I admit that I am truly obsessed with getting as close to zero waste as possible all of the time. Our family is absolutely not a zero waste family but I am always striving for it.
I drive my family crazy at home and even crazier when we are out in public! 🙂 I am the crazy recycling lady…and I’m totally okay with it!
Now I want to see if I can get you to make a slight shift in your perspective when it comes to trash and recycling. Can you think about how you throw it away?
The Photo
A few weeks ago I was searching for photos for another blog post and I came across a photo of two bins just like the one above. Sitting alone at my computer I said to myself out loud, “OMG! That is the BEST picture!”.
I literally ran to show my family exclaiming, “You have got to see the coolest photo!” I pulled up the photo to show them and the reaction I got was…..an epic fail! 🙂 Definitely not as excited as I was but that didn’t dampen my enthusiasm.
My enthusiasm continued. A few days later I was meeting with a local organzation to discuss Greenily and brought up the photo! I shared that I thought all of the public trash bins in our town should be labeled the same way. Again….not the shared enthusiasm I had hoped for.
The Message
In any case, my excitement and determination to share this photo and it’s message is not deterred. Weeks later I’m sharing it with you too and here’s why…
I truly believe that so many of us (me included at one point in time) just don’t give a second thought to dropping an item of garbage into the trash bin. It is an automatic, absentminded action and is a habit that would take some effort to undo.
We don’t consider the fact that the item is headed straight to a landfill where it will likely sit for many, many, many years possibly contaminating the soil or groundwater. I’m not judging or placing blame just simply making an observation.
I’m not suggesting that trash cans be relabeled (although it would be SO great!) but I think if we can start to make a slight change in our perspective and think a tiny bit about the big picture, change might happen.
If we are more aware of what happens to all of the trash we drop in and where it ends up, we might think twice about trying to find an alternate place to dispose of it. (Check out my post, “Where Does My Trash Go?“)
So, before you throw it away, can you challenge yourself to see the Trash bin labeled as Landfill instead?
And if you do that, can you challenge yourself to find a way to dispose of whatever the item is in a more environmentally friendly way?
Can you hang onto it until you get home to recycle it?
I guarantee if you do it once you’ll be hooked and you’ll never look at a Trash bin the same.
