Recycling in the Canary Islands.

[Estefanía Miranda]

I don't think that recycling is effective nowadays because of the following reasons:

1. You can ask someone to give a second life chance to their clothes since there are many possibilities, like second-hand clothes shops, mobile apps to sell what you don't wear anymore or even recycling clothes bins where you can drop off old, much-used clothes. However, franchises including PRIMARK sell poor quality clothing brands that you cannot wear longer than a year. Others like LEVIS are using similar providers/manufacturers. Of course, lowered cost is the main reason for lower quality, but do we really need too many clothes a year?

2. As for franchises, IKEA is on top of the list for destinations on a Saturday morning. They serve delicious breakfast! However, why should furniture be seasonal? Most of their couches and tables last around five years. It is true that Scandinavian people use upcycled furniture or even downcycled home objects from plastic bottles, but Spain is decades behind those countries. Even the DIY fashion is something new here!

3. We could avoid buying products with excessive plastic packaging in supermarkets, but how can we manage to do that if we keep not being allowed to come into the building with our own shopping tolleys? Isn't it weird that we can get plastic bags for fruits or vegetables for free- or even those sealed ones for our carry-on belongings, but we have to pay for recycled bags to carry our shopping?

The topic is worth discussing further but it can be summed up in just one sentence: A successful recycling program is proportional to a government's interest in environmental issues.

[Estefanía Miranda]

* fruit