Consumers are not to blame
I've noticed that much of the rhetoric around recycling and waste disposal berates consumers for how much we waste, as if it was our fault. This seems the wrong way around. The real polluters are the manufacturers who don't make it easy for us to recycle packaging and spent products. I believe many people would like to do more than they currently can, and I believe if the packaging on more things was reduced and made easier to recycle, it would make it easier for consumers to reduce and recycle more. And I don't just mean giving households more recycling bins. Government has a contribution to make. If we wanted to, we could pass a law making it illegal to sell products in packages that cannot be recycled in NZ. And let's not just blame the manufacturers – let's make it easier for them to access and choose good packaging materials. Make it easier to find out about packaging types, plastic types, and the impact of the packaging being used with products. Relate...
