Choosing the bin which things go into and plopping them outside the house every week is just another annoying part of the week that we do because ‘it’s good’ and ‘we should do more for the planet’. It makes us feel that we’re doing the smallest bit of good and being a responsible social citizen. For most people that’s where it ends, it’s out of the house and someone else is making sure it gets turned back into Stella cans, or seagull friendly shampoo holders. But how much do we actually know about the shit we’re throwing out? All of it, actually we’re doing a fucking fantastic job, handjobs all round! Is clearly not the bloody answer otherwise we wouldn’t be writing about this, would we?
First random stock image about recycling (we have no money)
Here are a few surprising facts that will definitely make us all feel a little bit guilty about not doing enough… enjoy, you horrible people:
If something has a green triangle on it, it must be recyclable? Unfortunately not. It just means that the company that makes the profit is paying some money towards the recovery and recycling of the packaging in Europe. Unless it says it recyclable, in actual words, it isn’t.
The UK does pretty well at recycling. Ehhh, it depends on what pretty well means. In terms of many other countries on Earth, the UK does quite well, but only 42.5% of household waste is recycled here. We should be striving towards the circular model that some countries, such as Finland and Germany use. Where items such as bottles basically have a deposit on them which is got back when you take them to a bottle bank. Haven’t you ever wondered why some bottles have 20 cent stamps on them?
Everything that can be recycled is. Oh you poor poor deluded child, hell no! Things have to be sorted, checked that they are in a good enough condition to be recycled, sent to various processing plants where they can be graded. But what’s even worse is that we ship out of the country bloody tonnes and tonnes of our shit to be dealt with, usually in developing countries, with little knowledge of how or even whether this waste is being recycled. It really is a case of ignorance is bliss.
Second random stock image about secrets (we have no money)
This isn't meant to be all doom and gloom and isn’t everything really shit everywhere, what’s the use of trying. Well, stop that noise, of course, it shitting well is. Little things do make a difference multiplied over a large amount and taking responsibility for our waste should be something we think of for the greater good. Just as true, is that we should be kicking up the arse all the politicians and companies who preach social responsibility but somehow seem to spewing out waste and generally continuing to fuck up the planet whilst we worry about whether the top of our yoghurt needs to be washed before we chuck it in the recycling.
Have a gander at wired’s article on the state of UK recycling.
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