{"id":1918,"date":"2018-04-20T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-20T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www-prod.greenpeace.org\/usa\/campaign-updates\/1918\/confessions-of-a-non-recycler\/"},"modified":"2024-11-19T03:16:43","modified_gmt":"2024-11-19T03:16:43","slug":"confessions-of-a-non-recycler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/usa\/confessions-of-a-non-recycler\/","title":{"rendered":"Confessions of a Non-Recycler"},"content":{"rendered":"

I\u2019ve spent much of my life going after corporate polluters through grassroots organizing. But I have a confession \u2014 I thought recycling was a waste of time. Was I being hypocritical? <\/span><\/p>\n

Plastic Consumption in Mexico
A person carries a huge bag containing plastic bottles to illustrate the problem of plastic consumption.
\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I have a confession. There was a time when I really didn\u2019t care about recycling.<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t mean when I was young and didn\u2019t understand where trash went \u2014 when I was a kid in the mid-90\u2019s I cared a lot about recycling and the ozone hole. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m referring to my early 20\u2019s after I got a degree in environmental policy, when I got so wrapped up focusing on systemic change at all costs that I completely poo-poo\u2019d individual lifestyle choices. <\/span><\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t recycle because I thought it was a complete waste of time. I know. Pretty bad right?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Back then, it was an either\/or thought process for me \u00a0\u2014 either I spend every moment pushing companies and politicians to change by grassroots organizing like a maniac OR I waste my time on seemingly useless \u201cpersonal lifestyle changes\u201d by spending 20 minutes cleaning out the peanut butter jar so I could recycle it or spend a little bit more money on recycled content paper. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not gonna say I\u2019m proud of that time. <\/span><\/p>\n

To be fair \u2014 my mentors at another organization held that view, and I really wanted to be like them. I remember being given a line that sounded super convincing at the time: \u201cIf I have to drive an SUV to a rally for higher fuel efficiency standards, so be it.\u201d It was sort of an \u201call means justify the ends\u201d approach. <\/span><\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: we kinda seem like hypocrites when we do that. <\/b><\/p>\n

And I don\u2019t really care about the \u201chypocrisy mongers\u201d \u2014 people who really can\u2019t get past activists needing to use the tools of the system to change the system. <\/span><\/p>\n

As activist Cherri Foytlin put it, \u201cabolitionists wore cotton undershirts, that didn\u2019t make slavery right. You use what you have as a tool to build something better\u2026 I think they call it \u2018progress\u2019.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/foytlinfam\/posts\/10156356741464090<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As you well know, It\u2019s next to impossible to go 100% plastic free in today\u2019s society, which is really the crux of this problem \u2014 we must keep pushing the companies wrapping their products in endless amounts of plastic to do better. <\/span><\/p>\n

I still believe that working fervently for corporate and government change is a <\/span>must<\/span><\/i> if we\u2019re going to see the scale of change our planet needs (<\/span>add your name to demand an end to corporate plastic pollution<\/span><\/a>). But my activism is a bit more balanced now – a both\/and approach, rather than an either\/or. <\/span><\/p>\n

I can drive a Prius AND shop at the farmers market AND work to challenge corporations to stop plastic pollution. <\/span><\/p>\n

I can both desperately want a plastic-free future and sometimes have no choice but to use single-use plastic. <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A little girl between used plastic bottles on an open boat on Rainbow Warrior in Varna, Bulgaria. The ship was in Bulgaria to support the national Break Free from Plastics campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

So we all do the best we can and work for change with all we\u2019ve got. And that\u2019s what changes the world. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Join me in demanding an end to corporate plastic pollution<\/span><\/a>. And for more ways to take action, <\/span>check out our toolkit!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have a confession. There was a time when I really didn\u2019t care about recycling. 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