Recycling

Though I approve of recycling and its merits, I do not recycle everything I dispose of. I refill my water bottles when I can. I buy the reusable linen or hemp bags from Iceland and Sainsbury’s when I am grocery shopping, but I often end up shopping while I am already out, so I do not have my reusable bags with me. Then I end up either buying more reusable bags, which I feel is the store’s way of making more of a profit rather than helping the environment, or giving up and using plastic bags. Once I get my groceries home, I do use one or two plastic bags for trash, but I cannot save them all indefinitely due to lack of storage. I could save them for months, but sometimes end up throwing them away anyway. Gay Hawkins questioned, “If we accept that disposal is necessary, how could it be recast in ways that acknowledge the ethical significance of rubbish without generating moral righteousness or resentment?” But I cannot do everything myself and I wonder if others are making an attempt to recycle, or am I actually doing more than others? I think recycling is a good thing, and I do not want to contribute to overflowing landfills, but I am a busy student with limited time to devote to saving the environment. And I resent the fact that the older generations say it is up to my generation to fix everything they have messed up. Everyone is responsible to do what he or she can. So I will try to continue to do my part.

-Emily Suber