Thursday, March 06, 2025

UPSHOT from recent Garbage Police Visit, Part II by (me!) sandra


 highly unlikely 'check locally' is going to get results.

i do want to (re-)report our new, updated recycling practices:  
the addition of a 'store drop off' container

[adding to, our containers for: 
aluminum; plastic; clear glass; green glass; brown glass; paper recycle & regular garbage
plus, our used printer cartridges which we return to staples...  AND! with great consistency, we bring our own [safeway has best ones] reusable plastic bags with us when we grocery shop].

anyway, we now read every label..  and my granola bar wrappers now go in
store drop off only;.. and with my empty yogurt containers, i now, remove plastic label and place in garbage, wash out cup, and place in plastic recycle, per instructions on the yogurt cup.

i am fascinated by all the recycle icons..  instructions..  languages..  do's and don'ts

                               

                            and i will always advocate for a color-coded system.  universal language.  no need for text translations.  when i look at the recycle bin in the picture here  -black landfill; blue recycle; green compost..    i think, "yes! you are half way there..."    -but who wants to stand in front of a recycle bin and play match-your-item, with pictures..  not me.     so, once all items have a color dot, AND those color dots match with the bins..      now, compliance will increase significantly.  remember, humans are creatures of habit and convenience.    amen & amen. 


p.s.  because i have other topics i want to write about. i'm skipping writing about the recent documentary i watched that included amazon's selling practices..   included a lady discussing how fraudulent, deceptive and misleading recycle icons are on packaging; -just a 'feel good' thing to help the manufacturers sell more products..  and a thing to help the consumer believe the manufacturer is doing good, and that they are too, by buying 'recyclable' products...    and, 

i was very moved by the comment toward the end..  a gentleman who said, if he 'could wave a magic wand' and have an impact, based on what he has learned..

all manufacturers would consider, factor in, the 'end life' of the products they make and sell in mass numbers across the globe..   cell phones among them



and the documentary shares how manufacturers purposely make products that don't last so that they can create a demand for more of the same product, sooner, by masses of people, because, of course.. that's how sales and profits work  -write.   you cant make money if you are not always selling...

always manufacturing; always selling...

and seen at scale; a global scale..   the result of all these products which become pollution...

also spoke about how manufacturers are intentionally making products which the consumer can no longer fix themselves,  -so that they could last longer..

the new designs prevent any fixing..   and require the purchase of a new [given item].

*****

very enlightening this documentary..   thought provoking..   i'll relook up name and get back..

my commentary here is that much of what we do is short sighted..       make a product; innovate..  market.. sell..  profit..  make more..    -all of this is celebrated, encouraged; financially reinforced, without much thought at all to the 'end life' of given products

financial rewards are immediate; long term negative impacts take longer to reveal themselves..
   [ clips of massive amounts of used cell phones (billions!)..  tsunamis of discarded cell phones littering our planet]

but once the negative consequences do reveal themselves:          responding to the gained knowledge and truth is paramount

[cigarettes and cancer are coming to mind here also... the tobacco industry]. 

documentary was dense with more information..    requires assessment, discernment, context, perspective..     but there is a big picture message which should not be ignored. 

 -i'm moving along to Pres Trump addressing congress..

amen & amen.


 

posted by SANDRA MICKANEN @ 12:21 PM

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