Here’s a really good example of recycling. It’s a product from Ecover where the cardboard packaging was already 100% recycled and is also recyclable. Recycled and recyclable – that’s great.
This product from Ecover was their All-In-One Dishwasher Tablets. Yes, I know it’s bad that I’m using a dishwasher as I’m sure it would create less impact on the environment if I washed the dishes by hand. But remember that one of the main ideas behind Use 10 Percent Less is that you don’t have to go from zero to hero in one huge step. If the whole world can start reducing consumption by just 10 percent, right now, that would be a tremendous relief for the planet and the environment.
[Click on the images to see them full-size]
Ecover seems to be really putting in a lot of effort to do better things for the world. On the back of the box (image below) we can see that Ecover has been in business since 1979 and they call themselves the “rebels of the cleaning world”. It’s really good to see that their packaging is already 100% recycled and that it can be recycled again.
On the Ecover website, I see the following;
WHAT WE BELIEVE IN – When we say we live and breathe clean, we mean it. From the way we do business to how we source our ingredients to our war on ocean plastic – it’s all about finding new ways to put our clean values into practice. Even if it’s going to take a while to get there. (ecover.com)
Also, on the side of the box (image below), they have the Cruelty-Free International logo. See http://www.crueltyfreeinternational.org for more about the Cruelty Free International organisation who claim to be ” the leading organisation working to end animal experiments worldwide”.
Where to from here?
In October last year, I wrote an article called Ban New Plastic where I make the case for governments to ban the production of new plastic. Everything should be recycled these days as we already have enough plastic. This argument carries even more easily for cardboard packaging. I can’t think of any good reason why all cardboard packaging should not be 100% recycled. Once again, governments should ban new cardboard packaging (or, as some people call it, virgin packaging) and enforce all cardboard packaging to be 100% recycled.
But, of course, governments will be slow to act on this because they won’t want to annoy powerful companies who might support them, or otherwise have some power over them.
So, in the end it’s up to us. Look for packaging that is recycled and recyclable and, when we find examples (like Ecover), let’s support these companies. And all along the way, don’t forget the idea behind Use 10 Percent Less, and in all things let’s try to consume less even if it is already recycled.
All things must change when the consumer changes.
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