For every ONE package of Earth Breeze you buy, we donate TEN loads of laundry to somewhere in need! You choose where to make a difference!
About Us – Earth Breeze
Recycling is a Farce: Can Americans Rethink Our Pandemic Trash?
I have prided myself on being eco-friendly.
I reused*, repurposed*, and thought that I was recycling to keep America beautiful while saving our planet.
I was wrong to believe a fantasy.
For one thing, I was overloading the globe with plastics jugs I thought that could be recycled. I fell for an effective feel-good marketing campaign all these years – I am concerned about the growing toxic world I will leave to my great-grandchildren.
After a tiny bit of research, I learned that my ‘recycled’ laundry detergent jugs and more were piling up on foreign continents. The disposable plastic cups and straws we are served if we go through the Drive-thru Fast Food may be floating in the oceans. (I am not taking all the blame on my own.)
In this post I will share links to videos and credible articles about the Keep America Beautiful, Don’t Litter, Recycling Lie.
I am also promoting an eco-friendly laundry product with my personal link to save $10 on your first purchase of EARTH BREEZE – see below.
The universal recycling symbol is internationally recognized for recycling activity.
Recycling Symbol – Recycling.com
https://www.recycling.com/downloads/recycling-symbolBill Lloyd and Gary Anderson designing the recycling symbol. Facts about the original recycle symbol: … three arrows represent ‘reducing’, ‘reusing’, and ‘recycling’. Figure 2 – The inside negative space of the symbol resembles a pine tree. The recycling symbol is a variant of the Möbius loop to symbolize continuity within a finite entity. Click HERE to read about and download the Recycle Symbols.
Click HERE to read more about recycling and symbols from Wikipedia
Aluminum cans and laundry detergent jugs are trash…
Just because a container has a recycle symbol number does not mean that item will be recycled to be reused. Those symbols seem to give us a good feeling but there is no guarantee that anyone will follow through with the entire recycling process.
I know. This does not seem right…
I mislead you about my personal recycling – I do not have access to recycle. I would, if I could. I currently live in an apartment complex without recycle bins– only 5 often overflowing dumpsters. It can be so gross. I am disgusted at seeing so many recyclable containers taking up space.
I decided to do a better job of doing my part to Save the Planet by no longer using certain products due to the way they are packaged. What will you decide to do to make even a small drop in the bucket? (Read below – I changed laundry products, and a solution to not being able to reverse-vend aluminum cans.)
And since the COVID-19 pandemic started, I have had no place to return bottles to redeem my 5-cent bottle deposit. (See Reverse Vending below.)
Oh yes, it bothers me to see all kinds of plastic destined for the land fill.
- Before you read any further, I have a challenge for you: Make a list of all the kinds of things you throw away every year. (Make your list in your head, on paper or Note Pad.)
- Save your list for after this post to help you decide on what changes you will make to decrease trash.
- Want to save Ten Bucks and help someone in need? See the EARTH BREEZE promo below.
Repurpose and Reuse Trash
Check out Pinterest: (157) Pinterest
Those you are into repurposing trash click on the tile/ link.
11 Unexpected Ways to Repurpose Plastic Laundry Detergent Containers Updated
How to Recycle Laundry Detergent Bottles
But, ‘One-way Containers’ Use Was a Plot All Along
Say what? Yes, the ‘one-way’ containers was a brilliant marketing strategy to sell more nutrient-void products in a feel-good way. Ultimately, increased sales have led to more garbage. (Feel Good Marketing)
Recycling may not be such a promising idea after all. As one article led to another resource, I learned that some unrelated topics were inadvertently related as they were leading to more trash overload on the planet.
Wait for it…I will explain with the help of links to credible sources that dispelled the recycling fantasy I had in my head. I can only guess that you were brain washed marketed by ad campaigns to believe the same reuse, recycle farce, too. (See CRYING INDIAN below.)
I don’t have to tell you that the Pandemic has changed our ways of living including the consequences of disposables and jobs. (Is this simple or a complicated mess?)
- But, did you know that not being able to go out to eat in a restaurant has created an aluminum shortage and more trash?
What do you suppose happened when dining out in restaurants was deemed to be not safe from COVID-19?
- Diners/ Eateries/ Restaurants/ Supper Clubs reuse their glass drinking glasses – after they are washed and sanitized, of course.
- Eating establishments usually do not pop open a can or a plastic bottle of cola. They serve fountain drinks that cost a fraction of what the cost is if you buy a single serving. (Don’t begrudge them. This is how they can make money while waiting on, cooking for you, serving you and doing the dishes, plus pay for the rest room expenses and staff…)
- Families stayed at home for family night. Since the dishwashers at the restaurants won’t be washing dishes at your house, more and more cans of soda pop were purchased for treat at home. Since we all had to wait on our self, we saved money by not eating out. – All the while the recycle bin was getting fuller and fuller…
How Much Money Can You Save By NOT Eating Out?
