General Thoughts

These are just some general thoughts that I’ve had on class so far.

1. When the professors assigned the trash-collecting project, it didn’t take long for me to realize how much we waste everyday.  For dinner on Friday, I sat and planned out what I was going to eat that would lead to the least amount of waste leftover, and I was having a really hard time figuring it out.  Eating has become an annoyance because I have to hold on to whatever I don’t eat.  However, it has made me realize just how much I waste everyday.

One thing that annoys my dad is how a Blistex chap stick tube comes in a paper packaging, even though it’s already in a perfectly good container by itself.  This might be for security reasons (people could just steal the tube right off the shelf), but it made me stop and think about other things that come in containers when they really don’t need one.  Something similar to this is electric paper towel dispensers, or the machines in bathrooms that you wave your hand in front of and it gives you a paper towel.  This machine uses electricity to dispense a paper towel, wasting both energy and paper at the same time.  One reason for using this machine is that it limits the amount of paper towels people use, but at the same time, it’s a waste of energy.

2. The trash-collecting project and some other things have given me ideas on how to get people to recycle more or how to make them more aware of recycling.  I was talking to some friends last night, and one of them commented on how he doesn’t like to recycle because he’s not sure what can and cannot be recycled.  It’s easier for him to just throw everything in the trash.  I, too, had this problem before taking this class.  One way to help remedy this would be to put signs up near trashcans or recycling bins that say what can and can’t be recycled.  People still might throw things away because they don’t care, but for those who do want to do something, this might give them the information they need to do so.

Another way that I think might help make people more aware about recycling (or just really annoyed) is to make recycling bins more easily accessible or to lessen the accessibility of trashcans.  We talked in class about how most of what we throw away can actually be recycled in some shape or form.  So maybe if there are fewer trashcans and more recycling bins around, then people might be more likely to recycle because those bins are more accessible and easier to use.  Of course, this could lead to people simply throwing all their trash away in the recycling bins.  However, I have noticed that there are more trashcans readily available than recycling bins, so reducing trashcans or increasing recycling bins might lead people to recycle more.

Generally, I think that making people more aware of what can and can’t be recycled would help cause people to recycle more, as well as making recycling bins more easily accessible.