Are we being tricked by businesses and our culture?
In the Video Op-Ed on the right, The NYT debunks a recycling myth that has duped us into guilt-free consumption for years and years.At Hummingbird, we realize that food is one of the largest areas where people are buying things in plastic, paper, aluminum, and other materials and are led to believe that recycling will make it OK. From where we are now, it doesn't feel OK. And with the recent changes in recycling in the USA, we are all trying to come to terms with our waste and how we can live with less.
Our Container deposit, return and reuse program has been one way that we have been chipping away at packaging waste since the beginning of our business. We cannot "recycle our way out" of waste, but we can try to use less, buy in bulk when we can to reduce packaging, and reuse as much as possible. It has not always been easy, but the best things are never easy! Our customers and our coworkers love and support the container reuse program. We have more than a 76% return rate, overall, and we have reused over 125,000 lbs of plastic containers and over 93,000 lbs of glass containers, since 2003. That is a lot of plastic and glass diverted from the waste stream!