With that said, how many food service workers have lost their jobs because of COVID closing the eating establishment they worked for? If a waitress/ waiter no longer has income to pay bills, will they be creating more non-recycled trash or not considering they cannot help the economy by purchasing goods and services from businesses?
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the food industry …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_of_the_COVID…
The pandemic has cost restaurants 5.9 million jobs
https://www.restaurantbusinessonline.com/financing/…May 08, 2020 · The global pandemic and state closures of dine-in service have cost the restaurant industry 5.9 million jobs…
Restaurant, food service industry has lost nearly $120B …
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/restaurant-food…Jun 18, 2020 · According to a survey conducted by the National Restaurant Association, the restaurant and food service industry likely lost nearly $120 billion in sales during the first three months of the pandemic.
United States: Pandemic Impact on People in Poverty …
https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/03/02/united-states…
Mar 02, 2021 · Since the start of the pandemic, 74.7 million people have lost work, with the majority of jobs lost in industries that pay below average wages.
Study Finds Americans Eat Food of Mostly Poor Nutritional …
https://now.tufts.edu/news-releases/study-finds…Apr 12, 2021 … eating out or buying food from the grocery store, Americans of all ages are…eating poorly everywhere—except at school…. new dietary trends study… reveals persistent or worsening disparities in meal quality from restaurants, grocery stores, and other sources—but not school—by race, ethnicity, and income.
Restaurant eating during the pandemic is upending the …
https://www.fastcompany.com/90510598/restaurant…Jun 01, 2020 · (I am searching for a 2021 update.)
With restaurants closed for in-person dining, food delivery—and the waste associated with those take-out orders—has skyrocketed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. …
… increase in takeout. … CDC is recommending that everything in a restaurant be disposable—even the menus…posing a huge threat to the environment … world full of disposables….affect how much waste we generate?
Now the US is having a single service condiment shortage of ketchup. I wonder just how many single use packets of ketchup can fill a square mile of garbage landfill.
I found some stats on China’s disposable eating utensil trash. (See below.) Just because China is on the other side of the globe from where I live, does not mean that their disposable waste will not affects the US.
The problem with China’s single-use plastic ban (fastcompany.com)
… applies to “nondegradable” plastic bags, tableware, and other plastic packaging… talks about … biodegradable plastic for some products. … compostable plastic only breaks down successfully in industrial composting facilities.
… food delivery companies…. could decide to pay for biodegradable plastic forks and boxes rather than trying to shift customers to a potentially less convenient system of reusables. … online shopping companies... major source of plastic waste.
China struggles with recycling. The e-commerce sector… generates around 850,000 metric tons of plastic waste a year, and 95% is not recycled.
… study in 2017, online food delivery generated 1.5 million metric tons of plastic waste, including 44,000 tons of plastic spoons, 175,000 tons of plastic chopsticks, and 1.2 million tons of plastic takeout boxes.
- To manufacture new biodegradable disposables with have startup investments in order to create some thin as simple as eating utensils that will break down in a compost heap.
- Environmental-friendly changes require massive culture habits changes.
- The US is the world’s worst ocean plastic polluter.
This tableware made from bamboo and sugar waste biodegrades in 60 days
“When we think of plastic alternatives, we should think about cost. In the end we want it so a customer can buy it . . . the cost needs to be competitive with plastic…”
This new delivery service cuts down on takeout waste by sending your food in reusable packaging…
Just give your old ones to the driver when your next order arrives.
Nationwide, food and packaging containers together account for almost 45% of landfill materials in the U.S. … online food delivery market growing— $200 billion by 2025—it’s easy to see how single use waste from food delivery adds up, … pandemic… forcing more people to order in.
The balance of trash shifted on the economic scales…
… COVID-19 social distancing guidelines complicate more than dining -out. The cost of in-patient care … significantly increased.
With the viral epidemic lead hospitals to have an unprecedented number of isolation patients at one time. The amount of disposable medical supplies is unimaginable. It all has to be properly disposed of. (That is another long-complicated story- don’t get this long-winded Nanna started.)
COVID-19 Fallout: Tons of Trash – WebMD
…COVID-19 has brought anxiety, worry, and social distancing… also brought piles and piles of trash and waste. … plastic grocery bags … disposable masks and gloves…
… coronavirus pandemic…. grocery stores switched back to single-use plastic bags and prohibited customers from bringing their own reusable bags.
