Don’t waste it

New year an opportunity to do better

The chart on the Boston Mountain Solid Waste District website (bostonmountain.org) explains what most of us already know: The most sustainable approach to avoiding the creation of waste is to stop buying.

The mention of such a strategy immediately after a consumption-driven holiday like Christmas may pile on the guilt a little strong, but it’s also a great time to recognize the high levels of waste involved in all the packaging that comes with new merchandise. If Christmas is the season of giving, it’s also a huge season of waste.

The least effective approach to sustainability is a full-on consumption lifestyle in which purchases are made without consideration for less wasteful options, backed by a laissez-faire attitude about how much is wasted or ends up in a hole in the ground.

Between the two ends of that waste spectrum are all sorts of ways we residents of Northwest Arkansas can do a better job in caring for the world around us. Recycling is great and contributes to reducing the need for raw materials, but what about the choice of a reusable water bottle vs. those single-serve bottles that fill either trash cans or recycling bins. One can have a huge impact on waste by finding ways not to be wasteful.

What if a company set the default setting on a printer so that it prints on both sides of the paper? That cuts waste in half almost immediately. What about using washable containers for carrying one’s lunch rather than contributing to the ocean of plastic bags in the world?

Buying local promotes an economic ecosystem that reduces the costs of transportation, both financially and environmentally. A fresh vegetable purchased at a local farmers market has far less environmental impact than one hauled in from Guatemala.

Don’t buy into global warming? OK, you don’t even have to for it to make sense to take care of the world around us. The folks from earlier generations knew it was just wise use of resources to use, reuse and recycle as much as possible. Being conservative, whether it’s gardening for food or consuming less or finding ways to use stuff in new ways, used to be viewed as patriotic. It still is.

It’s not about taking extra measures to reduce our impact out of guilt. It’s just about being smart and intentional. Acting out of a thoughtful strategy rather than a wasteful collection of habits is simply behaving like an adult — accepting responsibility for the greater, long-lasting good of the world we live in.

What is half the planet doing these days as we ring in the new year? Joining gyms, because they see an opportunity for a fresh start. The same attitude — hopefully more long lasting than some gym commitments — can make a difference in the name of ecology and economy.

At the end of 2019, wouldn’t it be great to be able to say it was a year of less waste?