Recycling: When Green becomes Grim

We have all been taught the importance of the 3 Rs: Reduce – Re-use – Recycle.

But like all things in life, commonsense must prevail.


Reduce
One good example:
Reduce waste by mending broken appliances instead of replacing them.

One bad example:
Folks who reduce till they refuse to spend money anymore, even when a small outlay leads to better productivity and time-saving.


Reuse
One good example:
Give unwanted but useable stuff to charity or those who can use it better.

One bad example:
It can be quite a headache when you are the one paying the detergent, scrub-sponges and water bill, and folks at home insist on washing every oily plastic wrappers that contained foodstuff and then take up the whole kitchen space hanging them everywhere to dry.  Worse, the smell of the curry or strong stench which could not be washed off fills up the whole place. 

Commonsense would tell you that some stuff should just be thrown.  They are hard to wash off, without applying much effort to scrub, soak, wash, dry, store.  The amount of detergent that goes into washing such wrappers or disposable containers is often more costly than the wrapper itself.  Not to mention, these folks are the very same ones who can't seem to find time for more productive stuff.


Recycle
One good example:
Materials such as paper and metal can be recycled to generate environmental, financial and social benefits.

One bad example:
Other than recycling what's there in the immediate environment, the inhouse recycling enthusiast suddenly turns the home into a garang guni hoarding centre, where collections from around the neighbourhood and all over pours in to become endless cycles of recycling.  Collections originally meant for recycling turns into hoarding as the sorting out becomes overwhelming, and the recycler turns hoarder. 

Many families have their lives turned upside down when one family member get carried away with recycling.  The once peaceful haven of home can quickly become an unhygienic place to live in, as the constant stream of stuff can sometimes be old, and rather dubious in its origins.