Inpatient COVID-19 cases estimated to cost $14K per patient
Apr 23, 2020 · Dive Brief: A single symptomatic COVID-19 infection would cost a median of $3,045 in direct medical costs incurred only during the course of the infection
- … only … the costs during the acute infection … not follow-up care … direct medical costs to treat a symptomatic COVID-19 … substantially higher than other common infectious diseases…
A chunk of the expense of an isolation patient is all about the appropriate amount and the cost of the isolation supplies (PPE) needed to prevent further spread and cross contamination. It is simply not factual when some people claim that SAR2 is “just like the normal flu”. That disinformation has to stop. If only those who still believe this pandemic (2020-2021) “is a hoax” would look at the price tag billed to insurance companies.
My mind flashed on the controversy of Governor Cuomo’s alleged mishandling of New York’s nursing homes in the early days of the pandemic. I have to wonder exactly how much the cost of PPE for isolation along with proper use of protective equipment’s played a role in the number of preventable deaths.
I will go out on a limb (based on my decades of experience as an RN) that there were all too many broken links in the infection control chain.
Analysis: PPE costs increase over 1,000% during COVID-19 crisis
Published April 9, 2020 (I will continue to look for more updated stats for 2021.)
Skilled nursing facilities and assisted living centers treating COVID-19 patients… 1,064% increase in costs for required personal protective equipment since the deadly virus started its rampage in the U.S.
… higher (1,084%) for those using nitrile gloves due to vinyl glove shortages or allergies… Society for Healthcare Organization Procurement Professionals.
… price increase to supply-and-demand factors… increased number of items mandated for safety… frequent changes.
…As more product comes into the market, prices should start to recede… but the increase of government and situational requirements, combined with temporarily halted manufacturing in China, created a lethal lag.
…
(Personally, my son and I are allergic to latex. Do you have any idea how many medical supplies and equipment have latex in them?)
Nitrile Gloves – Disposable Gloves – Medical Gloves
https://www.envirosafetyproducts.com/work-gloves/…Nitrile gloves are the most widely used disposable glove. commonly found in medical facilities and food handling applications … barrier between you and what you are handling. Nitrile disposable gloves are powder-free and contain zero traces of latex…
Disposable Glove Materials
(I copy and pasted this from the EnviroSafety Company. This link will give you an idea of the price of disposable gloves. I have no connection with this company other than I may be ordering gloves from them for our home care use.) Nitrile Gloves – Disposable Gloves – Medical Gloves (envirosafetyproducts.com)
- Latex – These gloves provide excellent dexterity and some puncture resistance. They are standbys in the medical industry and food handling occupations.
- Vinyl – An economical alternative to latex and nitrile, these gloves are a go-to in food processing and food handling activities.
- Polyethylene – These FDA-approved gloves for food contact are powder-free and very economical. They are commonly found in school cafeterias, dining halls, and other food service applications.
- Nitrile – These gloves are an alternative to latex options and are ideal for those with allergies to the material. Unlike latex however, they do not provide as much puncture resistance or dexterity.
(PPE), the healthcare supply chain remains fragile and constrained.
Massive increases in global PPE demand created an imbalance in the supply chain and have driven up raw materials prices… providers who have incurred additional costs to acquire PPE, adding to existing margin pressures.
… American Hospital Association (AHA) estimates the additional costs associated with purchasing needed PPE for hospitals and health systems was $2.4 billion … from March through June 2020, or roughly $600 million per month.
A Hefty Price Tag for Providers
PPE sourcing challenges brought on by COVID-19 have created historic financial pressures for U.S. hospitals and health systems already facing thin margins.
I don’t know how many people on social media complained about Big Pharma and Greedy Doctors during the pandemic. I don’t have to be a brain surgeon or a rocket scientist to grasp that no one had budgeted for a pandemic and all of the extra costs that would be incurred as we care for isolation patients. This stuff is not free- it does not automatically appear on the supply shelves of a hospital. All the staff needed in any care facility needs to be paid to work on top of this financial stress.
The largest reported price increases have been for isolation gowns (2,000%), N95 masks (1,513%), 3-ply masks (1,500%) and reusable face shields (900%). … 3M N95 masks, which rose from $0.11 to $6.75 each (6,136% increase),.. currently unavailable, according to SHOPP.
Soap (184%) and nitrile gloves (200%) were the only products of the 11 listed to cost double or less.
All of these infection control items are not reusable. They are disposable – leaving the Earth’s future garage heap. I don’t know what can or cannot be burned – but the soot in the air will contribute to more air-pollution is my guess.
