How the success and popularity of recycling has diverted attention
from the steep environmental costs of manufacturing the goods we consume
and discard.
Recycling is widely celebrated as an environmental success story. The
accomplishments of the recycling movement can be seen in municipal
practice, a thriving private recycling industry, and widespread public
support and participation. In the United States, more people recycle
than vote. But, as Samantha MacBride points out in this book, the goals
of recycling--saving the earth (and trees), conserving resources, and
greening the economy--are still far from being realized. The vast
majority of solid wastes are still burned or buried. MacBride argues
that, since the emergence of the recycling movement in 1970,
manufacturers of products that end up in waste have successfully
prevented the implementation of more onerous, yet far more effective,
forms of sustainable waste policy. Recycling as we know it today
generates the illusion of progress while allowing industry to maintain
the status quo and place responsibility on consumers and local
government.
MacBride offers a series of case studies in recycling that pose
provocative questions about whether the current ways we deal with waste
are really the best ways to bring about real sustainability and
environmental justice. She does not aim to debunk or discourage
recycling but to help us think beyond recycling as it is today.