Sometime ago I grew aware of the need to separate the garbage at home. I read somewhere the huge amount of trash we produce and I noticed it became fashionable. I wanted my son to be proud of me and know that his dad did his share when it came to creating a better world. I had been improving this so called habit as I moved from house to house, I recently had a three container system, colour coded recyclable plastic bags and I got upset when I found a piece of paper in a container where it was not supposed to be. I even separated the plastic spouts that Mr. Tetrapak kindly puts in his carton milk pack. But in the last months I decided to put everything in one large bag (it is so easy, so comfortable, sooo cool to see the whole thing mixed in one bag...) and then happily take it to the trash can and dump the whole thing without any shame. I am a BAAAADDD citizen you would say.
But think about this. Everything in this world runs on money and the recycling business is a full blown money generating system, just like any other. What bothers me is that the system ignores me from the benefits point of view. It hits me with moral and ethic crap through the media, makes me work at home, tries to make me feel embarrassed if I drop the one large garbage bag in the general container, but forgets me when it comes to sharing the system’s benefit.
A few things that are hypocritical, from my point of view:
• Mr. TetraPak says he cares about the environment, but he continues to put aluminium foil inside carton based packaging, prints the nice pictures with God knows what type of inks, adds a plastic spout and on and on. Not to mention how and where packaging is made and the whole issue of social responsibility. I believe he could do more, and better, and with no bullshit about the fact that he did the best possible package for ME. It is all about HIS investment and the investment of his fellow machine buyers and brand owners, and they all make a LOT of money in this business.
• Mr. Danone says he cares about the environment, but he packs everything in nice complex packs, the more innovative = full of weird attributes, the better and more differentiating. He jumps in the wagon of the monodosis = more small packs for things that could be used in 1Lt. bottles, and on and on. He does not use innovation and R&D to make really useful and environmental packaging, assuming this as a REAL priority, does not pressure Mr. Tetrapak to do it and, makes a LOOOOTTT of money.
• Mr. Carrefour says he cares about the environment, but he sells everything in packs, the more packs the better. He competes with the brand owners and invest in his own brand, but does a me-too of the system which is flawed and does not use his own advantage to make habits change and to introduce real environmental friendly solutions. He even (kindly...) hands me plastic bags that he knows I will be putting my so called organic waste, so that the bag stops the whole process from happening as it should.
• Mr. City Council says he cares about the environment, but he allows these packs to be bought and used, he puts colour coded containers where he pleases, he does not give me any reason to believe he is respecting the work I put into separating the garbage, he does absolutely nothing to help me with my work, except telling me where I can and cannot put the trash and inform me when he feels like collecting it. It’s all about HIS workload, HIS limitations, HIS possibilities. But I believe they have found a way to earn money from all this.
I could go on and cite every link in this value chain, and list the things they could do better, things that would reflect a real preoccupation about the environment. And the sick thing about the whole issue and perhaps the reason why I am acting so “irresponsibly” is that THEY ALL MAKE MONEY OUT OF THIS SYSTEM. And they make money out of each other, but mainly from me, as a consumer. But ME, the guy that has to be socially and environmentally responsible and generate habits that go against my basic nature, furthermore obliges me to respect other people’s rules, get NOTHING out of the system. Except the fact that my son respects me and knows I have done my bit. Well forget it, I will wait for my son to be old enough to tell him about my decision. He has to be old enough, I wouldn’t want him to be as irresponsible as me, just to please me...
But think about this. Everything in this world runs on money and the recycling business is a full blown money generating system, just like any other. What bothers me is that the system ignores me from the benefits point of view. It hits me with moral and ethic crap through the media, makes me work at home, tries to make me feel embarrassed if I drop the one large garbage bag in the general container, but forgets me when it comes to sharing the system’s benefit.
A few things that are hypocritical, from my point of view:
• Mr. TetraPak says he cares about the environment, but he continues to put aluminium foil inside carton based packaging, prints the nice pictures with God knows what type of inks, adds a plastic spout and on and on. Not to mention how and where packaging is made and the whole issue of social responsibility. I believe he could do more, and better, and with no bullshit about the fact that he did the best possible package for ME. It is all about HIS investment and the investment of his fellow machine buyers and brand owners, and they all make a LOT of money in this business.
• Mr. Danone says he cares about the environment, but he packs everything in nice complex packs, the more innovative = full of weird attributes, the better and more differentiating. He jumps in the wagon of the monodosis = more small packs for things that could be used in 1Lt. bottles, and on and on. He does not use innovation and R&D to make really useful and environmental packaging, assuming this as a REAL priority, does not pressure Mr. Tetrapak to do it and, makes a LOOOOTTT of money.
• Mr. Carrefour says he cares about the environment, but he sells everything in packs, the more packs the better. He competes with the brand owners and invest in his own brand, but does a me-too of the system which is flawed and does not use his own advantage to make habits change and to introduce real environmental friendly solutions. He even (kindly...) hands me plastic bags that he knows I will be putting my so called organic waste, so that the bag stops the whole process from happening as it should.
• Mr. City Council says he cares about the environment, but he allows these packs to be bought and used, he puts colour coded containers where he pleases, he does not give me any reason to believe he is respecting the work I put into separating the garbage, he does absolutely nothing to help me with my work, except telling me where I can and cannot put the trash and inform me when he feels like collecting it. It’s all about HIS workload, HIS limitations, HIS possibilities. But I believe they have found a way to earn money from all this.
I could go on and cite every link in this value chain, and list the things they could do better, things that would reflect a real preoccupation about the environment. And the sick thing about the whole issue and perhaps the reason why I am acting so “irresponsibly” is that THEY ALL MAKE MONEY OUT OF THIS SYSTEM. And they make money out of each other, but mainly from me, as a consumer. But ME, the guy that has to be socially and environmentally responsible and generate habits that go against my basic nature, furthermore obliges me to respect other people’s rules, get NOTHING out of the system. Except the fact that my son respects me and knows I have done my bit. Well forget it, I will wait for my son to be old enough to tell him about my decision. He has to be old enough, I wouldn’t want him to be as irresponsible as me, just to please me...
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