Rethinking waste

---

Having lived in a developing country, I'm of the mindset that the concept of waste prevention is nothing new. It's more of a community effort. As an adolescent, I would watch my mother gather empty plastic and glass botttles in the pantry until it was a sizeable amount. She would then batch them up in empty woven rice sacks, before handing them to those in need of them. Typically it would be to local street hawkers or local community workers who have come to know her. They seem to look forward to the days they collected the empty bottles. Possibly because these were not just empty bottles, but a source of income to provide for their families. They were able to sell the empty bottles  to recycling agents who would repurpose them. Sometimes, they would sell them to market traders who would clean them and reuse them at their stalls.

Almost everything was recycled. Mainly because money was not in abundance and everyone had to make do with what they had. Pre-used empty cans of tomatoes would become measuring cans for selling grains of rice, cassava granules, pulses and other food products. Oftentimes these empty cans were recycled into baking tins for making foods at home. They would clean the tins and grease them with cooking oil before use to avoid food sticking to the tins. Clothing was passed down from elder to younger siblings and once a family has outgrown their clothing, it would be passed down to loved ones who needed them. Nothing was wasted. The norm was to fix things first before buying new ones. Everyone had a local or street tailor close by to sew or mend their clothing.  From footwear to white goods or automobiles, there were repair men for almost anything.

But the reverse was the case when I ventured into life in the West. Repairing things seemed more of a chore than a lifestyle. More challenging was the cost of repairing things which proved more costly than new ones. Gradually, the urge to recycle went down hill and wastefulness took over. Fast forward to the present day and things are looking much better. The West has picked up on the importance of recycling and are coming up with innovative ways to reduce, manage  and repurpose waste. Would I say that I am waste-free? Of course not, it's still a balancing act. I imagine the case is the same for the Western community. When things are mass produced and churned out at an alarming rate, you quickly form a habit of acquiring things, which increases waste. A good example is fast fashion. Clothings are churned out seasonally and when new ones are bought, the old ones are discarded. So, the challenge would be finding ways to manage waste which can be achieved by buying only what is needed and repurposing what is still of good use. Something I imagine would take time for some of us to adjust to, but is not an impossible task to achieve. It's a case of baby steps and not judging others for lagging behind.

That said, unlike water which is God-made and is naturally recycled, man-made things can't be reused infinitely. There simply will come a time when it has to be thrown away. Even the Bible acknowledges that,

'There is a time to keep things and a time to throw things away.'
- Ecclesiastes 3:6, NCV -

The important thing to consider is whether the item has been fully utilised before it is finally discarded. That is the question to ask ourselves in order to effectively manage waste.

Two recent art installations I came across touched on the subject and drove home the need to manage waste. The first was a project called 'Whale on the Wharf' and the second one was called 'Refuse'. They were thought provoking and would compel anyone to think about how to better manage, reduce, upcycle or repurpose waste. Images of the installations can be seen below, along with pictures of the cardboard box I repurposed to house my silicon soap moulds.

It is our God-given responsibility to care for the earth as confirmed by Genesis 2:15 which says,

'The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to farm the land and to take care of it.'
- Genesis 2:15 -

For that reason, caring for the earth by taking better care of it, is a must and we can do so with God's divine wisdom!

---

---