I’m recently back from a trip to Maine where I visited friends. One of the highlights of my trip was a tour of Ecomaine’s recycling facility. It’s all about our stuff. You might remember George Carlin’s skit about stuff.
Recycling facilities offer a critical service. Unfortunately, we consume so much stuff that recycling is not enough. Right now there is tremendous 
pressure on the picturesque Finger Lakes in New York State (home of many wineries) to receive evermore stuff into their landfills. People are up in arms. But who can blame them? I don’t want a landfill in my backyard either. Who is to blame? Well, uh, it’s you, me, and all of us. The fact of the matter is we all buy too much stuff. And the manufacturers and the retailers, they just add to it by blister packing it in cardboard and plastic so it’s more difficult to shoplift and looks great on the shelves or on hooks. Having all this stuff is also causing global temperatures to rise, due to the energy required to produce it.
So, the solution is, buy less and package less. If we don’t do it, then the planet will do it for us. I’m not making a pitch to save the planet—it will go on without us. I’m making the pitch to save ourselves. But at the very least, keep recycling.
My thanks to our tour guide, Katrina, who knew the answers to all of our many questions.
Stephen Fielding Images 