Sustainable is Good | Where design, lifestyle and packaging meet

Is the United States Postal Service Coasting on Green?

BY DENNIS SALAZAR

A good friend of mine, who is very much in tune with the national sustainability scene, recently, shared his belief that many companies and organizations who helped lead us into sustainability were now sitting back and resting on their laurels. Almost as if they had “been there and done that” or as one of our most entertaining politicians in recent memory, put it – “mission accomplished”.

We have the distinct privilege of working with some of the most progressive and committed companies who see “going green” as a never ending process so initially I did not share my friend’s opinion. However, as I took a closer look at some of the companies and organizations who received the great PR and headlines just a year or two ago, many are definitely green coasting. The one that stands out in an increasingly crowded field is our own United States Postal Service.

FSC and C2C are NOT Certificates of Completion

Two years ago, at the end of 2007 USPS was getting a lot of accolades for their FSC and Cradle to Cradle certifications and quite frankly, they deserved the applause and appreciation of the green community.  Both certifications are difficult to obtain, and undoubtedly USPS spent considerable time and resources securing two of the foremost certifications available, at that time. 

FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification on a product (in this case USPS corrugated boxes) confirms that the origin can be traced back through proper “chain of custody” practices, all the way to the forest that grew the tree, that the box was made from. C2C (Cradle to Cradle) certification applies to other USPS packaging products and is indeed a prestigious accomplishment. It certifies that a product is made using minimal energy, leaves a minimal carbon footprint, etc. Simply put, it tracks what a product was, how it is made and where/how it will wind up. I think we can agree, that is all pretty important stuff.

SISG’s Rider Thompson wrote and posted an excellent article back on December 13, 2007 detailing what these certifications mean and the process involved in earning them so I will not attempt to rewrite what has already been well documented. And I certainly don’t want to minimize these sustainability accomplishments; however, I do need to point out what these two certifications are not. They are NOT certifying the way the products are specified or used by the USPS or their customers.

These certifications are also not recent. Memo from Earth to the USPS: what have you done for me lately?

“We Deliver” Waste

I think it is wonderful that a person who occasionally ships a package can go to the local post office or hop on line, and order the packaging materials they need, for free. I don’t even have a problem with the professional E-Bay merchants and other large volume mailers using this no cost service to ship out dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of packages per week.

Even though I sell packaging materials, the secondary packaging market is large enough that I don’t see this USPS customer perk as a major threat to my livelihood. My problems with this program are green focused and are twofold:

• Since the boxes are free, I often see people “loading up” and the USPS web site encourages this by listing a maximum of 100 boxes on most items. Since no one monitors this usage, like any other government managed program, it has to be riddled with waste and I have to wonder how many boxes wind up never being used for their intended purpose. I can’t wait to see what the federal government is able to do for us on health insurance.
• This practice along with their “flat rate” service pricing discourages “right sizing” a shipping container to the product being shipped as I and any other packaging professional would recommend. How much air and void fill material is filling trucks and being shipped in their over sized containers? We may never know but let’s agree it is not an environmentally responsible way to ship anything.

Board Content versus Box Content

If what product goes into a USPS box is a potential problem, certainly so is what goes into the board that is used to make the box. Thanks to the USPS white exterior on their boxes, what is going into the USPS board is at least 30% virgin content, hence the FSC certification. Anyone who knows me knows I am a major proponent of recycling packaging waste and using that waste to make new packaging materials. I also believe that the largest shippers in the world such as e-commerce companies and catalog houses as well as the USPS have an obligation to help create a market for recycled content packaging by using it, not just creating the packaging waste.

USPS and the Two R’s of Sustainability

Most green minded companies live by three R’s which are Recycling, Reducing and Reusing. With their policies and programs it is obvious that the USPS is not doing as a good of a job as possible of reducing usage or recycled content  but they are darn adamant about not supporting the third “R” we call reusing.

USPS boxes are well built and sturdy and can often times be used again but USPS policy prohibits the re-use of any of their shipping boxes. Why? I have no idea but you can ask Gary Adler of Castle Rock, Colorado who last year found himself in trouble with USPS for reusing a Priority Mail box. It is against USPS rules to even reuse containers that are turned inside out or used for internal packaging purposes. Scan the internet and you will find many incidents where customers unintentionally violated USPS and federal regulations by doing what we should all be doing, and that is reusing every box and container we possibly can.

