9 February 2007

I feel like ranting

My body hurts (hockey), my hand hurts (writing), it's hot, and there are idiots in this world. The one thing that is pissing me off greatly at the moment is recycling.

Now whether or not you believe in global climate change, and don't get me started on that one, surely the concept of a disposable society strikes some chord of concern? Everything we buy comes in packaging which, generally, is just thrown out. Or in many cases, dumped on the ground. Where the fuck do you think it ends up? Some magical rubbish pixie washes it and puts in for the next disposable item to be wrapped in? Dumb fucks. Take glass bottles, it's freakin glass. That can be reused again, so why throw it out in the rubbish??
It's not that tricky to sort recycling vs rubbish. Ok I might go a bit overboard and rinse anything plastic and recycle it. But that did mean last week I threw out 1.5 bags of rubbish (and that included the 2kg of crayfish bodies), and 3 bags of recycling. Think about that for a minute. If I hadn't taken five minutes to sort out the recycling 5 bags of rubbish would be dumped into the landfill. Instead 3 bags of that are being reused. Doesn't that mean anything to you? All that crap you are filling the rubbish bins with could be recycled. Surely thats a start to clearing the world of unnecessary crap?!
I think the one thing that pisses me off the most are beer bottles and cans. They can be so easily rinsed and dumped in for recycling. But how many people do that? Eh. Bastards.

I've had this drunken rant with people in the past. What it seems to come down to is that they feel over whelmed by the magnitude of climate change and dealing with it.

Think of it like make-up, start small. Work up to the big stuff.

I now go shopping for stuff which is in minimal packaging, or packaging which can be recycled (or already has been).
Rather than my ranting, here's some useful websites:
Reduce your Rubbish.
Wellington City Council Recycling site

Love, B (don't worry there's a more positive post coming soon)

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Agree agree agree. People are so stupid about some things. I, on the other hand, sometimes go a little extreme on the "reuse" side of things and end up with boxes full of "useful" stuff - um, ribbons, for example.

Great rant, by the way. Sometimes I forget you are a scientist because you write really well.

Love from the stalker.

Mr A. P. Salmond, esq. said...

I thought NZ was really good on the recycling front? Over this side of the world things are getting better. Hell, in Islington we even get a separate food waste recycling bin. But there's still a lot of room for improvement. The number of pubs and bars whose glass just goes straight into the bin is shameful.

But, as I say, it's getting better. Amazing what a few shots of polar bears struggling to survive will do...

Sphenodon said...

To my anonymous stalker: they wouldn't be orange ribbons would they?
I'd describe myself as a misplaced arts student btw. My field is largely 'just-so' storytelling.

M. Salmond: erratic might be a better way of phrasing. The infrastructure is there-ish, its getting people to do more. Hopefully this current environment focus thingy might help.
Polar Bears; I had that discussion with someone the other day, they didn't seem to think my suggestion of spray painting black bears was 'helpful'.

B xx

Chris said...

Hey B,

Wasn't there a rumour floating about that Wellington city council just took the recycling to the landfill in a separate truck? Have they smartened up their act now?

Chris said...

PS: I don't feeling like ranting, no sir, no ranting tonight...

Anonymous said...

sprung!