Breaking the Myth of Recycling
Written by Jay Bassett, Green Team Leader at St. John Neumann Catholic Church and a retired senior advisor for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Recycling, for many, is a tangible way to personally act on climate change, positively affect the environment, and reduce one’s impact. Recycling has been promoted through decades of public environmental campaigns, advertisements, and even school education aimed at increasing sustainability.
While recycling and recycling rights are important for individuals and communities in meeting “waste reduction” goals, it is not the solution or pathway for “responsible consumption.”
It is a great myth that recycling may be seen as a one-stop solution to “responsible consumption.”
It is a myth, developed by consumer-product companies and fossil-fuel-driven supply chains, who claim that “we can recycle our way” to addressing the climate crisis and reducing carbon impact. Public messaging remains rooted in the notion that responsible consumption simply involves packaging products in recyclable material.
Per the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 42% of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are associated with the production of goods and services. Recycling cannot be the only answer. Instead, we must shift our focus to a much broader material management conversation about the impacts of the packaging and products we produce.
I suggest, as a start, we look through the lens of “Zero-waste.” Zero-waste centers its focus on being deliberate and thoughtful about what products individuals consume and minimizing overall material impacts. The results in significant carbon reduction that builds a culture of sustainability within communities and presents meaningful social justice opportunities.
The EPA and Zero Waste International Alliance’s waste hierarchy (seen above) focuses on purchasing responsibly and reducing what we consume. We need to promote and advocate for approaches, programs, and policies that provide community-based infrastructure for products, packaging, and materials to be repaired, reused, and refilled. Recycling and recycling rights are important components but actually rank fairly low in the zero-waste hierarchy. Material recovery (waste to energy), disposal, and incineration are ranked the two worst solutions for dealing with waste when we consider both benefit and impact.
Georgia Interfaith Power and Light also offers a Zero-Waste Program for congregations that focus on implementing these principles. The program is aligned with a recognized national zero-waste certification program. Congregations who go through the program work to rethink “responsible consumption” as a way to drive impact on climate.
The Atlanta Catholic Archdiocese’s Climate Action Plan also has a chapter on purchasing wisely. This is another great example of a “responsible consumption” driven approach that is being activated across North Georgia.
Together, we can make break the myth around recycling as a one-stop solution to climate change!
