"If you recycle you're part of the problem". My college environmental science teacher had this bumper sticker phrase stuck on his office door. It caused me to think. First of course I was shocked, outraged, then bemused, and finally ponderous. I have never forgotten that phrase, and even last weekend at the living green expo I tried to convince a bumper sticker company to add this to their collection ( they are considering it, but I won't hold my breath ) . Interestingly enough, I had always thought the true meaning of the sticker's message was to get people to think about first reducing and then reusing their waste. While these pursuits are great ideas, they aren't always effective. Buying a shirt made from recycled soda bottles may keep a few of them out of landfills for as long as you wear the shirt, it ultimately will end up there in but a moments time ( geologically speaking ). In addition, doing this may actually prevent it from being recycled back into a useable product ( like another soda bottle ).
I have just cracked the surface of the book cradle to cradle but I already am a fan. Imagine for a second a bottle designed differently. Not out of just materials that may be reused or recycled but once they were used up ( or mistakenly thrown away ) they provided a frame work for more materials. For example: design a soda bottle that is biodegradable that contains seeds that will grow into the very products that are used to make the bottle. You throw it out, it grows, using the bottles nutrients to help it and the materials for making new bottles are at your fingertips once again. This is so much more of a paradigm shift than the 3rs that it very well may truly save our planet.
To find out more about cradle to cradle check out this amazing documentary: Waste=Food.
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