The Death of Recycling: Why You Need To Create
Bud / 
44 Comments / 
February 10th, 2010 / 
Subscribe via RSS
When you hear the word recycling what comes to mind? The color green? Global warming? Captain planet? Perhaps you’re one of the millions of people who is committed to making the world more environmentally sound.
While the term recycling is seen by many in only a positive light, what if I were to tell you there is a dark side of recycling? A type of recycling that does more harm than good. Would you believe me? The dark side of recycling has nothing to do with the environment but rather has to do with the recycling of ideas.
Idea Pollution
Environmental unrest isn’t the only hurdle we must face. Idea pollution is quickly becoming an epidemic of the online world.
Think about it. When was the last time you read an original blog post? I’m guessing it has been quite a while. Why do you think the top bloggers of today command so much respect? Do you think they recycle their ideas? With each recycled idea the online world becomes that much more polluted. Used content contributes to the ever increasing mass of digital smog.
The first step to reducing pollution is simple: stop recycling.
When you stop recycling you will then be forced to take on the task of creating from your own ideas. When you recycle an excellent idea it soon becomes good. When you recycle a good idea it soon becomes just OK. The chain continues until the core component of what used to make the idea good is saturated, leaving you nothing but a pile of mess.
In order not to pollute, your ideas must go beyond “just recycled”. Your ideas must stand out from the pollution of the web. For your voice and and talent to be heard and seen you must go far beyond the standard regurgitation of your neighbors ideas.
Take a look around the web. Notice all the posts that share nothing new. Are you contributing to the pollution? Becoming aware of your foot prints will lead you away from the path of impurity and instead to the path of creation.
Create Don’t Recycle
Perhaps the greatest reason people recycle is because it’s easy. With so much information online it takes literally no effort to take someones idea add a comment or two and hit publish. But those who take the easy rarely stand the test of time.
Let’s look at the difference between recycling and creating:
When you recycle:
1. You offer little or no new thoughts.
2. You regurgitate what has already been said.
3. You lack passion or experience in the subject.
When you create:
1. You aim to solve a problem in a completely new way.
2. You take risk knowing damn well you might fail.
3. You have a vision or a goal.
If you’re looking to make splash in increasingly competitive online world you must rise above recycling. Recycling isn’t enough not even close. When you recycle you’re as Jonathan Mead says, “Contributing to the noise.” Who wants to do that?
Here are some ways to restore your creative process.
Think For Yourself: Far to many of us (myself often included) rely on others to tell us what to do. We are in the constant search for the secret to creating the life of our dreams. Yet, in reality our ability to think for ourselves, not lack of information, is what holds us back. When you consistently rely on other ideas to move you, you lose your ability to create for yourself.
Stop Reading: I love to read as much as the next person but sometimes we rely to much on books to get us where we want to be. While books can aid you significantly in your endeavors nothing trumps real world experience. Go on a reading fast. Don’t read any blogs or books for an entire week. Notice what happens to your creative process.
Believe: Why is there so much recycling? Because people are afraid to create. They are afraid to try something new and fail. They are afraid that they aren’t good enough. They are afraid they might be looked down upon. These fears hinder us from letting our natural creative ability flow. The key to creating is to believe in your ability to share what you know.
Anyone who has ever done anything truly noteworthy, did so by believing in their ability to create. Recycled ideas die young.
Produce With Purpose
If success is your goal you must stand out. Yet you can’t stand out by recycling, you must instead commit to create. Don’t bother creating something that only contributes to our pollution of recycled ideas.
Instead put some effort behind your ideas and do something that will really benefit humanity. Keep in mind your ideas don’t have to be the greatest in the world as long as they are coming from a place close to your heart. Share your stories. Share you experiences. Your life is your creation.
Creating doesn’t mean to litter. Only create what will leave the world in a better position than before. Producing for the sake of producing is equivalent to cutting a tree down just because you feel like it. When you find yourself in a state of creation you will soon discover how liberating it really is.
There’s no better feeling than producing with purpose, because there’s no better feeling than changing someones life. There’s no better feeling than knowing that your value has helped the world evolve into a better place. The more you produce with purpose the greater your journey becomes.
