A fortune I obtained from a yummy cookie stated, “Good intentions without good actions are meaningless.” One intention I had over the summer with my children was to teach them about recycling. To impart this lesson, we collected aluminum cans. Since we rarely consume canned beverages, most of the cans we collected were from litter we found on walks or hikes and from summer festivities attended with family and friends. After amassing a large trash container full of cans from two months of efforts, we took our cans to the local scrap metal recycling center.
At the center, our cans were weighed, we heard about how various scrap metals were recycled and we watched the large metal crusher in action prior to adding our cans to a pile for crushing. In total, our efforts earned us $5. 98, and a glimpse into the value of recycling.
As we walked out of the center, I noticed a large bin of colored wires and vaguely recalled a chapter from the Fred Pearce book, Confessions of an Eco-Sinner where he discusses seeing some heinous recycling practices overseas involving children, caustic chemicals, and hazardous working conditions. Prompted by the recollection, I inquired what was to become of the container of wire. To my dismay, I learned they were to be shipped to China where (as the worker at my local recycling center put it so bluntly), “they can pay someone pennies on the dollar to do a job no one here would want.”
Yikes. This was not the feel good recycling message I’d hoped to pass along to my children.
Last week I had a nice breakfast with a former colleague in the nuclear industry and self proclaimed “Chemistry Nerd” friend of mine who shared with me the September 29, 2008 issue of Chemical & Engineering News. In it, there was an article entitled “Passing the Recycling Buck” by Jeff Johnson which stated that, “A government report and several recycling experts say it is likely that much of that hazardous electronic waste is going to wind up in developing countries where the poorest people in the world will pull the products apart under crude and dangerous conditions” (Johnson, 2008). While I know my aluminum cans are being handled responsibly, I’m not sure I can support many of the other practices of my local recycler. Johnson’s article suggests Redemtech as a company that has more responsible recycling practices in place.
I bring this up in the betterworldbuys.com blog because, though you can trust the products you buy with confidence at our site, we might also want to consider where our products can end up.
Although it seems like there is so much to do when we try to “go green” and make our small steps toward more sustainable living, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. When this feeling threatens to get the better of me, I recall the words of Father Zossimo from Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov, “Work without ceasing. If you remember in the night as you go to sleep, “I have not done what I ought to have done,” rise up at once and do it.”
Our collective good actions are better than all of our collective good intentions.
For additional information, click here to explore Redemtech’s blog.
