Back in the 80s recycling was just beginning to ramp up. I remember as a kid seeing that typical arrow emblem indicating “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” on packaging and back in those days it was seen as fairly progressive to have such a label on something – or to purchase products with said label. This was around the time that countries began banning the use of Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in products like hairspray, gas canisters and spray paint, since science had been proven them to be causing degradation to our atmosphere – most specifically our ozone layer.
But what about recycling? While more people did pay attention to the recycling concept, a lot of people didn’t and so today we’re in a situation where more and waste is being produced with a lot of that waste being a result of people not bothering with recycling, even today, or with packaging that isn’t recyclable.
Why Recycle?
Recycling is a hugely important concept that we must follow in order to create a sustainable world that is free from waste. Today there are still millions upon millions of tons of plastic waste in our oceans that has come as a result of supermarket plastic such as crisp packets, plastic bags and more. While it’s difficult to find uses for some types of packaging once it’s been used up, reusing plastic bags to hold things like makeup, books to keep them dry and more innovative ways to reuse plastic grocery bags are fantastic options to help reduce the amount of plastic we throw away.
Packaging Itself
Much supermarket plastic wrapping directly affects our world purely by being single use foils and wraps. Many may be recyclable but with local recycling sometimes being a bit iffy the jury is out on whether much of it is truly recyclable and where it ends up if it isn’t welcomed in the blue bin or black boxes. Companies can help to create better options for packaging by choosing the type of plastic provided to wrap products from carrots to cola and by ensuring that their plastics are recyclable and able to be melted down and reused into something else. BPI Consumer Packaging is one such company who has taken recycling to the next level and has provided recyclable consumer packaging with a track record of over 30 years being landfill free, so with a track record like that, it’s incredibly easy to see how companies can achieve the same, they just need to try.
Options If You Can’t
If for whatever reason you can’t recycle, finding alternate uses for your plastics is a great way to reuse and reduce your plastic consumption. For example, using plastic wrapping bags from carrots for loose change is a great way to reuse that kind of wrapping instead of just throwing it away. Of course we all know that plastic kind of wears down or gets tears over time, but until that point why not reuse your packaging for different reasons if you can’t recycle or live out in the sticks where recycling trucks come very rarely.
So if you’re an avid environmentalist and you want to do your part to help reduce your footprint, hopefully this has helped you come up with some great ideas as to how you can start doing so! So get out there and see just how many other ways you can reduce your footprint on our planet.