The Death of Recycling and My Challenge To You
While recycling may be of great benefit to our environment, the recycling of ideas continues to pollute our world. Are you a creator? Or do you simply rehash old ideas? Do you constantly push the boundaries? Or do you wait for someone else to lead? Take notice of the areas of your life in which you remain at the status quo .
For parts of my writing career I’ve dabbled in the the recycling of ideas and the result was words littered with insecurity. While it’s perfectly OK to learn from other people’s work remember the purpose of your learning, to create.
For the next week make a commitment to not recycle. Let your ideas flourish and flow. Believe in your ability to create, because the death of recycling starts with you.
Bonus: I’d like to share with you 10 of favorite creators of the online world, all of which I have a tremendous amount of respect for.
If you enjoyed this post, I would appreciate if you share it on Twitter, Facebook or Delicious!
Ooh, I’ve been eagerly refreshing the blog since you @replied me that I was going to be mentioned, so thanks for the shout out. And I’m honoured to be mentioned in this particular article because uniqueness and writing what “matters” is something I’ve been pushing for the past few months.
It’s necessary to be careful though, because the moment someone says you’re “such an original writer” or something along those lines, it’s easy to rest on your laurels. One quote I like is:
“You’re never as good as they say you are and you’re never as bad as they say you are.”
Think of yourself as being in that middle ground – capable of producing great writing, but not faultless – and you can avoid putting out work that you look back on with embarrassment.
Side note: I have a post with a similar theme going up on writetodone.com within the next week.
That is really refreshing. I didn’t know what to expect when I read the title about recycling. But definitely not this.
I think that the ease of recycling really cuts back the creativity that we have. Why be creative when we can so much more easily copy – but I know that isn’t the right mindset.
Thanks man. The article turned out a bit differently than I intended but I took a creative risk and it seems to have worked out well.
Thanks for stopping by.
Very good post Bud and a great call for action for everyone. (I really like David’s comment too.. we can’t rest on our laurels if we want to be creators.) I think you are right that a cause of ‘recycling’ can be a lack of confidence .. the confidence to say something different and trust in your own ideas. I have been finding my own voice on my blog and I definately feel like it’s becoming clearer to me but I know I need to keep pushing to make sure I am taking risks and being myself, as it can be easy even if you are creating to ‘create comfortably’ if that makes sense?
Great list too. Thanks Bud.
Jen
Thanks Jen! Glad to hear your blog is going well. I’m looking forward to seeing how you progress over the next year!
You are so right about not recycling old content & old ideas, thank you for this piece it was brilliant. Also I love that you shared your top ten I am going to check them all out
Aww shucks Maren. Thanks for the kind words. As I said to Tom.. I kind of took a creative leap here and it seemed to work out OK. Not sure if it was brilliant but I tried my best
Nice post. That’s exactly how I see it. With idea recycling and recycling of materials. Recycling materials slows innovation in my opinion.
Well, I didn’t see this coming, Bud, thanks for putting me on a list with such incredible creators. I’m still gazing at it and I can’t believe what I see. Honestly.
As for the topic of the article, recycling is so much easier than creating, because it keeps you in the comfort zone. There’s nothing new in the comfort zone. It’s only comfort.
Once you reach out, you become vulnerable. New environments, unknown factors, threats and unexpected contexts. You have to adjust, to adapt to new conditions. You’re basically forced to become creative.
The effort of constantly getting out of comfort zone (and spend as much time as possible there) is huge. Incredibly huge.
And I don’t think the reward is success in terms of public recognition. Yes, sooner or later public recognition will come. But if you truly commit to stay outside the comfort zone and push your boundaries (as you said) when this recognition comes you’ll do exactly as I did: stare at the list almost not believing it. Public success it’s an external motivator, it doesn’t really last.
The real juice is in pushing it forward. Sometimes in solitude, without nobody noticing it.
Spot on man. Recycling and your comfort zone go hand and hand. In order to truly create you must step outside that zone and do something that scares you.
I completely agree with Dragos. I’m in extremely good company on that list, so thanks for the awesome mention!