In 20-years we will see the results of the potential studies on how the Pandemic of 2020 created a Trashy Crisis. Will history books point out that the spread of COVID-19 that mutated so often could have been better prevented ‘if only’ more people had made better choices in the mitigation process. (Opinion of Malika Bourne)
(On a personal note: My disabled son lives with me for my convenience as I am his 24/7 primary skilled caregiver. The availability of disposable supplies has been challenging ever since the pandemic began. Medical waste in double plastic bags account for the bulk of my trips to the dumpster. In home care from a family member greatly reduces the number of times I need to wear and change gloves. I don’t need to mask while doing nursing cares for my son as long as I have taken strict precautions that include NO VISITORS and rarely leaving our home. When I do, I wear a clean mask.)
Clinical Questions about COVID-19: Questions and Answers | CDC
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/faq.html
Medical waste (trash)… from healthcare facilities treating COVID-2019 patients is no different than waste coming from facilities without COVID-19 patients. CDC’s guidance… on laundry, food service utensils, and medical waste…
Yes, you should wear a mask in public. No, you should not throw it in the gutter.
…wreaking havoc on sewage and stormwater systems in the United States…. getting rid of their face masks, wipes, and gloves by flushing them down the toilet, and it’s causing a surge in clogged pipes and sewage overflows, according to a report by the Associated Press.
…Face masks, gloves, and wipes can end up in our waterways and lakes … [do NOT] throw them in the street … curbside storm drains connect directly to a nearby body of water.
Uh-oh: All those disposable masks and wipes are clogging the sewers…
As if we have enough to worry about the carelessly littered disposable masks given out at grocery stores (for mask resistant shoppers to wear) clogging up the sewer systems and wastewater drains…
…now our favorite sports drinks, energy drinks cola, soda pop, junk food beverages in aluminum cans are in short supply. And it is not just caffeinated, sugar loaded soft drink can shortage – canned soups, canned veggies, canned tuna…canned ham…
Don’t take my word for it. Check out these articles/ videos below:
Is there a shortage of aluminum cans in the US?Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve had many shortages…
U.S. beverage manufacturers face aluminum can shortage amid pandemic
U.S. beverage manufacturers face aluminum can shortage …
https://news.yahoo.com/u-beverage-manufacturers…Feb 21, 2021 · U.S. beverage manufacturers face aluminum can shortage amid pandemic. February 20, 2021, 4:02 PM. As the coronavirus pandemic continues …
- Ball makes more than 350 million cans a day at its facilities around the world.
…breweries and other beverages companies are currently experiencing unfair market prices for aluminum prices,” Rep. Buck said in a statement.
Uh-oh! This is a vicious cycle
Just one company already makes 350,000,000 cans a day… M-m-m? And just where do you think those empty cans will go after the party is over? Your guess is as good as my guess.
I live in Iowa, one of the 10 states with Bottle Bills that charges a 5cent deposit on beverage containers. (Read all about it below...)
If you bought a 6-pack of beer, today in Iowa, you would pay an extra 60 cents at the register. Pre-pandemic, the groceries stores had recycle-machines to load your empty bottles or cans into. Once you are done putting your supposed to have washed sticky containers in the machine a redemption ticket is spit out for x amount of money to have returned to you. (Further down you can click the link to read about the beer industry initiating the throw-away beer bottle.)
Not everyone gets a return on their bottle/ can redemption. In fact, it was estimated that only 40% of containers with deposits are returned. I suppose that 40% is better than nothing. When tossing a beer can on the side of the road just before getting pulled over, that is like throwing away a nickel – and then some.
Bottle Bills – Container Recycling
https://www.container-recycling.org/index.php/issues/bottle-billsBottle Bills The Container Recycling Institute is one of the country’s foremost advocates of beverage container deposit legislation (commonly known as bottle bills). Beverage containers make up a large portion of litter in the United States… deposit laws are known for … high recycling rate for beverage containers and reducing litter …(Hint: It’s a trick to consume more beer or soft drinks.)
State Beverage Container Deposit Laws – NCSL
https://www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and…Mar 13, 2020 · Beverage container deposit laws, or bottle bills, are designed to reduce litter and capture …
… reasons container deposit schemes succeed in increasing recycling rates and reducing plastic waste.
- Financial incentive: … financial incentive for consumers to return drink containers, which might… be littered or thrown in landfill. Giving a financial value to these empties communicates that they have a value for society. Containers are viewed and treated as a resource, rather than simply as trash…. deposits reduce beverage litter by 40% or more. To continue reading form the source click HERE How do container deposit schemes work? (tomra.com)
… closed-loop recycling … such as plastic, aluminum and glass, are continually recycled back into bottles and cans, rather than being landfilled, littered or ‘downcycled’ into lower quality materials.
