead, this and other flimsy, stretchy plastic packaging (think: newspaper bags, bread bags, dry cleaning plastic wrap) can be brought to participating stores which partner with private companies to turn plastic film into items such as flooring and decking. In my area, participating stores include Giant, Safeway and Whole Foods.

FM:  The iconic 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. We all know this slogan, but to be honest, I’ve only ever taken action on the recycle piece. Recycling is such a straightforward concept (in theory) whereas reducing and reusing seem sort of vague and easier to shrug off. But after reading your book I have a whole new perspective! Can you talk about the relevance of embracing “reduce” and “reuse”? 

SM: You are not alone. As you say, recycling is something most of us think about every week, if not every day. The concepts of reduce and reuse are not as clear.

What is important about the 3 R’s slogan is that there is an order to it. Recycling comes last because it takes energy to recycle, and resources and energy were already used to produce the item. “Reduce” comes first because it is the best of our options. The beauty of “reducing” is that, if we never buy the thing to begin with, then we have avoided using our consumer influence to signal demand for the item and we don’t have to worry whether it’s disposable when we’re done with it. No extraction of natural resources was needed for the item you never bought, no energy was needed to produce it, and we are not contributing to the waste crisis.

So how do we begin to reduce?

I am not advocating not buying anything ever again, but it has helped me a lot to use some tricks to stop myself from impulse buying. One trick is to stop all non-food purchases for a period of time: A “Buy Nothing Month” forces me to put things I think I want on a list. At the end of the month, I can ask myself whether I really need that thing.

Another shift that has made a big difference is gifting my friends and family experiences, rather than things.

For “reuse,” I also have some things I do that help:

A few close friends set up a WhatsApp group where we agree to let each other know when we need to borrow something or are looking to give something away…a kitchen gadget, an extra tomato plant, a sewing machine. Why buy something new when you only need to use it once or twice?

I’m also more careful than I used to be about finding a new home for items I no longer need, so they have a better chance of being reused instead of trashed.  Neighborhood list serves are great for this. I have had a lot of success with the Trash Nothing app, where I post a picture of an item that could be used by someone else. I often have items taken off my hands within 24 hours.

FM: What is the difference between biodegradable and compostable and why is it important to know the difference?  

SM: The term “biodegradable” refers to a product that can be decomposed without oxygen and degrades within a reasonable period of time. But this term is not used consistently and leads to a lot of confusion. The term “compostable” assumes oxygen is used in the decomposition process. All compostable items are biodegradable but not all biodegradable items are compostable.

Next up: Conclusion