My Family Can’t Afford To Recycle Thanks To Democrats’ Obsession With ‘Environmental Justice’

I care about the environment. It’s not something conservatives are afraid to say, but it’s also not our main talking point. For instance, I also care about well-budgeted initiatives that actually improve the lives of Americans. Unfortunately, thanks to the Biden administration’s obsession with so-called “environmental justice,” inflation is only getting worse and driving the cost of utilities so high that families can no longer afford the recycling services leftists insist are good for the environment. 

My family loves the land. We have a backyard vegetable garden, fruit trees, and a composter, and we work to limit the amount of single-use plastic products in our home. I’ve been hunting and laid down a deer before. There is no cleaner meat than that. I’m a firm believer that self-sufficiency is one of the healthiest forms of living.

Sure, I used to drive a Yaris and shop at Trader Joe’s, but that was before I became a mother of four. During the nearly two years of the Biden administration’s reign, the cost of living in my area has skyrocketed to the point that cutting back is necessary for survival.

But many families have already done so. We’re way beyond just sticking to the basics; we’re being pinched to the breaking point. In September of this year, the Heritage Foundation found that Americans have lost an average of $4,200 in annual income thanks to the current administration.

While inflation continues destroying lives, Biden continues to ridiculously insist that our economy is “strong as hell.” Meanwhile, those of us who have always maintained strict budgets are cutting back more and more, but there isn’t much left to reduce. 

As the cost of gas, groceries, clothes, water, heating and cooling, and other necessities continued to climb, I was struck by a massive change in my family’s waste bill. I expected it to go up due to the gas crisis created by the Biden administration’s energy mismanagement, but it doubled over the course of a few months. 

At first, I thought this was a mistake. My husband and I had already changed trash services to a cheaper option, but it was by no means inexpensive. And we bundled the usual waste and recycling together. 

While the inflation rate is currently recorded at just over 8 percent, our bill increased by 100 percent. In double-checking the breakdown, half of the new bill was due to environmental fees. 

While the Inflation Reduction Act was advertised as a form of benevolent relief to the American people, it was filled with social justice initiatives driven by left-wing party preferences and green theories, which have yet to prove helpful to anyone but the bureaucrats collecting more and more tax money, or “fees.”

One such section was vaguely detailed back in August through a White House fact sheet about how the Inflation Reduction Act helps advance “environmental justice.” Under the section regarding improving clean transit technologies, the administration noted that “addressing diesel emissions” is a priority. Just how this will be addressed