…reverse vending machines, which see drink containers returned through an incentivized deposit return scheme. Around 40 markets around the globe have already adopted deposit return schemes and experience return rates of up to 98% Click HERE to read more A guide to closed-loop recycling (tomra.com)
‘Downcycling’ … recycling a material to create a new product at a lower quality and functionality than its original state… can’t be recycled again…. not a particularly sustainable method … recycled product reaches the end of its life … lower quality status.
During the Pandemic the grocery stores were no longer taking bottle and can returns- it is a germ thing. Besides not everyone rinsed out their bottles before returning- yuck!
… half of U.S. states with container redemption programs have temporarily suspended … due to multiple factors around the new coronavirus.…this is a new coronavirus, researchers are still gathering data … how it is transmitted and if — or how long — it lives on objects in a transmittable form. … lack of information has caused some concern about whether consumers might transfer the virus to redemption center employees via their returned containers….
At least 8 states suspend bottle bill requirements during coronavirus pandemic | Waste Dive
How 12 months of the coronavirus pandemic disrupted US waste and recycling service | Waste Dive… …early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic … waste and recycling industry’s essential public health role meant it had to operate throughout, even as thousands of workers were affected by the virus. Worker safety resources are available from OSHA, SWANA, NWRA and ISRI.
… Staffing limitations, volume shifts and social distancing requirements … operational changes … Numerous curbside recycling programs were suspended… environmental policies were delayed or changed.
Cognitive Dissonance
I admit that my household has a hankering for Coca-cola. (A tasty beverage that comes in a one-time-use can or bottle.)
I can rationalize that I only buy a limited supply delivered by a masked person from Walmart.com with our nutritious groceries to avoid contracting COVID-19. I paid 5cents per bottle with no way to return the darn things to a recycle machine, any more… UGH! It goes against my grain to loss a nickel and fill the landfill. (Check out: Study: 1 in 5 grocery store workers have tested positive for COVID-19, most asymptomatic
The rule I think was that there had to be a recycle center within 5 miles… like I am going to bag up a few bottles and pay a taxi to drive to me the only recycle place in town right now for 60cents refund. I don’t think so…
There may be a small solution…
One day this last winter after a week of 20 below zero as I was taking out accumulated trash out to the dumpster, I saw an old man dumpster diving for cans. This old guy had lost his part time job so he was supplementing his income redeeming the containers that we could no longer return. He told me that he came every day to gather cans and bottles and would I kindly set mine by the trash for him. Since a number of my neighbors are big beer or soda drinkers even before COVID-19 stay-at -home and mask up orders our 5 dumpsters our apartment complex was the Mother-Load of nickels for his pocket.
That works for me, assuming that those can do get recycled…
https://youtu.be/1mxaN_xqQh4
How Did We Get From There to Here?
- Why is it that we all know that everybody needs to repurpose, reuse and recycle? I mean like if you went to Pinterest you can find 1001 way to recycle an oatmeal box into a cute Santa Claus, if you want.
- If we know that every piece of liter adds up, why are we buying products only to use once then throw away the container, without concern?
The answer is brilliant marketing strategies.
Every sexy person on the planet smoked brand x of cigarettes and drank Y brand of booze….oh wait. Thos products are banned from TV ads.
Congress bans airing cigarette ads, April 1, 1970 On this day in 1970, President Richard Nixon signed the Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act, … banned cigarette ads from airing on television and radio. After World War II, cigarette companies began advertising heavily on TV.www.politico.com/story/2018/04/01/congress-bans-airing-cigarette-ads-april-1-1…
But, that law did not stop the TV ads individually packaged junk food and my favorite soft drink.
Growing up in the ’50s and 60’s bubbly beverages with sugar was a rare treat. (I wonder if we could ahve had a root beer once a week if my dad had not been a chain smoker.) Once a month on a Sunday night my dad would drive to the local A & W for a root beer in a frosty mug. – not a can – not a bottle but in a glass mug delivered to the car by a car hop on roller skates. All good American families were going to the root beer stand.
Soda with a fizz that burned just the right spot in your throat, to me had to be devoured in an in cold mug- There was no other way in my mind to drink “soda pop”. I could not fathom, drinking anything straight out of a bottle. It did not think it would be polite to do so. (Well, I had another think coming…)
Yes, I knew that Coke (Coca-cola founded in 1892) existed, but I was not allowed to experience those refreshments at my young age.
(I have cognitive dissonance: I know that caffeine and sugar are not good me, but, I love how an ice-cold COKE goes down on a hot day, a holiday, my birthday, George Washington’s birthday, Saturday…I like Coca-cola even though too much too often makes me gain weight. Besides, I don’t smoke…)
When our family moved to a house on an acreage, in 1956, I explored the dilapidated old garage. I discovered 100’s of Coke bottles – I did not understand. My dad said that those bottles had to be cleaned up and taken back to the store just like we did with quart glass milk bottles.
