Alan Caruba writes about the decline in recycling.
Recycling advocates say the reason for the decline is that the need to recycle, debatable at best, no longer gets the kind of attention it used to when it was fashionable to shame everyone into thinking they were
You should try being in Europe! Around here if you don’t recycle every paper wrapper and plastic straw, you’re looked down on as an untermensch. I recycle with religious fervor here though, because the American government has to pay the German government for every pound of refuse we throw out. So I wash every plastic fork and recycle every receipt (not to mention saving water and electricity) just to not have to give *more* of our money to the Germans.
And try telling a European that the merits of recycling are debatable. They look at you like you’ve lost your mind.
Comment by Sarah — July 15, 2004 @ 6:32 am
The crux of the debate is the economics of recycling. i.e. do you use more energy/dollars turning an item back into something useful than throwing it away. For some things it’s debatable. But for things that can easily be turned into another useful product I think that it’s worth the effort.
Paper products being one. Most of these can be turned into other materials with a variety of uses. The recycling program works fairly well in our city because the bins are at every school and
the public is encouraged to toss mainly major items in..not every single scrap from the house.
An aside: now that there are 3 of us in the Bedford Dr. estate, I’m astounded by the volume of plastic containers that we generate….volume both in quantity and actual…”volume”. Someday soon I’m going to patent a system somewhat like a trash compactor that melts down plastic into blocks for recycling.
signed…
A conservative ex hippie environmentalist airborne/ranger
Comment by Wallace-Midland, Texas — July 15, 2004 @ 10:11 am
And there are some things which can actually be reused, which is the best recycling vehicle.
I don’t know what they’re doing with paper in Midland, but most places have eliminated even the effort to recycle. Ink, chemistry, and “exotics” attaching themselves make paper virtually worthless to try and recycle.
A lot of plastic gets shredded for use in other things, and it’s all a function of chemical composition as to whether it can be used again.
More power to you if you’re making it work!
Comment by Bunker — July 15, 2004 @ 12:16 pm
Recycling is just another revenue stream to most small communities, why do you think there are tough laws against “trash-picking” now?? When you strip out the aluminum you cost the community money, and what I want to know is if the borough makes money from the damned aluminum, why no tax break, eh?
Comment by Bubba Bo Bob Brain — July 15, 2004 @ 7:47 pm
I just saw a news clip on the Pentagon Channel here about a recycling program at Ft Knox (no hit on google though). Apparently they’re tearing down some old housing, and they’ve decided to recycle what they can. People in the area are encouraged to come take cabinets, doors, wood, etc while the buildings are still standing. One man interviewed said that he was using wood to start a new business — a campsite for kids — and that he’s saved $35,000 so far in supplies from being able to take wood from the recycled buildings. Ft Knox also has saved over $100,000 in not having to pay to dump the materials. Now THAT is a recycling program I completely support, one that pumps money back into the community.
Comment by Sarah — July 17, 2004 @ 1:15 am
RECYCLING
Bunker wrote about recycling the other day, and I was reminded of his post this morning when I saw a news clip on the Pentagon Channel here about a recycling program at Ft Knox (no hit on google though). Apparently…
Trackback by trying to grok — July 17, 2004 @ 1:20 am