The Reality of Recycling

Did You Know?

Recently we read an eye‐opening article from the New York Times regarding China and their ban on recycling plastics and paper products from other countries. Click here to read the article.

The United States has been sending millions of tons of scrap paper and scrap plastics annually to China, but China will no longer be accepting our materials for recycling. Now we (and many other parts of the world) are scrambling to figure out what to do with our 6th largest export to China.

Is Recycling Really Working?

What this New York Times article makes us think about is the reality of recycling, which we’d venture to guess a lot of folks aren’t apprised of. We think we are doing our part when we toss our single‐use, individual serving sized bottled water container into the recycling bin. But maybe we shouldn’t be using those bottles in the first place. Putting plastic bottles in the recycle bin isn’t a magical solution that easily makes the bottle disappear.

The reality of recycling: it takes a lot of energy and resources to do make it happen.

Full article here