I could not imagine how many years it would take a family to drink a Coke only on a special occasion…doesn’t everyone drink milk with meals? (I was in kindergarten- little did I know… hold on to this thought on America’s most popular bottled non-beer beverage. I admit that I love to have a cold glass of COKE. – such a conundrum. )
Because of the product branding, product placement, ads on billboards, ads in magazines, the logo colors, and the fact that I wanted to be like all of the other cool college students, I drank a COKE and I loved it! I had no desire to think about the future of garbage dump let alone the streams, rivers and ocean pollution.
I allowed advertising to influence my impulse decisions. I am like many other Americans, and I felt good about “Teach(ing) the World to Sing.”
Where did I’d like to teach the world to sing originate?
Please watch this video on YouTube and give it a LIKE or comment. (Not my video.)
Evolution of Coke Bottles and Cans (insider.com)
In 1960, I was 10-years old. I remember old people talking about “these kids now days will be littering the highway ditch with COKE cans.”
If only the images of Coke cans in the ditches that I had in my head could have been a fraction of the toxic trash heap we have today. I was so upset that I wrote a school paper about the trash crisis and pop bottle vending machines. (Cigarettes were also sold in vending machines too.)
In 1962 I read the book my mother had been talking about Silent Spring by Rachael Carson. As a 10 to 12-year-old my future in the year 2021 was outright scary. Yes, we did have warnings and time to plan to keep our planet Earth, safe.
The 2020 Keep America Beautiful National Litter Study is the most comprehensive study of litter in America. Since 1969 Keep America Beautiful has been the trusted source for scientifically rigorous, fact-based, non-partisan reporting on litter in America. Click HERE to learn more..
Keep in mind that the organization Keep America Beautiful knows more facts on rubbish than anyone else and I appreciate that. I think it is well worth checking out their website and studies. I have no intention of slamming them…but… America was marketed to…
(Keep reading and/or watching some enlightening videos…)
NPR: “America produces more waste per capita than any other country in the world. And recycling, which was once considered the solution to that problem, isn’t really working anymore. Recycling works, but it’s not magic. As America continues to lead the world in per capita waste production, it’s becoming more and more clear that everybody– manufacturer and consumers– “over-believe” in recycling. This film is based in part on Throughline’s podcast episode “The Litter Myth”. Listen here: https://www.npr.org/2019/09/04/757539…
Please watch this video on You Tube and LIKE on Your tube. Let NPR know what you thought.
Here we are in 2021 and I still have things to write about on the subject of COKE related to garbage and politics.
-
‘Woke-A-Cola’: Coke facing blowback for resistance to …
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/woke-a…Apr 06, 2021 · ‘Woke-A-Cola’: Coke facing blowback for resistance to Georgia voting law … Lawmakers and GOP political figures at the national level have also …
-
Coke Tempers Its Politics Amid ‘Woke Capitalism’ Ad …
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2021/05…May 20, 2021 · Despite its recent foray into divisive politics, it appears the country’s most iconic soda company still wants the majority of Americans to have a Coke and a smile. A conservative group’s $1 …
Plastic bottles are a recycling disaster. Coca-Cola should have known better…
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/… May 02, 2017 by Bart ElmoreIn 1969 Coca-Cola attempted to answer that question by asking the Midwest Research Institute to conduct a life-cycle analysis of packaging. The firm looked at various types of throwaway …
…The drinks company junked its re-use system. Now the oceans are full of rubbish, will it clean up its act?
How Coca-Cola Supports Recycling in the US – News & Articles
https://www.coca-colacompany.com/news/how-coca…In 2018, Coca-Cola set an ambitious goal to help solve the problem of packaging waste in the United States and around the world. The company pledged to collect and recycle a bottle or can for every one sold by 2030; to make all of its packaging fully recyclable by 2025; and to make its bottles and cans with 50% recycled content by 2030. This global goal builds on the company’s longstanding support for …
(I sure hope the Coco-Cola finds a great solution for their packaging.)
I am not familiar with The Intercept who published an article I briefly quote below. Therefore, I cannot say if it is true or false. I felt that there has to be two sides to a debate.
And we cannot blame just Coca-cola. There is also: PepsiCo • RC Cola• Bisleri• Keurig Dr Pepper… and more in just only North America. Check it out the list on Wikipedia
15 Largest Soda Companies – Zippia
The fizzy, sugar-infused taste of soda is a product that builds multi-billion-dollar brands. Although soft-drinks can have adverse effects on the drinker’s health, Americans still consume nearly 40 gallons annually, on average. This provides a huge profit margin for the largest soda companies, both domestically and internationally.
