STRIKE FOR THE PLANET
because, to make any difference at all, it’s now or never
It won’t be cheap, easy, politically feasible, pro-capitalist, or any of the rest of the nonsense we’ve let blind us so long to both the science and the screaming of the biosphere as it dies. But we have to do it, and we have to do it now.
So this week let’s talk about RECYCLING.
Recycling, as we have practiced it, is done. Out-of-sight out-of-mind doesn’t work when the country that previously took most of our garbage now refuses it. China will not take our plastics and our paper, and their standards for cleanliness for acceptance of recycled metal mean huge numbers of rejected metal bales being shipped back to us unrecycled.
And we can’t afford this anyhow. The price of shipping this stuff all over the planet is huge amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and yet more ocean pollution. This stuff isn’t garbage anyway; it’s resources that we’re just tossing away instead of using.
So what do we, in SF, need to do about recycling?
We must recycle EVERYTHING that comes into SF in SF.
And that means: we must reduce the amount of stuff we import into SF, and we must radically change the types of stuff we import into SF.
Specifically we must: immediately establish artisanal glass, metal, paper, and plastic recycling in SF
require SF to only purchase modular electronics that have guaranteed recycling in state require accounting of all materials moved into and out of SF
require cradle to cradle manufacture for all items purchased by SF
require cradle to cradle manufacture for all items produced in SF
list degrees of recyclability in terms of materials used and degree mixed together eliminate importation to SF of mixed materials that cannot be simply separated
tax materials based on recyclability
promote reuse
reduce and eliminate packaging in every way possible
reduce and eliminate the use of plastic in every way possible
require that materials made or used in SF make the biosphere healthier
reduce the amounts of toxins imported into SF to 0% by 2025
Reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot: it’s pretty simple. We just have to do it – now!