Please recycle and reuse

I consider myself a recycle freak. I try to recycle as much as possible. If I see something in a trashcan that is recyclable I try to remove it from there and put it in recycle waste containers. It makes me really uncomfortable to watch recyclable waste dumped in normal trash. Many countries have recognized the need to recycle most of the waste generated by humans. Consumerism is at its peak in our society, because of the easy (and cheap) availability of a lot of stuff we are using more than required and then generating a lot of waste, and we don't bother to recycle it. So, we make two mistakes at the same time, we overuse the stuff (which is totally avoidable) and then don't even efficiently recycle the stuff. In many countries, especially in developed nations like the USA, they have made it very easy to recycle many things but still, I see that many people are not aware of these things or they don't care and dump all things in the trash. It's really bad to dump things that can be easily recycled in normal trash. People think that just one person doing all this recycling and other climate-friendly activities will not make any difference, so why do it. I agree with this to some extent but if everyone starts thinking like this then no one will do it. Someone has to start doing this and why can't that someone be us? Actually, many good things always start with one person, and then others follow.

As I said things are available so easily and cheaply nowadays that it's hard for people to think before they use them or throw them. Whether to print or not is not a very big decision nowadays, printers and papers are available everywhere (home, office, anywhere you go). Many organizations are trying to reduce the use of paper by switching to e-statements and e-bills rather than traditional printed format but still, many prefer traditional printed format. There is nothing wrong with it but at least make sure that to recycle that stuff. We teach many good things as part of our tradition and culture to our kids and I think we need to include the habit of recycling and using things more efficiently (so that we generate less waste) as a part of our cultural training. Our planet and environment are everyone's property, we all own it and use it and that's why we all are responsible for protecting it and taking good care of it. There is no single owner of this planet that doesn't mean no one should care for it. Rather we all are owners of this beloved planet so it should be treated with utmost respect and care by all of us but this is not happening. People care a lot about their own religion, country, family, and home but don't care much about their planet which is actually the reason for the existence of everything around us, it's very strange but true.

If we can't stop ourselves from overusing things then at least by recycling we can reduce the impact of our consumerism on the planet. This can also generate a lot of jobs in the recycling industry. There is no negative or side effect of this activity. This is a simple habit we need to incorporate into our lifestyle. Most of us are already very careful about not dumping any trash outside, we make sure that we throw it in a trashcan, and this is how we try to keep our surroundings clean. We need to do exactly the same thing but next time whenever we throw trash we need to make sure to throw it in the "proper disposal bin," that's all. It's not that difficult. Most of us are in search of many good habits to incorporate into our day-to-day lives and I feel the habit of recycling and reusing things as much as possible is one of the good habits which can make us better people and help our planet. Think about it, one simple habit can help our planet and future generations, so why not give it a shot.

Thanks for reading and please share your views about this topic. 

(Copyright: Vinay Thakur. Please contact the author for re-posting or publishing)