The Coca-Cola Company. Headquarters: Atlanta, GA
2019 Annual Company Revenue: $37.27 Billion
Brands Owned: Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Schweppes, Barqs, SmartWater, Powerade, Vitamin Water, Minute Maid, Simply, Honest Tea, etc.
YIKES! That is a mega load of disposable bottles or cans.
How Coca-Cola Undermines Plastic Recycling Efforts
https://theintercept.com/2019/10/18/coca-cola-recycling-plastics-pollutionOct 18, 2019 · For decades, Coca-Cola has burnished its public image as an environmentally caring company with donations to recycling nonprofits….
…interested in increasing the recycling rate, a bottle bill or container deposit law… requires beverage companies to tack a charge … price of their drink … refunded after it’s returned… more likely to return their bottles … financial incentive.
States with bottle bills recycle 60 percent … bottles and cans, as opposed to 24 percent in other states. … states that have bottle bills … 40 percent less beverage container litter …
But bottle bills also put some of the responsibility — and cost — of recycling back on the companies that produce the waste, which may be why Coke and other soda companies have long fought against them.
I do not know the answer to the post pandemic economy and creating jobs without making waste. Nor do I know the answer to solving toxic waste on Earth unless we all eat, and home can from our gardens in reusable glass jars. And have all that and a compostable bag of chips.
Oh NO! Let me tell about the birds, the bees and garbage pile that is getting deeper…
The birds and bees’ part in ecology for another day – so let’s get back to my favorite Coke.
What do Coke cans, American election system, a crying Native American, and trash have in common?
Please watch, LIKE, and make your comments on the YouTube.
The environmental commercial showed Cody in costume, shedding a tear after trash is thrown from the window of a car and it lands at his feet. The announcer, William Conrad, says: “People start pollution; people can stop it.” The ad won two Clio awards, incited a frenzy of community involvement, and “helped reduce litter by 88% across 38 states”, according to one reliable source. – Wikipedia
Even though Americans loved this commercial, there are some problems…
- The Chicago Tribune has an eye-opening article.
The ‘Crying Indian’ ad that fooled the environmental …
Nov 21, 2017 · Keep America Beautiful was founded in 1953 by the American Can Co. and the Owens-Illinois Glass Co., who were later joined by the likes of Coca-Cola and the Dixie Cup Co.
Thirty tears later Keep America Beautiful is still Keeping America Blindfolded
… that the ad that ran 27 years after his single falling teardrop should have featured Iron Eyes Cody weeping…
Writer Ted Williams … “The Metamorphosis of Keep America Beautiful” (Audubon Magazine, March 1990). Williams wrote, “ . . . It strikes me as the ultimate exploitation of Native Americans: First we kicked them off their land, then we trashed it, and now we’ve got them whoring for the trashmakers.”
… unaware … aligned… with a trade group rather than an environmental organization.
… 75 corporations fund KAB… beverage manufacturers like Coke and Pepsi … with packaging companies… promote Clean Community Systems and litter taxes as alternatives or replacements for container deposit laws…
…Bottle bills, not KAB, have kept hundreds of billions of cans and bottles from ending up as litter or landfill inventory….
Orion Magazine | The Crying Indian
https://orionmagazine.org/article/the-crying-indianNov 20, 2008 · … group opposes the reuse and recycling legislation that might better address the problem. The information is not hard to find. Ted Williams wrote about it in 1990 for Audubon. Online, you can find many more narratives of KAB’s real motives, including a summary by the Container Recycling Institute.
Click link to read A History of Keep America Beautiful 1953 to 2000
A Beautiful If Evil Strategy
… communications dis-service ever done to nature was by a 1970s TV advertising campaign which is said to have been viewed 14 billion times: the ‘Crying Indian’ by Keep America Beautiful.
.. pure genius … highly emotive campaign was that it bought a social license for mass production of disposable packaging, by championing action to clean up the pollution it led to.
… served the manufacturers of packaging well for nearly sixty years. ‘Crying Indian’ made individual consumers responsible, not the manufacturers, wholesalers or retailers. … motivated individuals to accept and act on that responsibility for ‘littering’. …. millions who take part in litter clean-ups without challenging plastic production…
… 1950s… US Government policy to stimulate consumer purchasing to boost the economy… by replacing reusable things with throw-away things.
Led by beer manufacturers, refillable bottles started to be replaced by ‘throwaway containers’ and ‘many of them were ending up as roadside trash’. Ginger Strand records:
A Beautiful If Evil Strategy — Plastic Pollution Coalition
…well-designed ad campaign. The ad itself functions on several levels of understanding … the most basic surface level(visual), emotional (the tear), to a deeper level (the symbolism of Native Americans, historical atrocities, etc.).
