Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle, which we call the “Waste Hierarchy,” has been around since the end of World War 2 when materials (not plastics at the time) were in shortages. In the United States, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) adopted this Waste Hierarchy about a decade later, around the time when plastics were becoming popular. Adverts for “The Disposable Life!” made people run rampant with plastics. In 1970, the EPA passed the Clean Air Act; the Clean Water Act in 1972; and in 1990 the Pollution Prevention Act. The last one in particular was created in an effort to focus on “industry, government, and public attention on reducing the amount of pollution through cost-effective changes in production, operation, and raw materials use.”
Good intentions are never enough, however. The EPA has really seemed to drop the ball when it comes to preventing or regulating plastic pollution. You remember in our last blog we discussed the Lobbyists and plastic manufacturers, whom want plastic to stay abundant in our lives. As much as the politicians are making decisions that benefit those with the money, the EPA does as well. Everyone in the entire world knows how cheap plastic is to make and use (we’re back down to $$money$$ again- what a surprise), and so why would anyone in their right mind push to use more expensive materials?
Because it’s more environmentally responsible? Meh! Who cares about that!?
Every single country that employs a Waste Hierarchy agrees that Reduce is at the top of priorities- with Reuse and Recycle following- and that sending trash to a landfill is a last resort. And yet… 50% of all plastics created end up buried in a landfill, while only 5% are recycled.
You might notice a 45% missing for where all plastics created every year end up. That last bit is unaccounted for, meaning it has ended up polluting our forests, rivers, oceans, and other places where it doesn’t belong. You remember the all that trash floating in the 5 Gyres, right?
Our point is… As noble as reducing, reusing, and recycling plastics may seem, they are not sustainable options for plastics.
Reducing is the only option that is remotely practical (a watered-down version of Refusing, really). The best-case scenario for plastics would be to discontinue using disposable plastics (bottles, straws, shopping bags, toothbrushes, cell phones, wrappers, lighters, take-out containers- basically anything you use once and throw away), and only allow for plastics that are used for more permanent or necessary purposes, such as sterile medical supplies or other life-saving devices.
Reusing sounds great, but it still doesn’t do anything to promote reduction in consumption, or solve the problem of where it ends up. Eventually, plastics are not reusable any longer and must be disposed of. Will it be in the 50%, to a landfill? Or maybe the lucky 5% recycled? Even sadder, the possibility of the unaccounted-for 45%…
Recycling, lastly, is unsustainable, as well as misleading. Every time plastics are recycled, they are actually downcycled, which means they are turned into a less-valuable product. Long story short, even if we recycled 100% of our plastics (a LOOOONG shot from our pathetic 5%), they would eventually end up unusable and in need of a disposal solution.
Recycling is expensive in so many ways- equipment, MORE fossil fuels, labor, shipping to and from- and all for a product that is less useful and still toxic.
Reducing, reusing, and recycling sound like excellent solutions to our plastic problem, but the truth is that they are not. It’s not enough any longer.
We have come to a point in our level of plastic consumption where the Waste Hierarchy no longer works.
The EPA has come up with some potential plans for encouraging recycling, such as the Pay-As-You-Throw (PAYT) program, where you are charged for the amount of trash collectors have to pick up. The more you recycle, the less trash you will be throwing away, the less you have to pay (I hate giving anybody my money, but we generally aren't motivated unless it hits our wallets).
Sounds great- again- but I guess what we’re saying is that (again, again, again) we’re beyond recycling! We need to STOP using plastics, and STOP fooling ourselves that we can just recycle.
Refusing the use of plastics- ridding our lives of this toxic waste- is the best thing for us and our planet.
We hope you will put REFUSING at the top of your Waste Hierarchy. Continue reducing, reusing, and recycling for those items that are impossible to replace, but first REFUSE plastics.
Thanks for reading, and thanks for REFUSING!
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