Recycle, Resuse

Repurpose. Yada, yada, yada…

Recently, I began to recycle textiles. I found a place uptown that is a hike on the subway to get to do this. This place will sort clothes to be recycled or sold. Otherwise, I must get to a Saturday farmer’s market in the morning. This is a hike on foot.

NYC now has a weekly sanitation collection for recycling plastic, glass and metal, and compost. I have heard so many yeahs and nays for this that I am unclear what to believe.

Pros:

·      Reduces landfill

·      Conserves energy

·      Conserves natural resources

·      Is good for the environment (Bryson Recycling)

Cons:

·      It takes energy to recycle (so how much energy is really saved?)

·      It can cause greenhouse gas emissions (is it good for the environment after all?)

·      It is costly.

·      Recycling is a person’s only contribution to being environmentally aware. (Smart Asset)

For some people, their local recycling program is all they do. Now I have heard of people who have minimal to no trash in a year. My one question: What do you eat? Yogurt comes in a container (that can’t be recycled in NYC). I guess they make their own or don’t eat it.

So this begs the question, How can we be environmentally aware and still eat a balanced diet? Here are some of my ideas:

1.    Make yogurt, bake bread, cookies, etc, and prepare sauces yourself.

2.   By extra-large containers of staples like olive oil, oats, rice, etc. (overall less recycling needed)

3.    Share items where you don’t need the whole item (my mom and I have agreed to share celery if we need it since neither of us will eat a whole bag).

4.   Learn to cook international foods, so you don’t order in Chinese, Pizza, Tacos, etc.

5.    Check your local recycling rules to see what containers you can and can’t recycle and try to avoid the no-no containers (or at least reuse them).

As we have started the new year and planned (hopefully) our resolutions, let’s add to our lists to be more environmentally aware and not rely solely on our local recycling program. Take a page out of my book and look into textile recycling. I am glad I did and feel great when clothes with rips, holes, or stains aren’t just added to a landfill.