You would think that a service provider expected to lose over three billion dollars in 2009 would be interested in minimizing wasted packaging, if not for green’s sake, for economic good sense but let’s keep logic out of the process. After all, we live in an era of government bail outs and the second largest employer in the country (second only to Wal-Mart) will undoubtedly soon have their hand out to get their fair share of our dwindling tax dollars. And of course, there is always another postage rate hike around the corner to relieve their financial woes, at least temporarily.

The only thing more disappointing is all of those consumers who really think those USPS boxes are free.

Dennis Salazar is the president of Salazar Packaging, Inc., a certified MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) company specializing in packaging products, equipment and solutions. With over thirty years in the packaging industry, he is known for his tongue in cheek sense of humor as well as his sustainable packaging passion and expertise.   

To contact Dennis, please visit his web site: www.salazarpackaging.com

 

Green Washing at a Green Conference?

BY DENNIS SALAZAR

It’s kind of like finding salmonella at a healthy food fair but it happens. Last week I attended one of the largest green conferences of its kind, completely focused on sustainability and green businesses. It was being held at The Hotel Whitcomb, one of San Francisco’s oldest and greenest hotels.

 
After arriving in my room, I glanced at the bathroom amenities shelf and saw an extra roll of tissue which is always a good thing to locate when you’re on the road. I read the label and was impressed by the product name: Renature Bathroom Tissue. “That looks like a nice green brand,” I thought when I saw the recycled logo but then noticed the problematic printing under the name: 100% recyclable.

Labeling to Inform or Misinform?

What does that mean? What is bathroom tissue that is 100% recyclable? I am not sure I even want to know but I suspect there were a number of different things they could have printed on the wrapper that would be more accurate and possibly every bit as green sounding as what they chose. Does the product contain recycled content? Perhaps, but we’ll never know for sure, I guess. Is it biodegradable? I think most tissue is designed for that. What exactly do they mean by 100% recyclable?

Is the Green Kool-Aid Glass Half full or Half Empty?

In our relationship my wife is the “glass half full” type of person it takes to offset my half empty nature. When I showed the product to her, she suggested they might be talking about the wrapper, not the product itself. “That is even worse,” I quickly retorted. “That is even more misleading!” Yes, this is the type of conversation we enjoying having which likely explains why we have few friends and usually travel alone.  Anyway, back to the tissue issue.

“Who Made This Product”

I asked myself, wondering which one of the major paper mills made this subtle but serious gaff in product identification and marketing. I expected to find the name of any one of the many major manufacturers of tissue but instead read “A Product of Advantage Marketing Associates”.

“Ahh, that explains it,” I thought as I realized the product was not being offered by anyone who necessarily knows anything about sustainability, or for that matter about tissue. One might also question whether good, basic marketing knowledge was present the day this one was raised up the flag pole for all those eager to salute.

The product is obviously a private label item which pretty much takes the real product manufacturer off the hook with regards to content or virtually anything else. It also means the marketing company can say just about anything they want to on the label.

Green Needs and Green Products

The tissue at the Hotel Whitcomb could have been supplied by a company like 7^th Generation who is a market leader in the area of sustainable household paper products. All of the major tissue paper mills also have their own “green” lines for eco minded hotels and motels.

Or better yet, they could have chosen to do business with one of the small, independent green companies who have also created green products of this type. Companies like Planet Inc. who was exhibiting at the green festival, which immediately followed the green conference. The nice lady we met at their booth proudly informed us her bath tissue is now 90% recycled content and just won an award for softness. That sounds serious about green, doesn’t it?

Too bad she was not chosen as a supplier to the hotel where the green conference was held but unfortunately these decisions are often made based on personal relationships or the lowest bidder, not the greenest company or product. Sad but true, even at a green hotel, hosting a green conference.

In the mean time, other companies continue to “cash in” on this undeniable and irreversible sustainability trend by utilizing soft pastel colors, green sounding names and eco sounding catch phrases with no real substance behind them.

Speaking of truth and accuracy in labeling, perhaps “Advantage Marketing”, would be more accurately named, “Take Advantage Marketing”. I’m sure that quip has been 100% recycled as well.

Dennis Salazar is the president of Salazar Packaging, Inc., a certified MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) company specializing in packaging products, equipment and solutions. With over thirty years in the packaging industry, he is known for his tongue in cheek sense of humor as well as his sustainable packaging passion and expertise.  Dennis is also a featured blogger at www.packagingdigest.com.

