Liu Jianwei liujjww@163.com SINCE Sept. 1, Shenzhen has formally begun the enforcement of its detailed classification stipulations governing garbage generated from daily activities of its citizens. Given the increasing number of packages arising from e-commerce and food delivery, the importance of this endeavor cannot be overemphasized. However, we cannot afford any sense of complacency with the initiation of these efforts. Recycling is just one of the ways to make the earth more inhabitable. Recycling garbage can be very costly and face immense technological challenges. Taking the recycling of plastics as an example, both the availability of technology and feasibility of economics are still challenging issues. Many believe that the very idea of recycling of plastics was put forward decades ago by those who made them, the plastic manufacturers and oil producers. Since then they have spent millions of dollars in advertising campaigns every year trying to instill in people’s minds the notion of recycling of plastics to ease the sense of guilt from the consumption of plastics. Only a tiny portion of plastics can be economically recycled, for example, those from bottled drinks and milk. Recycled plastics in many cases are more expensive than those made directly from new oil, and often can be inferior in quality or chemically problematic in the recycling process. I am a firm believer in human innovation, and technological advancement may come to our rescue many years later. In the meantime, we may find the easier alternative solution in the first two Rs of the three-R pursuit of more environmentally friendly way of living: reduce and reuse. Producing less garbage entails less demand for dealing with it, a simple fact that often slips our minds. Small changes in daily behaviors can make a huge difference. Let us bring our own bags to the grocer and consume less prepacked items in our shopping. When ordering takeout, we can bring our own utensils to the diners and put the food in them. As an added benefit, walking to and back from the restaurants provides the extra exercise many people in urban offices really need. I am sure you have more creative ways of making the world a better place, and please share those wonderful ideas with people around you. (The author is an independent financial investor and freelance writer.) | 