… ad could be perceived as a “low blow” in the tactics it utilizes to elicit a certain emotional response from the viewer, the ad does successfully communicate the message that pollution does indeed affect us all …
PS: The above article states that he was chosen as a Native American actor. I did not paste that into the quote below. Iron Eyes Cody was an actor of Italian descent, not Native American. What a crock. I feel ripped off with this lie. And you?
What if we make all container out of plastic? Will that save the planet?
Wikipedia states: ‘Microplastics could contribute up to 30% of the ‘plastic soup’ polluting the world’s oceans and – in many developed countries – are a bigger source of marine plastic pollution than the more visible larger pieces of marine litter, according to a 2017 IUCN report’.
Did you know that tires are not made of rubber? Check it out in this article: A Beautiful If Evil Strategy
…and that was only the tip of the trash iceberg…
Can you believe that the fashion industry plays an enormous part in our failing ecological balance?
The old timers will tell you how they saved worn out rags in a rag bag. Rags were used for sanitary napkins and quilt pieces. We worn clothes and sock until there was a hole, which we patched or darned. Kids worn Hand-me-downs.
CBC Newshttps://youtu.be/elU32XNj8PM
ABC News In-depthABC News In-depth https://youtu.be/4fkbQynfSyY
CBC News
Reuse, Repurpose or Rethink
What are some ways that you can reduce waste?
Below is my waste reducing tip. It is an unsolited promomtion for my new favorite laundry detergent.
Earth Breeze hello@earthbreeze.com via talkable.com to Malika Bourne
Disclaimer: The above image came to my personal email from Earth Breeze with the encouragement to share. I do not own the copyrights to the above image. This section will save you $10 and I will get a referral bonus of $10 IF you chose to try Earth Breeze
Look at this photo… We can do better than this. Please help share Earth Breeze! @EarthBreeze Copy right of the image above is owned by Earth Breeze was sent to No Non-cents Nanna/ Malika Bourne in an email promotion. I was encouraged to share.
Give friends $10 off their first order and get rewarded with $10 off your next order when they make a purchase. Use the link right below for your first order.
The more friends you and I refer, the more rewards you and I can earn!
No Non-cents Nanna/ Malika Bourne is sharing her personal link with friends. Feel free to Use my personal share link: https://www.talkable.com/x/kSlhTQ
To get $10 off your first order of Earth Breeze: Click on this go directly to my referral link on Earth Breeze : https://www.talkable.com/x/
kSlhTQ Every purchase is helping stop 700,000,000 plastic jugs from reaching landfills and oceans!
By switching from traditional laundry to Earth Breeze Eco Sheets
you are reducing your carbon footprint by around 90%!
You CAN make a difference! All it takes is inspiring your friends!
Click HERE to read about EARTH BREEZE impact on others. It is inspiring.
This old No Non-cents Nanna loves Earth Breeze: Let me count the ways.
- Minimal weight and no bulky jug to carry on top of laundry basket on my trips outside on the way to the community laundry room. (Earth Breeze comes in dehydrated laundry sheets.)
- No trips to the store to buy laundry detergent – mailed in biodegradable packaging. I save $s by subscribing.
- Our clothes, including 4 dozen white wash clothes a week get really clean even in a community washing machine and cold water only.
- Stinky sweaty T-shirts smell great after only one washing.
- I am not filling up our apartment complex’s dumpster with big bulky toxic residue coated jugs.
- For every ONE package of Earth Breeze I/you buy, Earth Breeze donates TEN loads of laundry to somewhere in need. See below.
- …I’m just getting started counting…
Buy One, Give Ten
The creation of our Buy One, Give Ten Program which was launched in Nov 2020 was inspired by our common desire to make a difference. With this program, you choose where you want your contribution to go. Each purchase of Earth Breeze Eco-Sheets allows us to donate 10 loads of laundry detergent on your behalf.
Disclaimer: No Non-cents Nanna/ Malika Bourne has no financial stake in the Earth Breeze company. I choose to share this as an ad because I love planet Earth and I love using the product. Yes, I may receive $10 award for every person who chooses to use the above share link for their first purchase.
In summary:
The “I wants” of good people have created a complicated ecological, economic and emotional mess. Everyone of us humans on this green planet will need to make adjustments in our wants and needs if we want Earth to continue to have green grass and blue skies that are fit for life to survive.
What is one thing that you will do today, this week, this month and this year to make a sincere difference?
I am Malika Bourne, the No Non-cents Nanna encouraging you to make good choices
Powered by TEOE.net
Views: 738