I’ve been trying to cut down on plastic by buying more things in glass, but now my recycling bin is overflowing with jars every week. It feels like I’m just trading one type of waste for another, and I’m not sure if that’s really better in the grand scheme of things. Has anyone else wrestled with this kind of swap?
I hear you the glass swap can feel like trading one waste problem for another unless you cut overall packaging My bin fills with jars weekly and I keep asking if the energy saved by recycling them is worth the space
Glass feels good in theory but if the jars end up unused or single use the benefit fades Have you considered whether your jars will get reused many times or just end up in recycling
From a life cycle view glass often weighs more and moves heavier than plastic so transport costs can negate the advantage unless reuse is high Still the fact you care about recycling matters
What if the question is really about packaging density and the systems we have for refills bulk buying and secondhand storage The framing might shift the focus toward a circular economy rather than plastic versus glass
I stuck to jars for pantry storage and kept a jar collection Do you keep lids separate or do you toss them The point is to make the jars count beyond a single use
I went wide with glass but also mixed in metal tins and compostable wrap The key for me was setting a practical limit so I not only recycle more but also buy less waste overall