Consumables are those things which you can eat or have the ability to decompose, and this would be a great feature to incorporate into products, something that is being done more and more. For example, much research is being done into the creation of biodegradable plastics that can be subsequently composted after use. By returning the products used back to the soil during decomposition, we would be mimicking the cycles that occur in nature, as opposed to our current recycling methods. This is a method known as biomimicry, which we would be wise to employ more often.
Personally, most of my consumption is food purchased from the grocery store, and interestingly enough, just by consuming these goods I will also be generating lots of recycling and waste created from packaging. However, I also do compost so a large portion of my food waste is diverted from landfills and able to degrade naturally.
Many ‘durable’ products are created, marketed and sold these days which in fact, quite often are not that durable. In order for companies to continually profit, they must sell items which will eventually break down and require replacing. I can think of endless examples in my life when this has happened - from coffee pots to cars, it seems almost everything requires repair or replacement at some point. Up until more recent years, I never really thought about what happens to those products afterwards, but the truth is they mostly went on to help fill another landfill and this is an incredibly unsustainable way to live and consume materials.
As someone who is environmentally oriented, I try to purchase locally created, sustainable products whenever possible although this is not always feasible as a fourth year University student! In order to reduce my waste flow I also attempt to compost and recycle as many good as possible, and make a point to purchase recyclable, compostable or reusable products when available. Even small steps like taking reusable bags to the grocery store instead of using plastic bags are a way for me to avoid creating waste in the first place.
It is incredible thinking about all the electronic gadgets I have as well and the amount of waste created from the production, use and disposal of these items – and this is common for many people in modern times. We all have televisions, phones, ipods, computers and more. It would be wise to find a way to create and use products that involves low energy inputs with little waste or toxic outputs created, again employing simple ideas involved in biomimicry.
When considering recycling, it is not an attempt to return products we have used back to the earth, but a way to divert waste from landfills, reusing it for other anthropogenic purposes. In this way we are able to reduce the amount of NEW materials needed for NEW products, but this process still requires an energy input, and waste materials are still created. Regardless, this is another way to assist in waste diversion and therefore improved efficiency.
On a final note, with so many products on the market, and several recycling services available it can sometimes be difficult to know how to recycle products properly. The CRD has recently created a great website found at:
http://www.myrecyclopedia.ca
This website contains a complete list of common household products which displays their harmful environmental effects and any opportunities for reducing consumption, recycling or making greener choices. In addition they have an excellent list of recycling facilities in the region which is very useful for people such as myself, and others who wish to further reduce their wasteful outputs.
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