The Three R’s and Climate Change

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. This collective movement to be responsible is not new to mankind. The fact is, in general, mankind did these things out of practical necessity and common sense for thousands of years.

An exhibit at the County Museum, in Ostersund, Sweden, always brings to my mind the ability of man to use wisely all that is given him. The Sami, or Laplanders, herd and live by their ability to utilize every part of a reindeer. The museum had a whole reindeer cutup, dried, and labeled with pictures of every part of its use. Each bone, tooth, sinew, piece of hide and organ had a use. Nothing, that I could see, was wasted.

When I was a kid, my mom darned my socks, patched the holes in my jeans, and never threw out good food. If food was past its real use by date it went to the compost heap.

Our boots were oiled, polished and resoled. Tools were repaired. Clothes outgrown went to friends or charity.

We are unique in history. We have, in only one generation, become members of a human condition that has never existed before. It is called the “Throw-Away” cult. We seem to have bought this way of life hook, line, and landfill. There simply is no precedent in history for the waste we generate. Plastic waste is particularly onerous as half of plastic is simply packaging that invariably ends up as waste. I can’t help but think that our ditches would be full if it were not for the dedicated Yoopers who patrol them to keep God’s Country pristine.

It is simply waste. Mindless gross waste. Along with the waste, vast amounts of greenhouse gasses are used to create our signature human creation, gigantic landfills.  We manufacture something to throw-away, then transport it to where we buy it, then transport it to where we bury it, and then bury it. This all takes energy that gives of carbon dioxide.  Often the waste itself generates the greenhouse gas, methane.

Recycling is simply common sense. Aluminum recycling is easy low hanging fruit. We could build our whole commercial fleet of aircraft with the cans we bury. An aluminum can recycled saves 95% of the energy it would take to mine and process the ore.

Paper recycling is also a no-brainer. Paper can be used 5 to 7 times before it cannot be made into paper again. This not only vastly decreases the energy use, but it also spares a tree that takes carbon dioxide out of the air.

Plastic is threatening to bury us. In 1967 Dustin Hoffman played a young man in the movie, The Graduate. He was trying to figure out what he was going to do with his life. In one serious scene he was advised by a well to do gentleman on his financial future. He advised Dustin that he needed to remember only one word to be successful, “plastics”. Everyone roared with laughter.

In the 50s we manufactured 8.3 million tons of plastic per year. By 2015, we were producing 445 million tons per year. This plastic generation has yielded 8.3 billion metric tons of waste that is migrating into the ocean, into animals, and into us.

On the positive side, scientists are continually finding ways to recycle and reuse the mess and many an entrepreneur is finding valuable ways to use it. Decks, furniture, and road pavers are a few ways they have found to make money with our plastic waste.

Some countries are making modest progress at plastic recycling. The EU and China are leading at 30% and 25% plastic recycling respectively. Many countries are simply banning plastic bags or putting a price on bags and plastic packaging to slow the plastic tidal wave.

In the USA we recycle 9% of our plastic waste.

Modifying our buy and toss behavior will not, by itself, save our kid’s climate future. It is, though, the key element we cannot lose sight of. Our mechanized recycling system depends on us to first participate, and secondly, to know what is and what is not recyclable. Like anything, once we learn and practice, it becomes a nearly effortless pleasant habit.

When you do make the transformation make sure to add the most important element, a smile.

Note: Never burn plastics or plastic-coated paper in your burn barrel. The smoke will have dioxins. Dioxins are carcinogens. Many sparsely populated areas are polluted by the practice of burning plastic rather than recycling.