To contact Dennis, please visit his web site: www.salazarpackaging.com

 

Glass Packaging is Back, Sustainable and Drop Dead Gorgeous

BY DENNIS SALAZAR

One of the delights of being in the packaging industry for as long as I have been is witnessing the resurgence of many “old” packaging materials such as water activated paper tape, corrugated board in many new uses and on the retail packaging side, the old fashioned glass bottle or jar.

A quick peek in our refrigerator or kitchen pantry will show the variety of packaging materials that now satisfy some of the past, most common applications for glass containers. A wide range of newer packaging solutions ranging from multi-layer boxes to plastics in different grades now replace the traditional glass container for products such as milk, juice and even ketchup.

Clearly Glass Is Back in a Big Green Way

With the woes of the overall economy, precise industry numbers are difficult to obtain or compare but according to the Glass Packaging Institute, retail glass packaging is growing rapidly in terms of use and applications. It seems that the word is out that glass is pure, reusable, recyclable and very sustainable from several different perspectives.

 According their web site www.gpi.org, “recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 60-watt bulb for four hours, a computer for 30 minutes or a television for 20 minutes”. That is very neat stuff in this day and age; especially considering the relentless “anti-plastic” sentiment of the green market.

From a recycling and up cycling perspective, the new, “hot” material for green home design is counter tops manufactured from guess what? Crushed glass. You can easily see why the glass industry is growing again and why it may be one of the best “new” green packaging solutions.

The Green Packaging Bad News

With this increased use of glass, there is also an expected and proportionate rise in damage from full or partial cases of glass packaged products shipping via UPS, FedEx and USPS. Compound this with the fact that many companies now prefer glass over plastic and other non-eco friendly materials for packaging of their healthy, organic or otherwise “green” products, you can see why this is a fast growing problem. It stands to reason, the more glass we use and ship; the more likely we are to have breakage in shipment.

Sustainable packaging and Survival of the Fittest

Damage leads to unhappy customers and increased costs for everyone so it is not at all surprising to see a company like FedEx devote a large part of their website to package testing.  http://www.fedex.com/us/services/pdf/PKG_Testing_Procedures.pdf Similar information can be found at USPS and UPS’s websites but FedEx makes their information clearer and much easier to locate and use.

Regardless of whether you drop test a package seven or ten times and do it from a height of 30”, 36” or 48”, the end result is often times the same. There are many different variations of this test but you can understand why it can be brutal, especially on a glass product, improperly packaged for shipment. The glass container is vulnerable to the impact shock transferred to it from a drop and that is not a good thing.

The Green Packaging Silver Lining

From the simple perspective of a packaging sales person, especially one who focuses on green, protective secondary packaging, this should all sound like great news. More damage should lead to more packaging and cushioning materials, right?

That is correct in theory but keep in mind the same green buyer who wants glass container packaging for its eco benefits is also the same customer who is likely to demand less secondary packaging, not more. So what is a packager to do?

Green Secondary Packaging

In my opinion, there has never been a time when there has been such a wide variety of affordable, eco friendly secondary packaging products and solutions as are available today. Recycled and recyclable corrugated die cut products, biodegradable inflatable products, and even molded pulp that was once relegated to drink cup carriers are all back in a big way.

There is probably not a product that I am aware of today that cannot be shipped safely anywhere in the world with use of a blocking, bracing, cushioning or void fill material that is obviously and inarguably green. If the first concern is product protection, the close second is green perception so using products that communicate a clear and consistent green message, is more important than ever.

For most of the world drop dead gorgeous means something else but for people with glass or otherwise fragile products, it means product arriving in one piece and that is truly a beautiful thing.

Dennis Salazar is the president of Salazar Packaging, Inc., a certified MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) company specializing in packaging products, equipment and solutions. With over thirty years in the packaging industry, he is known for his tongue in cheek sense of humor as well as his sustainable packaging passion and expertise.  Dennis is also a featured blogger at www.packagingdigest.com.

To contact Dennis, please visit his web site: www.salazarpackaging.com

 

Sustainable Packaging – At What Cost?

A group I belong to recently had an interesting online debate on why sustainable packaging was "always" more expensive. The reasons and theories cited included freight and transportation costs, greedy manufacturers, a shift from some materials to others creating shortages, etc. Most of the wide variety of comments posted were accurate to some degree, but I was surprised no one mentioned the first rule of business, the one even non-business people often quote.

