"Waste & Recycling" Reflective Post

“The idea of waste is a human construct (Robertson, 2017, p. 275.).”

This quote alone kind of blew my mind because when you think about it, and I mean really think about it, there wasn’t such a thing as waste before people. Even droppings and feces were utilized as manure and positively contributed to the environment. If you think back to the early days of native villages, there was very little waste as tons of items were reused and made into new things. Even when they’d hunt and cook food, they’d utilize every part of an animal. The skin would be used for blankets, clothing, housing materials, etc. Bones were made into jewelry, hair accessories, etc. Waste just didn’t run strong.

However, with the production of machinery, factories, materialistic goods, etc. the world drastically began to decline. The focus wasn’t on the planet and keeping things good, it was on the money and social status. This brought about more waste such as plastic, liquid waste, medical waste, construction debris, etc. It wouldn’t have been the biggest deal if, with the invention of these materials, they’d also come up with a way to safely dispose of these things. We never got to that step and now, we’re suffering the aftermath of that.

It’s more than just a shame, it’s heartbreaking and scary. The health of the people and the planet are now up in the air, and we don’t exactly know if we can ever reverse what’s already been done.

Based on the one-week recycling/trash log that we were asked to create, I actually was thoroughly surprised at how I'm getting a lot better with recycling more materials. Granted, there were still a lot of things that were tossed in the trash and a lot that could have been recycled. I'm sure there were things that I forgot to include on the list too. And since I knew I was making this list, I think it almost contributed to me actively working harder when it came to recycling. I got excited to add new things to the list and it inspired me to search out and think logically when it came to tossing something freely into the trash. I had a lot of fun learning about myself and my family's habits when it came to these things-- I thought I was bad when it came to trash, you should see them! Gee whiz. But I think I'm rubbing off on them, though, because they're trying to do better.

Reference:

Robertson, M. (2017). Sustainability Principles and practice. Routledge.

Photo 1: http://manithefriendlybuffalo.blogspot.com/2010/10/uses-of-buffalo.html

Photo 2: (Hodge, 2022)