Sometimes I feel like I should stop recycling. All it does is make me feel better about my consumption without any real meaningful recycling actually happening (since a good chunk/ most of it ends up in the landfill anyway, as far as I’ve been told). I realize this mindset is kinda throwing out the baby out with the bathwater since recycling done right probably is helpful, but I can’t help but think I would be more mindful of the materials use, and use less if I operated under the mindset that literally every single thing I use and throw out ends up as trash forever. Even that doesn’t feel like enough ’cause that trash all ends up out of sight and out of mind. It becomes someone else’s problem to deal with, and that’s my privilege. I’ve recently been annoyed seeing more and more people throwing trash out their car window and just littering in general, which I still think is bad, but am I really that much better by throwing things in the trash, especially if I am buying and using things blissfully detached from the amount of trash and pollution I’ve created throughout my life.
Now please excuse me while I throw away this plastic coffee cup.
nANIMOv 