Sustainability and the Law of Supply and Demand

If more people were buying any specific green packaging product, more companies would manufacture it and eventually, probably sooner than later, the market price would be reduced due to increased competition. In addition, whether you are talking about tape, boxes, or void fill, short runs of a green packaging product for any manufacturer are always substantially more expensive than a long run of a similar "non-green" product because of costly changeover time and related costs. We need to understand that companies have spent decades and millions streamlining and automating their manufacturing processes to be able to produce volume efficiently. Once you realize and accept these facts, the solution is fairly obvious.

How Can Brown Boxes Turn Green?

Our company recently introduced a line of 100% recycled post consumer content corrugated boxes with the objective of making them price competitive with "standard" boxes that usually contain 25 to 35% recycled pre-consumer, in plant waste content. Our approach has been rather expensive in terms of time, initial start up costs, inventory buildup, etc., but essentially we helped design the product, enlisted the help of a visionary company to help make the product we were confident the market wanted and needed, and then took it to market. By combining volume of numerous smaller users, we were able to secure the support of a major corrugated manufacturer by providing them the volume that they need to be efficient in the production of our product. Much to our pleasant surprise, we discovered that our boxes are not necessarily much higher in price, in most cases we are within 10% of the current supplier and in some cases we are even less expensive!

Market Response

What has been fascinating to us through the launch and introduction has been the wide range of potential customer expectations and perceptions. Many of the people we speak with expect our product to be outrageously priced and they initially respond with "I want to be green but I can’t afford it". They have been convinced that green will always cost double or more than standard products and we are happy to dispel that misconception.

We have also been surprised by the number of people who believe our product should be less expensive since it is not made of virgin material. They obviously do not understand that saving consumer waste from landfills is more expensive in many ways that cutting down a tree that is genetically engineered to grow back in a relatively short five to seven years. I think we can all relate to high fuel prices and what it has done to freight and transportation costs.

The only prospects that we have not been able to help have been inquiries for highly unusual sizes, custom printed boxes in very small quantities. For all the reasons cited above, they usually discover there is little we can do to make their unique box be price competitive with standard construction, common size, stock box pricing.

Market Reaction by the Environmentally Focused

One fully committed lady told me she understood what we were attempting to do short term as well as long term and offered to help support our program during this initial costly phase. One incredibly eco minded prospect quickly stated that he could justify paying up to 50% more for our product because he was certain it would help him make his environmental message to his customers more consistent and more obvious. I instantly admired him for his environmental commitment and swore not to take advantage of his eagerness and openness. I am pleased to say our pricing was very competitive to what he had been paying to his former vendor.

Full Steam Ahead!

Despite the erratic price perceptions and inconsistent manufacturing costs, we are fully committed to bringing green products to market; in fact, we are about to roll out several new items in response to our customers’ growing sustainable packaging needs.

We are confident market pricing will eventually stabilize at very attractive and competitive levels as supply catches up with the slow but steady increase in demand. Unfortunately today’s weak economy has put the spotlight on price and to survive, companies are looking anywhere and everywhere to reduce cost but we remain optimistic. We are counting on the fact that the environment will not be where companies decide to make compromises.

Dennis Salazar is the president of Salazar Packaging, Inc., a certified MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) company specializing in packaging products, equipment and solutions. With over thirty years in the packaging industry, he is known for his tongue in cheek sense of humor as well as his sustainable packaging passion and expertise.   

To contact Dennis, please visit his web site: www.salazarpackaging.com

 

Globe Guard Post Consumer Recycled Boxes

Salazar Packaging, a distributor of packaging materials and equipment with a focus on sustainable packaging, recently launched its own brand of corrugated boxes made from 100% post-consumer recycled content.  The new boxes are available in standard and custom sizes offering a cost effective option for businesses looking for 100% post consumer recycled corrugated boxes. 

"We are confident we will be able to make 100% recycled content boxes readily available at a reasonable price to any company that wants their packaging to be consistent with their green message and product," said Dennis Salazar, president of Salazar Packaging Inc. and a Sustainable is Good contributor.

"We have all seen a great, eco minded product wrapped in un-eco packaging, and inserted in an improperly sized un-eco box and filled with a very un-eco void fill," Salazar said.

Salzar Packaging is working with various corrugated sheet plants to produce the Globe Guard line of boxes.  The recycled materials used in their production are primarily from local municipal waste Salazar said.