Sometimes it feels like many bloggers are just echoing each other and just recycling. I think the problem of recycling goes away when you embrace who you are and can be yourself in your writing (i.e. find your voice).
I haven’t found mine, but I try to stay away from echoing and just writing from personal experience. Sometimes you have to go through a phase of recycling before you can create though, so there’s nothing wrong with that.
Awesome post, Bud!
Absolutely man. As I mentioned, I’ve been through that stage before ( and still go back it to it from time to time) but as bloggers or even people in general I think we must aspire to create and make a genuine contribution to humanity.
Heya Bud!
Really cool post man! I am actually just finishing off a post about being creative when your post went live
I agree that so many people are just taking other peoples work and recycling it. Sometimes it can really be an excellent compilation of recycled information but most of the time it is rather average.
I really recommend reading Linchpin by Seth Godin, one of the best books I have read in a long time!
Keep up the good work Sir!
Diggy
Ah! Thanks Diggy! Funny about the synchronicity eh? I’ve been meaning to get my hands on Linchipin.
Agreed. Every now and then recycled ideas turn into a gem but as you say recycled material is mostly average.
Look forward to reading your article man.
The post was a good wake-up and reminder. I know for me, as a middle-aged father, former lawyer, and former nonprofit executive, finding my voice has been interesting. When I reach for the real and the original, my erstwhile colleagues speculate that maybe I have just lost my mind!
I read the title and I thought: hmm? recycling posts on PlugInId? And I already had all the news about pollution and everything in my mind when I felt the pluginid-sledgehammer!
What I most love about this post is that I was totally surprised because the content was different from what my mind was expecting.
Wonderful post!
Best regards,
Andrés
Is this a guest post from Glen?
Totally joking, Bud. My point, of course, is that you’re totally putting great content out there. This is an EXCELLENT post, one that I can tell you put a lot of time and thought into. And very well written!
Keep up the awesome content!!!!
What is that supposed to mean Brian?
I’m not good enough for you? =P
There’s a reason the phrase goes Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Recycling is only the last resort. It often also takes a lot of energy to recycle things. Reduction and reuse can provide a benefit that is orders of magnitude greater than recycling.
http://www.selfdestructivebastards.com/2009/09/recycling-is-self-destructive.html
Good post, Bud.
I help new bloggers setup their WordPress blogs and then when they start blogging, they sometimes create content that is very similar to mine. I’m changing my focus a little bit from not just helping them with the technical parts but also on topics like this where they need to put their personality and original content into it. Recycling is not only insecure but it doesn’t come off as authentic (because it isn’t) and makes it hard to connect with readers.
Good point Shannon.. It seems to me so many people are trying to copy other people’s stuff because they think that it will get them where they want to be. But what they often fail to realize however is that those who are successful have their OWN voice.
Glad you’re helping people to get going in the blogging world.
As others have said – fantastic piece, with a point which really needs to be heard. There’s a lot of “me too” content in blogging — and while I’m all in favour of great ideas spreading and being refined and build on by conversation, that’s all too often not what’s really happening!
I’ve found that my most successful posts are the ones where I truly write from the heart, or the ones where I take a risk. Often, the posts I’m least confident about (because they seem a bit too “new” or different) get the best response.
And thanks very much for the link to me, I really appreciate it! (Flattered to be on that list with some awesome names: the one I’d probably add is Charlie Gilkey.)
I kind of got that feeling when I wrote this post Ali. And it seems to be being received fairly well.
Fears aren’t unique. When you feel scared to hit publish that means you SHOULD publish it. People read blogs for heart not words.
Thanks for the mention, Bud – especially next to so many people I admire.
You make such an important about going on a reading fast. Taking in the good advice and good ideas is a great way to jump-start creativity, but it only gives us the raw materials. To truly create, we need to disconnect from the advice of others (even if it’s great advice) every now and then and work on what’s important to us personally.
I think one misconception that people have about creating is that we all need to create something that has never been seen or heard before. But that’s the wrong way to go about it. Instead, we create by finding what’s meaningful and useful to us, then sharing it. Our personal experiences, our personal insights – that’s what makes something truly original. Authenticity is the mother of originality.
