recycling 8 July 2008
I’m getting despondent about recycling. I can’t seem to stop it as it is now a habit and I think that, of itself, is a good thing. A lot of the stuff that got chucked from the house recently went either to the recycling centre or charity shops. But I can’t help feeling that I am doing it wrongly and, though my conscience is vaguely assuaged by the action of delivering stuff to the ‘bring’ centre, I think I may be just shifting rubbish from place to place. For instance, When i am in London I see plastic packets that say they can be recycled where facilities exist for that. A leaflet that came to the door there warning not to put any old plastics into the main bins that take cardboard, glass bottles and plastic bottles – just put plastic bottles, not plastic packaging, it’s quite clear. In Dublin, we are encouraged to lump it all together in the local recycling centre but I know it’s not all recyclable. It’s confusing. I worry that I am contaminating those things that can be recycled by mixing them inappropriately with things that cannot. Recycling needs to be explained properly, even if it means it doesn’t look so impressive. I want to know the truth and only then can we take it further. And I don’t want to be making matters worse through ignorance.
