10 sec use, long term waste. I guess it got something to do with you

Igor Fernandez
Sep 8, 2018 · 2 min read

Is just another day, you woke in the morning and take a shower to head to work or school. You decide to grab a cup of coffee in your way, you rush up for commute and drink your cofee right away. This is the first waste generated by you.

When you actually get at where you need to be you also, without notice, start generating waste. You drink water in a cup of plastic, print some documents, buy a candy at grocery shop with plastic package and a plastic bag, eat at some fast food generating paper and problably food waste, and finally get back home when you stop at the market and grab some stuff mainly packed by plastic and glass. All that products consumed in 10–20sec that you will enter in a complex reciclying cycle (hopefully) or you go directly to landfill.

Then you relax and start seeing the news and facts about polluting companies and industries and say -”Wow this guys are evil!”, without noticing that you are inside this cycle and also responsible for polluting and islands of plastic in the pacific. Acccording to National Park Service will take 450 years to plastic decompose, so it took you 10 sec to 450 years in the environment, that should warn you at some way.

The waste generated is expected to almost double by 2025 to 1.42kg/day per person (World Bank Group, 2017). This creates some urgency at this topic as we grow as a modern society.

There are some initiatives and urgency that must be created not only by the public sector but also from companies. At Brazil, a start up called EuReciclo started a recycling platform to create credits and generate certificates for companies to comply with recycling goals established by the government.

I am not saying you should panic and live in the woods, the point is that we are all responsible for this issue and we need to create the awareness and feel more part of this process, because I guess it got something to do with you.

    Igor Fernandez

    Written by

    Entrepreneur from São Paulo/SP

    Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
    Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
    Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade