Remember that Alanis Morissette song, "Isn't it Ironic?" where she sings about the irony of having a black fly in her Chardonnay (which, ironically enough, isn't ironic at all)?
I have a new line for her.
Isn't it ironicNow that's irony - in the "hypocrisy, deception, and feigned ignorance" sense of the word.
that every day people in office buildings and schools (and god knows where else)
dutifully fill their plastic recycling bins with white copy paper and aluminum cans,
and every night
these recycling bins get dumped in the trash?
It's also true. (Believe me, I'd much rather have a black fly in my Chardonnay.)
You see, we think we're recycling. We think we're doing the right thing - and we are.
And yet, at the end of our busy school and work days, after hours of "teaching green" and filling up our handy blue and gray recycling bins, the janitorial staff "cleans up" by emptying all the "trash" into the same garbage can. (Don't believe me? Stay late at your office or school tonight and watch what happens.)
By the time we return to school or work the next day, reusable green bags and ceramic coffee mugs in hand, yesterday's recyclables are already piled high at the local landfill.
And we have no idea.
It's a dirty little charade, this myth we call "recycling" - at our workplaces, anyway. But who's to blame? Do we point the finger at cleaning crews for their ignorance and/or laziness? Do we lambaste building management teams for turning a blind eye just to save a few bucks? Or do we blame government officials for not enforcing recycling requirements that have been in place for more than a decade?
Maybe this is a job for Chris Hansen at Dateline NBC. Maybe a show called, "To catch a Non-Recycler"?
I don't know, people. I just don't know.
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5 comments:
That's really shameful. I admit, I'm not the greenest person on the planet, but such a large scale charade of that nature is really appalling.
I so believe it happens. The only place I can "almost" believe it doesn't is at my kids' elementary school. There is a Green Team whose members pick up the recycling once a week during lunch. You know how kids get about DEMANDING compliance to SAVE THE POLAR BEARS? Maybe we should hire them out to businesses?
We actually fill our own blue bin and wheel it to the curb on recycling day at my work. But Toronto is pretty good on this stuff. We alternate weeks for garbage and recycling here, and the "green bins" (organic material that can break down) gets picked up every week so it doesn't get all nasty.
But when we lived in NYC? It was amazing to me that there was no recycling programme at that time - only 6 years ago, too.
i am so sick of the fakey fake let's feel good and hug our planet while literally ripping out her throat bullshit because we are selfish and terrible and won't sacrifice anything of significance.
but that aside, i do think (at least in CA) that they go through the trash and sort out the recycling so the asshats don't win, but maybe i am wrong about that)
i really just am.
You are hitting on one of my big fears.
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