05/09/2026
Why do you recycle?
We talk a lot about recycling today, and for good reason.
Recycling has its place. It is a useful action. It is one way to take part in managing our waste, to do our part, and to reduce the impact of our consumption.
But sometimes I wonder if recycling has become, in our collective mindset, the first step that makes us feel less guilty.
We consume, we throw away, then we reassure ourselves because it goes into the recycling bin.
And I am not saying this to judge. I do it too. We are all caught, at different levels, inside this big machine of consumption.
But there is a next step that I find much more powerful, and we do not talk about it nearly enough.
Reusing.
Because recycling is still a form of waste. Better directed, yes, but still waste. Reusing changes the trajectory of the object completely.
For example, here I reused an olive jar to store my favorite blend of Italian herbs and spices, with oregano, marjoram, thyme, rosemary, basil, and sage, from La Clef des Champs in the Laurentians.
I have already reused this jar six times. Six times where it did not need to enter the recycling chain. It is simple. It is not spectacular. But it is concrete.
And I believe this is often where real responsibility begins. Not in big speeches, but in small gestures we repeat because they are aligned with our deeper why.
But there is still one step even more powerful than reusing.
One step that comes before the jar, before the bin, before the question of waste itself.
What do you think it is?
I would love to read your thoughts in the comments.
