Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
I recently read that the surfer who started cleaning up the oceans in Europe had a setback. He thought it was a loosing battle, so much non recyclable waste in the oceans. I considered that people are getting better with splitting up their recycling from garbage, why is so much garbage in the ocean?
People are more environmentally conscious and buying essentials, right? Well kind of, kids still buy lots of junky things they don't need. Actually not just kids but all ages of people still buy things for the short term. There are lots of people moving, and moving means selling/giving away/throwing out items and buying them in a new location. Also for every new couple they will need a place to stay and things to buy. Plus standard of living has dropped for some working people and they need convenience items to get some time back.
I considered something simple like water bottles, and bottled drinks. People like and need some drinks (at least the non sugary kind). But why don't people buy Gatorade Zero powder or bring a reusable water bottle with them? Costco is full with cases of drinks at a reasonable cost and time saving. But does it really save time? Is that extra minute you don't have to mix cold water with powder really crucial? Is it worth the effort someone has to put in to clean the oceans? Who is polluting the oceans? I've recently learned that some of our garbage gets shipped to Asia (mainly China). Perhaps those ships lose some of the load?
Some of the less developed countries think of recycling is a first world problem and don't bother with fancy recycling programs that cost money. Plus the less developed countries have access to media and want the same first world lifestyle but their systems don't support environmental mitigation.
People have been buying drinks outside the home for eons, why is recycling a problem now? Let's look at school or any workplace lunches. Drink bottles are everywhere and everyone needs a drink. How can this be reduced? Well the places can mix drinks in a jug and people can pour themselves a drink and buy it that way. But you'd still need a cup to put the drink in. It costs time and money to wash and sanitize things and prep things in jugs. Plus then you will still be throwing out the plastic cup (if not reusable), so why go to the effort? Some cafe's have recycling bins, but not all do and some misuse it so that it isn't effective. Plus recycling is part of the puzzle but reduce and reuse are the other parts.
Should cafe's and restaurants reduce/reuse/recycle? I think so, perhaps schools can prep jugs of water and glasses for kids to use, instead of water bottles. Or mix low sugar drinks in jugs and kids can pour them in to glasses and buy them that way. You would be getting what you need but not making a growing problem worse.
You can still get most of what you need to save time and money but consider the environment also and small changes can add up over time.
Also can you buy drinks in powder form? Sometimes not, but market demands would make this more available if people demanded this or stopped buying plastic drink bottles.