Keep up the great writing, Bud. Looks like PluginID’s in great hands
Bud,
First, great job of stepping out of the box and taking a risk with this post. That, in and of itself is to be commended. A little exercise in Courage huh?;)
Secondly, I will say that I agree with your assessment that there is indeed a lot of “noise” out there. I like to look at as “confusion”-everyone wants to make a statement, but everyone does it in the same way. In appearance and in process. The lack of originality is due to being out of touch with who you are deep down. No one does think for oneself, but rather processes the thoughts of others with the filter of others, leaving YOU out of the equation.
Lastly, I will say that recycling is a very important part of the creative process-especially if we are talking about actually USING information. It’s the WAY that it is recycled that gives it the appearance of uselessness-lack of Resourcefulness to speak. We become greater creators by using what we have with where we are at, regardless of the circumstance. Without recycling, Victor Frankl(a man’s search for meaning) would not been able to find a reason to live. He created his own Reason with his resourcefulness. He recycled his own life. It isn’t recycling that is the issue-it’s the creative process.
Only understanding will allow us to sift through information and MISinformation and identify what is of use.
Cheers Brother:)
Interesting and insightful post. I’m not sure if I can go on a “reading fast” because I love to read. In fact, I picked up a book from the library today. I’ll give a “reading fast” a try.
I do my best to create “original” blogs, articles, eBooks, and other writings. There’s a lot of recycled material on the market because everyone has a different opinion or idea about an idea. I thought I was the only one who recognized this — I’m glad I’m not the only person.
Although i’m a musician/songwriter, but reading this Pluginid article in my email Inbox has somehow -strangely- awakened me from my ‘long slumber’!
I can’t tell you enough of how useful this short article has been, which largely probably due to the fact that it really slapped me in my face when it’s talking about how I tend to just “search & listen to other people”, instead of searching & listening to MYself, as the foremost!
thank you very much for writing & sharing this great and thoughtfully-written article!
believe it or not, it has ‘indirectly’ been a great blessing for me, to continue contribute my music talent & passion to make the world a better place!
Greetings from Indonesia!
-Niki-
http://www.myspace.com/nikiwonotomusic
(for a calm, sweet, and tranquil journey in music ^^)
Glad I could help.
Hey Bud,
Like the concept of avoiding recycling. It’s easy to be formulaic, thought leadership, creativity involves not only work…but risk. You’ve got to be comfortable creating something that’s outside normalcy, then risk being judged…or exalted…for being different.
And, thanks for the kind mention.
I am not entirely sure what to say about this article.
One side me of me saying: “Well, he didn’t really say anything new in this article”
The other side of me is saying: “He does have a point”
I am not sure which view to really take. So instead, I will just give you my take about ideas and creation.
I have not read anything too original in a while. Everything that I read are just the repetition of the same old. Yet, it still serves purpose if done right. Sometimes the same old ideas need to be recycled over and over again but by different people, saying it in a different way for it to reach people. That in it’s own is beneficial.
What is creation anyway? Usually it is taking the already existing and unrelated concepts and fusing them in such a way that creates a connection. BAM! A new idea is born. You can look for examples all throughout history for that: Einstein, Newton and so on. All they did is took the same old ideas that were being recycled over and over and fused them together.
In short, there is nothing wrong with recycling old ideas because that is a great way to truly understand complex concepts. Actually that is the only way to create something new: completely understand how something already exists and look for unique applications or ways of looking at the same issue.
Best,
Tomas
Hey Tomas,
As always thank you for your comment.
Obviously there is no such thing as an original idea per say. To suggest someone reinvent the wheel on every level would just be silly. The same themes of humanity have been around for ages. When I read a book I clearly use some of those ideas for my future writing. What I don’t do (or try at least) is just say the same thing that’s already been said.
When I say “recycle” I simply mean rehash old content without adding anything new. Whereas it’s my understanding you take recycling to be adding new ideas. I’m all for taking an old idea and making it better, but you must go behind just adding a comment here and there. To make an older idea better you must be willing to create and fuse your ideas into the mix.
