Twenty years ago, there were three environmental “R’s”; Recycle, Reduce, Reuse.
Recently a fourth “R” has become an upgrade to the first three; Refuse. At the checkout counter at Best Market, the clerk asked me “Do you want plastic bags” I was pleasantly surprised. I see clerks spreading open empty plastic bags for the next customer. The fifth “R” is Rethinking. I saw the word used on a Face book page of Carl Safina. It had me thinking, oh wait, Rethinking.
Recycling has reduced the refuse stream but, recycling implies that we keep consuming recyclable items. Reduce means consuming less recyclables. Reuse also falls into this category. All of these first four, have awakened us all that we have to cut back. Cutting back is a rethink.
At 7-11, I noticed five cars parked in front of the entrance all idling. The mindset is…”I’m only going to be a few minutes, why turn off the engine.” I turn mine off, and often bicycle to the store. Here is a major rethink that ascends to the corporate level. How do I rethink a policy to stop the idling? I’d start by communicating my concern. Gas is being wasted. Air is being polluted. Here is a chance for 7-11 to rethink. If this fails, I have to persist. Arrange a meeting with the manager of the store. Ask for their bosses, work my way up to the top level and CEO. I did this.
To rethink is to evolve, to make a midcourse correction. Radical rethink, micro rethink, it’s all good. Don’t hold that thought…rethink it. The little things to rethink are personal habits we have developed. Some of these fall into the five “R’’s”
When I wash my hands in a sink, I shake off the water enough so I don’t have to use a paper towel. This little thing is a rethink.
“Taxing a behavior tends to reduce it.” (“Faced with a new tas, Berkley Drinks Less Soda.” New York Times 8-25-16. All of us buy garbage. Packaging becomes garbage. For example. We made franks for supper and tossed out the plastic wrapper. Which goes into the trash can, into the garbage truck, and ultimately into a land fill. To rethink this chain is to try something new. Where to break the chain. I could go to a meat store and buy franks with paper wrapper. At least paper decomposes. A good, healthy tax on the second can of garbage will have people trying to compact, reduce, rethink. Perhaps use bigger garbage cans, perhaps dumping in a vacant lot.
For rethink to become a reality, even on a community level, will probably take decades. Rethink can lead to substantial change. Ultimately, rethinking all six major institutions has to happen to begin to save our oceans, our land, our biota, us:
Financial; Education; Health; Legal; Political; Environmental
John Muir reminds us “When one tugs at a single thing in nature,one finds it connected to everything else.”
Let’s start in our own world. Find something you do, rethink it, see what happens, one finds it attached to the rest of the world.”
If any major rethinks occur in any of the above institutions, the reverberations with be seismic!
