Recycling Mistakes

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Guilty

We can say we are environmentally and socially aware, but are we really? We know the drill. Recycling. Less plastic, less water, less water, less pollution. But do we do it consciously? Humans are still destroying the planet for our own profits. How can we instill that consciousness?

This awareness, which could be labeled a paradigm shift, is exerting pressure on many of the day-to-day actions routinely undertaken by corporations, government agencies and nonprofits, along with behaviors seen in communities and households. Individual behavior is changing as well. People think about how long they run the faucet. They think about the bin they toss their garbage in. They think about the cleanliness of the air they breathe. The change in private organizations can be striking, as people assert the need to protect the environmental along with typical corporate goals such as profit, market share and return on equity.

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As mentioned above, the change in private organizations can be striking. When people can start making decisions based on the need to protect the environment, we would all be better for it. It has become a key cultural shift now, and there’s definitely a collective effort. But we can do better.

Are You Doing It Right?

But, are you doing your recycling right? Global Citizen has raised some great mistakes that people usually make:

1. It can’t be recycled if it’s covered in food
2. Plastic bottle tops should be removed
3. Coffee cups (a thin layer of tightly bonded polyethylene liner — which is what makes the cup waterproof — that means the cups can’t be recycled in the usual way)
4. Nappies (YES, PLEASE DON’T)
5. Putting recyclables in plastic bags (Any recycling that’s thrown out in a plastic bag will go straight to landfill, so it’s really just a waste of your time. – I’ll admit I didn’t know this one)
6. Batteries and electrical products
7. Food waste (Compost please people!!)
8. Old clothes

Have you made any of those mistakes above? I did. And I hope we’ll all walk away with better recycling knowledge today. MAKE THE EFFORT!! Feeling the effects personally or not, we must still play our part and contribute to the collective effort of protecting the environment.