Coming out of the closet... My addiction to plastic ware.

For the last 3 years or so, my family has thought I am crazy. I readily admit to not being normal, but I take some issue with being regarded crazy. The thing is, I can’t throw away plastic ware. Whenever we go to a restaurant, I clean my knife, fork, and spoon and shove them into my big pants pocket. At home I stick them in the dishwasher and the next day, they are ready to reuse. We have not needed to buy plastic ware for a LONG time.

I just can’t condone the idea, so prevalent in our western culture, of using things one time and then throwing them away.

Recycling seems to fix this nicely. We can toss our waste into a black hole and trust the waste management gods to turn it into something useful for us. But…

There are two problems with this plan. The worldwide market for recyclables is currently collapsing because China is buying less AND raising the quality level for what it buys. Secondly, it takes a lot of energy and water to recycle.

Without a market for recyclables, they are merely routed to the landfill like everything else. And with China’s desire for higher quality raw recyclables, our single stream recycling method may be found deficient.

It takes tremendous energy and water resources to recycle an item. The items must be picked up, sorted, cleaned, and repackaged needing trucks, people, and machines. The recyclables must then be sold, and since China is the biggest buyer of recycled material, much has to be shipped halfway around the world. Then a factory turns the reprocessed raw material into products which are sent halfway around the world to the final user.

Consider the good old glass Ball canning jar. After using it, we wash it and, bada bing bada boom, it’s ready to be reused. There are some energy and water consumed, but it is far less than what would be required to turn a single-use plastic container back into a useful product.

Should we all stop recycling?

No, recycling is very good. But I recommend we change our minds about it.

Everyone has heard the proverb. Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. What I recommend is that we rethink about this by adding priorities.

The pyramid illustrates that the best choice is to reduce packaging and waste by not creating it in the first place. There is no energy or water required to reprocess nothing. And nothing has never taken up space in a landfill. If packaging and waste cannot be avoided, then reuse is the next best alternative. It saves energy and water while allowing the item to be used. When reuse, is not possible, then recycling is the next best option, because it preserves our limited material resources and manages our landfills better. But make it your highest goal not to create waste in the first place, and your next to reuse as much as possible.

Narnia on Business

Recently I rediscovered some old classics, favorites from when I was a much younger fellow (of 40 or so). I listened to the entire series of Narnia novels by CS Lewis. I shall never become too old to enjoy a fantasy trip into those magical lands. I asked the question, what can businesses learn from Narnia?

In the book Prince Caspian, Lucy asks Aslan, the King of Narnia what would have happened had she done what he had asked of her. He replied that "No one ever gets to know what would have happened." We only get to see what will happen. It’s a great reminder because we make mistakes in business at all levels. If we dwell on the error and ponder what would have happened, we are merely wasting our energy that could be put toward courage and a solution, what will happen.

In the books, The Magicians Nephew and Prince Caspian, the King to be were asked one final question before Aslan would confirm him as king. Do you feel ready and capable of leading these people and animals? In both cases, the response was a quick, “No.” And that was precisely the answer Aslan wanted. He knew that a leader that thinks they know everything will fail in a pride enabled catastrophe. It is far better to recognize our inadequacy and lead courageously from a humble perspective.

In the book, The Last Battle, one of the saddest parts of the story is when it becomes clear that Susan, one of the most beloved queens, is no longer a friend of Narnia. According to Lucy, Susan lost the reality of Narnia through trying to grow up too fast. Truths we think incorruptible are too easily masked by convenient or pressing untruth. In IR.Tools case, the core values represent the Truth for us. We can not be like Susan, discarding truth, when back orders, financial pressures, and firefighting entice us to walk away.

Finally, we hear in nearly every book that Aslan, the anthropomorphic Jesus, is good, but he is not tame. This proverb is clearly relevant to our human, and business, condition. We expect an easy road when striving to do what’s right, when honoring God. However, losses come, challenges knock us down, and pain is there to greet us. We persevere when the help God gives is providing challenges.

So listen to the wise beasts of Narnia.

• Don’t worry about the past. Invest in now and the future.
• Don’t let pride disqualify you for the excellent work you have to do.
• Don’t let the truth be swallowed up in busyness and lies.
• Realize that Aslan is not a tame lion.