My point, and purpose of this article is to challenge people to get outside their comfort zones and dig deep inside themselves.
What I’m tired of is all the “recycled” content online just because people are afraid to stand out.
Hope that helps.
-Bud
Bud-good reply.
I think what you may be hitting on is INNOVATION. Making the old, new.
Look at the human body and it’s blood system. Technically, there is no new “blood”, but the blood that is present is always being RENEWED by all the processes of the body-namely the breathing process and how it “powers” the organism. With infusion of oxygen, our blood is kept healthy, which eases the heart and allows it to function. Without renewal, the blood would become stale and the heart would suffer and die.
How this pertains to people who are presenting information is that information is THERE. All the information one could ever need is out there. If the information stays in it’s same state, then people will suffer. If information becomes RENEWED, their hearts will flourish. The death or the flourishing depends on the QUALITY of information too. Info for info sake is shallow. We need deep, fresh thinkers. Just as deep, fresh breath infuses the blood. Yet, it begins with each and every individual. The renewal must begin on an individual level.
The world is changing, especially with technology-but new technology is built on the discoveries of old. It appears as if the world is becoming more and more complex, and in order to “keep up”, the old way of thinking about our world is no longer relevant. People must change the structure of their THOUGHT PROCESSES in order to compute and make sense of all the new data, while still being able to hold the past in mind.
Anyhow, I love this stuff:)
Hey Bud:
Great response. Now I can clearly see what you mean and it makes a lot of sense.
Sorry if I got caught up in semantics
Great explanation tho, thank you for taking the time to respond in such depth.
I am learning a lot. Don’t offended if it seems like I always challenge your ideas. It’s just my way of learning new things
Keep up the great work!
Best,
Tomas
Thanks man. And no worries. I’m not offended at all. I think it’s good for people to voice what’s on their mind even if it goes against what I say.
Your best post to date.
Thanks dude. Hope all is well.
Talking about “recycling” in a negative way is a good way of turning things upside down, the kind of change of paradigm that makes thing change. Very original.
Maybe it is a non-recycled concept if I argue that blogging, as a phenomenon born after the fall of the Berlin Wall, is mostly a son of advertising; it shares with advertising the immediateness, but also the vices of extreme simplification, and, sometimes, clichés and stereotypes. Humanity, individuality, is very often left aside.
I also think that many people have discovered writing because they blogged, but less people have done the reverse travel; that can lead to a lack of confidence, laziness and photocopy
Hi Bud,
I reminded myself to go within for inspiration and knew that I had an important message, and many days and nights later, the book took shape. I’m publishing it with Lulu.com, and the illustrator is almost finished the cover and I’m very excited!
Excellent post! Very well-said. It can be quite a challenge to write original material, and I think your points about thinking for yourself, not reading, and believing in yourself are definitely the keys! I have recently finished writing a book, and without realizing it, I did exactly that — I didn’t read anything else while working on the book, except for digging for references in order to give people credit.
If I may, I’d also add a point about avoiding television. It’s a bit like eating cotton candy; it’s fun and tasty and a great distraction, but it doesn’t give you any nutrition. Too much TV clutters the mind and, if you’re not careful, fills it with other people’s ideas. It can be quite brainwashing, actually!
Glad I found this page! I enjoyed the Conscious Growth Workshop, too! Love what you’re doing… keep it up!
I rarely watch TV this days. Find myself much more happier.
Would love to hear more about your Conscious Growth Workshop experience.
Good post! I think it is very ironic that I literally just finished reading a very similar post on another site!
I think that often people recycle unconsciously, particularly when they are inspired by a piece of writing.
Authenticity is very important. I think people should always write from the heart, however it gets much easier to have the confidence and not caring what other people think, once you have more experience. Not caring translates into doing it only for yourself, which leads to true authenticity.
Kara
That was not intentional! I don’t read as many blogs as I used to solely for that reason. Obviously I still care about how other bloggers are doing, so I stop in from time to time.
The key is to making it so that people care about what you write about.
What a wonderful article. Its a beautiful thing to step outside of the box… to create according to whatever drives you rather than according to what may be expected.
Thanks for stopping by Nea!