In today’s fast-paced, ever-changing world there is one major problem that is mounting to unbelievable proportions. That problem is waste, as well as our collective disconnect with the results of our consumer behaviour.
We can see the effects of these problems all over the world, and it doesn’t seem to be getting any better. If we look to the oceans, we can see massive islands of garbage floating on the surface. If we look towards major metropolises like Mumbai, we see piles of trash resembling mountain ranges. These problems, it seems, have gotten way out of hand, and unless we all do something soon the damage will become irreversible, if it isn’t already.
The answer to these issues lies with us as a human race. We all have to decide that it is time to make more responsible choices when it comes to the way we consume and the way we dispose of the things we no longer wish to keep.
Responsibility is the Key
On the one hand, companies and consumers alike must maintain a certain responsibility when it comes to waste and recycling. According to the UK government, there are many factors that go into responsible behaviour.
For one thing, companies should be mindful of how much packaging material they are using. It is becoming more and more unpopular to use layer upon layer of packaging, although there is still a lot of work to be done in this area. Other areas that really need to be improved on are the use of reusable and biodegradable materials for packaging. Customers should demand this, as there is no good reason for a company to not move in this direction.
What Can Consumers Do?
One thing that consumers should do is to focus their energy on minimizing their impact on this global problem. Every recycling center has slightly different guidelines to follow when it comes to how and what can be recycled, and following these can help the recycling centres do their work efficiently.
Another thing that people can do with their unusable items other than throwing them out, is to repurpose them. Turning them into artistic objects or useful odds and ends that someone can use will save the landfills from having to absorb a lot of perfectly good material. Sites like barnebys are perfect for this type of highly-personalized recycling.
Conclusion
With some simple revisions to our lives put into practice, and by making concrete decisions to reduce the waste we create, we can reverse the problems that we have created for our planet.