"We are incredibly excited about Globe Guard and see it as an important contribution to the sustainable packaging movement," said Salazar.

"Contrary to popular perception, corrugated boxes usually contain only 25-35% recycled material - or less. Now, high and low volume operations can use 100% PCW boxes and dramatically reduce their impact on the environment."

Besides contributing to a greener environment, Globe Guard boxes offer buyers another important benefit - affordability.  Unlike some packaging products engineered for sustainability, Globe Guard corrugated boxes do not sell at a premium.

Purchasers of the new boxes will be able to notice and let their customers notice the sustainable difference.

The Globe Guard logo is printed on the bottom flap of each box, and Salazar Packaging is offering customers a variety of marketing materials and support to help them express their environmental message by showcasing Globe Guard on their web sites, newsletters, and brochures.

Salazar said, "Our customer's customers are the people driving the Green movement.  Shippers need to let customers know about their sustainable efforts.  Otherwise sellers will see more and more customers drift away to what they perceive as 'Greener pastures'.  We think it's vitally important to help our customers keep their customers informed."

When Art Reflects our Non-Sustainable Life

CHRIS JORDAN I Photo depicting 2 million plastic bottles

I am in full agreement with those who say art does not imitate life, it reflects it. This could not be more true that in the work of photographer/artist Chris Jordan of Seattle.  Chris’ unique style is an indictment on our mass consuming society, and his work as well as his camera often focus on the amount of waste we generate and then dump into our environment.

The image shown above is from his series titled “Running the Numbers - An American Self-Portrait,” and is actually a photograph of two million disposable plastic bottles, the amount used every five minutes in the United States.  You can see the rest of his thought provoking series online at his web site.

Some of the other disturbing images Chris includes in his work are depictions of -

·    38,000 shipping containers, the number of containers processed through American ports every twelve hours.
·     426,000 cell phones, equal to the number of cell phones retired in the U.S. every day.
·    8 million toothpicks, equal to the number of trees harvested in the U.S. every month to make the paper for mail order catalogs.
·    170,000 disposable Energizer batteries, equal to fifteen minutes of Energizer battery production.
·    30,000 reams of office paper, or 15 million sheets, equal to the amount of office paper used in the U.S. every five minutes.

And of course, any photographic or written commentary on our wasteful lifestyle would be incomplete if it did not include packaging. Chris’ photographs include images depicting -

·    60,000 plastic bags, the number used in the U.S. every five seconds.
·    106,000 aluminum cans, the number used in the U.S. every thirty seconds.
·    1.14 million brown paper supermarket bags, the number used in the U.S. every hour.
·    Two million plastic beverage bottles, the number used in the U.S. every five minutes.

We can question the statistics and numbers but we cannot ignore the problem. Also, if we are completely honest with ourselves, we should not avoid accepting the blame because the problem is unarguably and undoubtedly us.

The Cost Versus Price of Sustainability

Traditional Detergent Packaging is Slowly being Phased Out PHOTO I KinoSport

What does it cost for a manufacturer to deliver a more sustainable product or package to our retail store shelf and what should the resulting price be to us as consumers?

There is a perception that going green increases a manufacturer’s cost, but does it really? We have found that the answer is, not usually, especially if it is done correctly. There is also an equally inaccurate idea out there that we as consumers are willing and perhaps even eager to pay a premium for a more sustainable product or package. As a consumer who happens to be in the packaging business; the answer is definitely not, unless the higher price is truly necessary and justified.

These perceptions open the door for CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) manufacturers to quietly raise prices. Today I confirmed what I already suspected. While doing something positive for the environment, going green has become an opportunity for manufacturers to improve the profitability of a mature and perhaps less profitable product.

“Cleaning up” in the detergent aisle

Being the well trained husband that I am, I made my trip to the nearby, big box retail store, knowing the laundry detergent my wife wanted me to buy and what I should pay for it. I headed straight for the detergent aisle ( I told you I am well trained) and immediately saw the 200 ounce bottle that we usually buy and the brand new, concentrated version, bragging about its increased strength and the fact that only one half of the usual amount was now needed.

“That’s great,” I thought, knowing enough about packaging to appreciate the fact that the new version’s design meant -

• - overall less packaging
• - substantially less plastic resin used
• - reduced corrugated usage
• - lower inbound material and outbound finished product shipping costs
• - a smaller carbon footprint

Then I took a closer look at the numbers that were NOT in big, bright, bold print.

