We came across a staggering piece of information recently:
nearly half of the containers and packaging that ends up in landfills can be recycled. Half. That’s a lot of every-day items in homes across America that can be re-used.
Our Bag The Box friend, Tom Szaky with TerraCycle, recently wrote
a great piece for
Packaging Digestin which he points out that statistic, as well as some other gems, like how a March 2012 Nielsen study showed that recycling was the most important environmental aspect of a product across both genders and all age groups. Recycling and, our favorite, re-using is so important to people, yet so many items go to waste. Why?
Recycling -- or upcycling -- is easier than people may think.
Earth911 came out with a list a few years ago that bears repeating. People don’t recycle or re-use because:
- It’s inconvenient, or they don’t have curbside containers to help sort.
- There’s no incentive to do it.
- It’s not economical. Sometimes earth-friendly packaging can be more expensive.
While these are valid issues, we here at Bag The Box take issue with the last two. Look at our Malt-O-Meal cereals, for example. We’re priced
less than our competitors, and one of the reasons for that is our packaging. And there certainly is an incentive to recycle and reuse; in fact, there are hundreds of them! You can send in used bags to TerraCycle so the team can come up with fun ways to make it into a
wallet or
gift bag. You can take on DIY projects on your own. You can donate to the
Cereal Bag Brigade.
But obviously, word needs to get out! If people aren’t aware of the incentives, they can’t take advantage of them. So Tom says in his
Packaging Digest article, the frame of mind needs to change. He says the next time you see an empty box or wrapper, don’t just walk on by. Instead, “ask yourself not only where it came from, but also where it can go.”
Where have your Malt-O-Meal cereal bags gone? What have you done lately to change your frame of mind?
