REDUCE – It’s the start of the recycling process.

Just because it is recyclable, doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to buy…especially if you don’t need it. Does the concept of recyclability give some an excuse to over-consume? Even if something is recyclable, it still has to be designed, made, shipped, consumed, shipped to a facility, recycled, and transformed into something else - that’s a lot of energy and resources still being used for something that could be, in a roundabout way, encouraging some to buy more than they need in life and thinking that it’s OK because the item in question can be recycled.

The key to being truly eco-friendly is to only buy what you need to live; but we all know that everyone also buys some things that they want. And there really isn’t anything inherently wrong with that, as we are human and we want nice things in our lives.

But it’s when people buy way more than they need, using more than their fair share of resources, that it can have a negative effect on the rest of us. However, could this new focus on recycling everything actually be increasing our consumption of “stuff”, just because it is supposedly recyclable in the end? Everything from plates to electronics to houses to cars is being marketed as “green” and “recyclable”…so are we buying more of it because it feels OK to do so?

An amazing amount of effort and raw materials goes into everything in our society, so cutting down on consumption goes a lot further in cleaning up our world than recycling does. I am not saying that recycling is bad; in fact, I wish more of our “stuff” could be recycled. But I do worry that the mass-marketed green movement is encouraging some people to consume even more in the name of being eco-friendly. What do you think? What can you do about it?

Well, one thing to do would be to REDUCE your use of bottled water. I know, it’s healthy, and you can recycle the bottles. But what if you bought an aluminum thermal bottle and installed a water filtration system to your faucet. RE-USING the bottle. The cost of this will surely be less than the cost of process of recycling.

Another thing would be to visit local farmers markets for your fresh produce. Most cities have farmers markets on the same day every week. Some, like Sacramento, have a market almost all week long in different, set, locations. You can grab your RE-USABLE bag, walk the market, and pick up fruits and veggies that don’t need to be processed in a plant, boxed, and hauled across the country to the market. Skip the middleman and get your produce for less. $20 can get you more than a week’s worth of produce, and you can meet the people who grow it. Trust me when I say you will USE more, and dispose of less.

If you must have an item that is able to be recycled, please take into account that you need to actually RECYCLE. Provide a separate bin to keep the recyclable material away from your garbage bin. Make it a bright color, or at least distinctive. It will help you remember to do your part in the process.

Remember the mantra is REDUCE – RE-USE – and RECYCLE. Keep that order in mind and you can’t go wrong.