Tuesday
19May2009
Attack Of The Recyclsaurus!
Tue, May 19, 2009 at 20:16
Or, What Are You Thinking?
Reduce, reuse and recycle has been the mantra of green advocates for quite some time but facts are facts and it's time to face the fact that America's need to recycle represents a failing of our system. It's time we changed the 3 Rs to 4 Rs and added rethink to the green lexicon.
Last week I made mention of a plastic bag ban that is set to go into effect not in some liberal mecca like coastal California but in coastal counties in conservative leaning North Carolina. This is without a doubt the worst nightmare come true for the American Chemistry Council and the worldwide plastics industry they represent.
You see, no matter what your opinion of global warming, the death of ocean birds or the possibility that plastics toxins are entering the food supply through fish and seafood, the sight of piles of plastic trash floating up on the private beaches is simply too much to stomach for conservatives as well as liberals. And to think, Sharon Kneiss, Vice President of the American Chemistry council told me, "What’s known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a concern not only for the plastics industry but for all of us However, simply discussing its existence diverts attention from the primary issue - plastics don’t belong in the ocean; they belong in the recycling bin."
Actually, Ms Kneiss, the vast majority of plastics should have never been produced in the first place. It's time we started rethinking and asking ourselves if perhaps we shouldn't be focusing our efforts on creating less waste instead of how to deal with waste. Had Ms Kneiss and the American Chemistry Council been paying attention to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the first place then they would have never seen the need to promote plastics recycling in the hopes that you might buy some time for their dirty plastics industry.
You see, while the plastics industry likes to tout the "fact" that they make products to fill the needs of business and consumers their "greatest accomplishments" lie in their ability to create "needs" for more plastics to fill. And for the last hundred or so years we've been falling for their pitches.
This is the second article in my series, Recycling Issn't Green. Continue reading Recycling RecycleBill.
Reduce, reuse and recycle has been the mantra of green advocates for quite some time but facts are facts and it's time to face the fact that America's need to recycle represents a failing of our system. It's time we changed the 3 Rs to 4 Rs and added rethink to the green lexicon.
Last week I made mention of a plastic bag ban that is set to go into effect not in some liberal mecca like coastal California but in coastal counties in conservative leaning North Carolina. This is without a doubt the worst nightmare come true for the American Chemistry Council and the worldwide plastics industry they represent.
You see, no matter what your opinion of global warming, the death of ocean birds or the possibility that plastics toxins are entering the food supply through fish and seafood, the sight of piles of plastic trash floating up on the private beaches is simply too much to stomach for conservatives as well as liberals. And to think, Sharon Kneiss, Vice President of the American Chemistry council told me, "What’s known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a concern not only for the plastics industry but for all of us However, simply discussing its existence diverts attention from the primary issue - plastics don’t belong in the ocean; they belong in the recycling bin."
Actually, Ms Kneiss, the vast majority of plastics should have never been produced in the first place. It's time we started rethinking and asking ourselves if perhaps we shouldn't be focusing our efforts on creating less waste instead of how to deal with waste. Had Ms Kneiss and the American Chemistry Council been paying attention to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the first place then they would have never seen the need to promote plastics recycling in the hopes that you might buy some time for their dirty plastics industry.
You see, while the plastics industry likes to tout the "fact" that they make products to fill the needs of business and consumers their "greatest accomplishments" lie in their ability to create "needs" for more plastics to fill. And for the last hundred or so years we've been falling for their pitches.
This is the second article in my series, Recycling Issn't Green. Continue reading Recycling RecycleBill.
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