Secondary Packaging – The Silent Killer of the Environment

While direct contact/retail/primary packaging has been receiving all of the attention and well deserved scrutiny of the world, secondary packaging, without much attention at all, been has been quietly filling our landfills.

Trouble by the Pallet

It is estimated that the stretch film market - that nearly invisible product used to wrap pallets - is over 1.5 billion pounds annually. Stretch film is used for load retention and containment to get a product from one place to another. But after the product is received and the stretch wrap removed, it may well be re-palletized and then, of course, re-wrapped in more stretch film. If it sounds silly and wasteful, understand that scenario is probably played out tens of thousands of times each day between manufacturers, distribution centers and retailers. Guess where most of these 1.5 billion pounds wind up?

I admit my company sells stretch film and I suspect many may categorize it as a necessary evil because it is an excellent way to unitize and protect a load during shipment. For most loads, it can also help to avoid plastic or metal strapping, Strapping may not result is as much secondary packaging waste, but disposal is difficult, can be dangerous (ask anyone who has ever worked with it) and without costly, inflexible automation, the strapping process is labor intensive.

Fill Voids, Not Landfills

For the purpose of this discussion let’s acknowledge the difference between interior packaging and void fill products. Interior packaging is typically used in cushioning applications and can be constructed of a wide variety of flexible and rigid foams or of corrugated design. We usually see this around electronics and other high cost products that are susceptible to damage in shipment, especially from overseas. The volume of this waste is probably greater than anyone would suspect and the shame of it is that most of the foam products can be eliminated with good corrugated designs. That would make a great subject for an article but for now let’s focus on void fill materials.

Void fill packaging materials are used to protect the product(s) being shipped when the outer, shipping case is larger than the products. This is most common in pick and pack operations where orders tend to each be different in size, shape and weight. Most cases you receive are usually filled with some form of paper product (newsprint, indented, bogus, Kraft, etc.), bubble sheets, with one of many commercially available inflatable products, or loose fill materials including the much maligned (deservedly I believe) foam peanuts and shells.

With so many options and manufacturers involved in the void fill industry, it is impossible to determine or accurately estimate the amount of waste being generated. However, I think we can all agree the total volume is substantial. Just check the local landfill and you’ll see that voids in boxes is not all these products are filling.

The 2008 “7 R’s” of Anti-Sustainability

With tongue in cheek and apologies to the Wal-Mart version we have all heard, please consider these thoughts that are sure to help us NOT achieve sustainability in 2008.

1. Refuse to consider thoughts and opinions other than your own. If you are right and everyone else is wrong, why bother?

2. Remain glued to the status quo. After all if what you have been doing works, why take a chance on changing anything?

3. Reject any idea that even remotely sounds like compromise even though sometimes, that is the best way to accomplish progress.

4. Resist any new technology unless it is absolutely perfect and supports your position. “See I told you it wouldn’t work” can be all so satisfying.

5. Ridicule anyone who appears to be profiting from their work in sustainability, especially if their margin appears to exceed your own.

6. Repel anyone seeking knowledge or help. Everyone knowing as much as you do cannot be a good thing.

Last but not least

7. Resign yourself to the fact that the environmental problem is too large to be fixed. Seek new goals that are easier to achieve!

Who Are the Landfillers

BY DENNIS SALAZAR

We Have Met the Enemy, and He Is Us

Considering the surge in public awareness and all the media attention on our fragile environment, you may find this fact astounding – it is estimated that only about 30% of the waste able to be recycled, actually is.

Why don’t more people recycle their recyclable waste? The answer is as simple: because they don’t have to.

When I’m in mixed company or in the presence of young children, I refer to these non-recyclers as “Landfillers”. The Landfillers choose not to recycle because there is no immediate, short-term benefit to them, and absolutely no penalty for not complying.

I suspect the 30% figure varies greatly from one town or state to another. I am certain the actual percentage in my area is far less because of the Landfillers. In Southern California and other areas, recycling with meticulous sorting is required, but in our suburban Chicago village, we have no recycling regulations whatsoever. As a result, I would estimate the number of households on our street that do not use their recycling bin is probably close to 50%. What do the Landfillers do with their village-issue recycling bins? My best guess is the bins are used as step stools or toy bins, or got tossed in the trash and now gather dust in … the landfill.