December 2020, Christine Muller
It is so easy to throw something away, but wait—where does it go? There is no away! Trash ends up in overflowing landfills or it gets burned in incinerators. In either case, it harms the environment in many ways including by emitting greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming.
So, the first questions to ask may be: Could someone else still use this furniture? Could I reuse this plastic bag? Could I use this container for something else?
If the answer is no—the object is broken beyond repair, dirty beyond cleaning, or just not useful to anyone—the next question arises: Can I compost or recycle it? In most places you can recycle paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, and certain types of plastics.
Almost everywhere now you can also recycle electronics. We should not have the illusion though that recycling can solve our environmental problems, but it is still much better than throwing things into the trash!
