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WB.Motivator editor Natalia Porotikova started sorting garbage and recycling a month ago. The changes in life turned out to be not at all as severe as it was thought at first, and some of them were very pleasant.
I always wanted to leave less trash behind me, but I made changes gradually, giving myself time to get used to. My bag usually contains a shopper or a shopping bag, and since last year, a reusable coffee cup. A month ago, I decided not to send plastic and paper to the landfill, but to sort and recycle.
So far, I am far from the level of the Collector volunteers, who distinguish polypropylene from polystyrene from three meters away, but I am learning. At home, I put several containers where I put clean and dry recyclables. About once every two weeks I sort out the contents into categories (it’s more convenient to do this at home, in advance) and go to take everything.
Now this is my sport. Buying products packaged in something that cannot be handed over became simply a shame.
In stores, I now study the label a little longer. I buy only if I know: this plastic and this foil will definitely be accepted. Tetrapack — take. Polypropylene — they take it, therefore, when I see the «five» on the plastic, I buy this product calmly. I still take bags for weighing vegetables and fruits, I just hand them over for processing later.
Doypacks are not accepted for processing, so I will choose ketchup in a glass bottle, and I will make mayonnaise myself.
Meat cuts are evil from the point of view of separate collection (and not only): neither shrink film nor a multilayer substrate is accepted for processing. So, now you need to go to the market for the ingredients of the hodgepodge.
Of my two favorite types of yogurt, one survived. — the one that is tastier and a little more expensive. The second paper is welded to a plastic cup tightly; You can’t just give it up like that, but you can’t separate it.
Fast food has disappeared from my life. From their disposable tableware, only plastic spoons, forks, and even tubes can be recycled. Paper cups with a plastic lining, disposable plates, and the paper that hamburgers are wrapped in will either end up in landfills or escape into the atmosphere if they are burned. So far, no one has figured out how to recycle paper with plastic welded to it.
Meetings in cafes with friends have also changed somewhat. If we were given something disposable from the dishes that can be handed over, I take with me both my set and what was given to my friend. I carry a plastic file in my bag so I can put a drink straw in it and not stain the lining.
Coffee houses were divided into two groups: where they take my reusable cup and where they refuse. I don’t pester employees of fast food restaurants with my glass — I’m afraid to break their program. (People have rigid standards, you can understand them). The average quality of the coffee I drink out of the house is not much, but it has gone up.
There is something cute in your glass and lunch box — it’s like a part of the house that you carry with you. I will not give up on this even when people learn how to recycle any single-use packaging.
I kind of think about littering less, but I get better quality food and coffee.
At first, I sent bottles and bags to special containers next to the trash cans. In Moscow, there is a «Sobirator» — a large self-service eco-center, where you need to lay out recyclables yourself. Here you can turn in almost everything: from cash receipts (which are usually not accepted anywhere) to old toothbrushes and non-working small electronics. Where to put something is signed, but if you have a question, volunteers will always help.
There are many places in Moscow where you can donate recyclables. In other cities of Russia, there are also reception points, they are easily googled «city name + separate collection.»
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