Reduce, recycle, and reuse - the 3Rs, have you heard of them? This ideal of environmental education is one of the most propagated resolutions for the problem of waste accumulation in Brazil and in the world. And one of the tools for this, which became common as of 1993 with the informal trash collectors and the creation of landfills, is selective collection, a measure that optimizes the process of waste collection and disposal.
Thus, with selective collection, they are categorized and separated in those well-known colored garbage cans, in which each color indicates the material to be deposited inside: yellow - metal, blue - paper, green - glass, among others.
With proper separation, the waste is not disposed of incorrectly, forming pollution and disease proliferation foci, and can then be reused and sent to recycling cooperatives. The National Policy for Solid Waste (PNRS), Law 12.205 of 2020, provides that these environmental logistics must be respected, and it is up to the public and private sectors to manage waste so that it does not accumulate in dumps and inappropriate places.
Selective collection has been happening since 2011 in Campo Grande, and the concessionaire Solurb is responsible for it, which performs the service on different days and times in the neighborhoods. And in areas of the city that are not served door to door, the company has Voluntary Delivery Places for the collection of materials. Click here to check the map of locations covered and their respective schedules.
Therefore, with these actions, the socio-environmental impacts are mitigated over the years and the planet thanks you. However, it is a pity that it is not that simple.
One of the central characteristics of today's capitalist society is unbridled consumption. The Consumer Society, an idea proposed by the sociologist Baudrillard in his book of the same name, is what prevails in the contemporary social context. Brands establish a direct connection with consumers, and also use devices such as programmed obsolescence*, to generate a systematic and cultural manipulation as a sales strategy, making people become key points in the production chain.
Thus, buying is a fundamental and moral obligation, which holds subjective meanings, such as personal satisfaction and occupation of certain niches within the social hierarchy. This dynamic feeds the production, purchase and, consequently, the disposal of products in an uncontrolled and absurd way.
According to data from Solurb, 785 tons of garbage are generated per day in Campo Grande and taken to the Dom Antônio Barbosa II sanitary landfill. In relation to the production of individual garbage, 324 kg of residues are generated annually by each person from Campo Grande, and only 2.5% are recycled. These indexes demonstrate that there is a great waste disposal in the city and, unfortunately, there is no adherence to the selective collection model in the capital.
The United Nations has already issued warnings about the production of waste in Latin America, which reaches the mark of 145,000 tons a day. As of Agenda 2030, countries, cities, including Campo Grande, and individuals are committed to Sustainable Development Goal 12, Responsible Consumption and Production, which ensures the maintenance of the 3 Rs and the efficient use of natural impacts, aiming at the reduction of negative environmental effects.
These harmful impacts on the environment are always seen as a limitation of the human species on Earth and of natural resources, which today together form the strength and source of this same production chain. In other words, the concern for these effects comes from an anthropocene and techno-scientific-industrial bias: preserve so that natural resources do not run out, allowing the continuation of workers' lives, and continue to be energy for industry.
Ecological consciousness must be achieved in a collective way, on a planetary scale, taking into account the social relations between individuals and between individuals and the surrounding nature. For Ailton Krenak, philosopher and indigenous environmentalist, the mercantilized society is opposed to the idea of nature as a sacred being that deserves respect. Therefore, this logic, which may appear to be politicized at first, aims only at human plenitude and the permanence of the ungoverned capitalist mode of production.
So it is necessary that we, as citizens, seek to learn about the contexts of ecology and ecophilosophy, beyond the individual reflection and awareness that is already continuously expanded. To seek to recognize that nature exists alone as a being, and not only as an essential resource for human use and benefit, is to reach the understanding that we must respect it in all processes of our lives, starting from waste disposal and uncontrolled consumerism.
*Planned obsolescence describes a strategy of deliberately ensuring that the current version of a given product will become out of date or useless within a known time period. This proactive move guarantees that consumers will seek replacements in the future, thus bolstering demand.
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