Do Zero-Wasters Recycle?

How many times have I been told that a stores packaging can be recycled or has been made from recycled materials, meant to lead me to accept it guilt-free?  If I could put money-value on it, I'd be rich.  Hmmm....

How many times, upon someone hearing my family has gone zero-waste has the comment followed that I must have A LOT of recycle?  Pretty much every one of them.  So let's look at this.  Let me define exactly what zero-waste means:

"Zero Waste is a goal that is ethical, economical, efficient and visionary, to guide people in changing their lifestyles and practices to emulate sustainable natural cycles, where all discarded materials are designed to become resources for others to use." 
-From good 'ole Wikipedia

Zero Wasters will recycle the least amount of stuff possible.  They will try with every effort not to take on waste of any kind.  If it cannot be composted, reused for a greater purpose or if it has any detrimental consequence of any kind on our earth- they pretty much won't take it.

There was a time when I thought recycling was a good thing, a sound way to deal with my waste.  All those packaged items in a week, stuffed into my great big yellow bags (sometimes two or three!) would eventually be swept away from my curb.  And no, I didn't think about it beyond this.  I truly believed I was doing my part.  

The dirty truth about recycling is this: As our society has gone berserk in the packaging age, the money spent on dealing with it has expanded into the billions of $ that, let's face it, could be used in other places.  The recycling demands far expand what our centers are capable of.  Sadly 32% of our recycle ends up in our oceans, killing sea-life and making our pristine oceans toxic.  We also have to consider the factors of the recycling process and the air and water as well as soil pollution it causes. 

Personally, those 2-3 large bags of recycle I used to haul to the end of my drive once a week has been reduced to a very small gift bag.  Most of it is run-off from what's been left over through my Cross-Over stage (packaged items I've chosen to use up rather than just throw out).  Paper scraps and toilet paper rolls is the least I produce.

Every second week I put out the little blue bag

. 

Crazy, it is.  I never would have thought it was possible, yet I catch myself, wondering how I ever produced that much at one time.  It is possible to go zero waste.  It really is!

The aim, the goal, the total philosophy of zero-waste is not only to reduce our waste, but to eliminate it altogether.