by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
Recycling on its own is not enough to tackle Britain's ever growing waste problem and recycling must be the very last resource in waste management.
People must change their habits and consume less in the first place, but even more important is the reduction of packaging waste and we must reuse and repair more.
We have become, in the UK and the USA especially, it seems, a complete and utter throwaway society where it is also cheaper, unfortunately, to buy new rather than to repair.
As an example we should see the fact that an Epson computer printer of the low range costs UK£29.99 but when the ink reservoir was full up six month into its use and the warranty did not cover that a quote of £72 for a new ink reservoir was given and another £70 for fitting the said ink reservoir. How come that the unit itself, with the ink reservoir, can be sold for £30 while a repair would cost £110 more than a new one? This just is the wrong way round. We must change this, again.
It has been estimated that, if household waste output continues to rise by 3% a year, the cost to the economy will be £3.2 billion and the amount of harmful methane1 emissions will double by 2020.
We must return to the old ways of glass bottles that have a deposit on them which is refunded when the bottle is returned, as well as take on board tried and tested methods from other countries, such as the reverse vending machines for aluminum soda and beer cans. In the USA many families – especially those forced to live on the street, but also others – make a living from collecting, including removing them from litter bins, such cans and feeding them into the reverse vending machines where they are paid a couple of cents each per can. We will not be getting far by punishing households for not recycling “properly” but will get a lot further if we give people incentives to recycle.
Guilt messages are ineffective, as are punishments, in this instance. A better way is to focus on the benefits of a greener lifestyle as encouragement to people to reduce their consumption. If people can see no benefit it it for them – the greater good may appeal to some but not all – then many will not do it. But do we have the political will to see this through as a country? Do we also have the will as individuals to make this work by firstly reducing our consumption and secondly by ensuring that everything can be recycled in one way or the other?
Rewards, on the other hand may just about work though, I hasten to add, if recent trends are anything to go by then we have reached a green fatigue and even rewards don't get people out of their bad habits. So what are we to do?
It has bee shown just at the end of January 2011 that bottle refilling in some supermarkets, even though it makes the products cheaper, has gone down a little like a lead balloon. People simply don't bring their own bottled to be refilled.
All I can say to that that (1) it is rather a shame and (2) maybe the product needs to be made twice as expensive when no bottle is brought.
© 2011
1Methane is a burnable gas and can be used for running electric power stations and even heat homes and cook food, so why do we let it escape into the atmosphere from the landfill sites and even flaring off the gas at sewerage works, instead of actually making use of it. Once again in the UK the political will is lacking to do something about it.
