Book Review/Heather Seggel

Escaping Garbage Island

Instead of a new book, let’s talk about an old one that is increasingly relevant. Originally published in 1995 by Ceres Press, it appears to be out of print now, though copies are widely available online. “Choose to Reuse: An Encyclopedia of Services, Products, Programs & Charitable Organizations That Foster Reuse,” by authors Nikki and David Goldbeck, is exactly what it claims to be. Encyclopedic in scope, it is full of tips and resources that don’t just answer the questions you may have, but raises new ones that will have you reconsidering your relationship to the 3 R’s.

Unlike many hard copy encyclopedias, this book is dynamic and useful for much more than propping up an unsteady couch leg. Compiled before the internet was commonplace, it’s nevertheless easy to find what you need; current information about a company like Real Goods (located in my hometown at the time of publication, now several miles away on a beautiful campus in Hopland, Calif.) is a quick DuckDuckGo search away. A brief introductory section discusses reuse and why it’s critical to keep things out of the waste stream whenever possible. Bear in mind that in 1995 our trash was a problem; today it’s a crisis. From “recyclables” that end up in landfills in the developing world to toxic trash littering our roadways and literal islands of discarded single-use plastic choking our seas, it’s long past time for us to reduce our impact on overtaxed systems.

Slipped in among the A to Z listings (coffee filters? Try cloth or a mesh basket, or get that percolator out of the attic and put it to work!) are stories of creative reuse in action to inspire you. A Recycling and Disposal Facility in Massachusetts had a barrel on site to collect discarded books, but when they saw people crowding around to paw through it, the books got shelves and eventually their own small room, complete with a bulletin board so people could request titles. Just browsing through the entries at random can inspire some easy swaps as well as larger changes you can make with minimal hassle.

I pulled my copy off the shelf after seeing a news story about an unfortunate side effect of Marie Kondo’s “Tidying Up” series on Netflix: People are inspired to toss everything they own that doesn’t spark joy, and feel an extra surge of altruistic pride by responsibly donating it to thrift stores, who are not thrilled with the sudden glut of joyless junk appearing at their back doors. (I used to do this myself, but a six-month stint volunteering at a thrift store made it very clear that a picnic blanket still full of grass clippings and dog hair is not appropriate to donate! If you’re in doubt, imagine finding the item on a shelf with a price tag on it. If your first thought is, “Who would pay for this?” either toss it or put it on Freecycle.) “Choose to Reuse” helps connect the dots between what you do now and where it leads, so you can start with the most sustainable option, whether you’re buying a printer cartridge or a tuba.

In the time since the book came out, more communities are creating tool and appliance libraries, which make great sense; for a brief time even my public library branch had various cake pans and kitchen odds and ends available to borrow. Not only do these services mean less wasteful consumption, they encourage stewardship and connection among the patrons, making them a community-building asset. Maybe there’s a similar need in your own city that you can implement.

The tension between our individual daily actions and the larger forces in our economy sometimes butt heads in ugly ways. I follow a Zero Waste group online, a great group of folks trying to purge single-use plastics from their shopping trips; a member posted a meme mocking a group of Seattle activists who staged an event on the water to protest an oil refinery “in kayaks made from petroleum.” Commenters ignored the big picture and agreed with the sentiment while citing their refusal of plastic straws as the more valuable effort. It was very discouraging. You’ve heard the news; we’re living through a climate catastrophe and have a decade to slow it down if we’re lucky. One straw, one tool library, even one refinery swapped out for a wind farm is not going to save us at this point. We need massive action, and we need it 20 years ago. Nevertheless, those daily actions do help, and if you’re inclined to lighten your trashy footprint and realistic about the fate of most recyclables, “Choose to Reuse” can help refine your focus and make some easy changes that free up time for the big fight ahead of us.

Heather Seggel is a writer living in Northern California. Email heatherlseggel@gmail.com.

From The Progressive Populist, June 15, 2019

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