To Recycle or Not To Recycle

[Angel Heart]

Do you recycle?

Yes,

Why or why not?

Depends on what I'm recycling. I recycle cans and bottles because of the deposit. Paper/cardboard because we are required to by our property management requires us to.

Where do you fall in the political spectrum i.e. liberal, conservative, fiscal conservative/social liberal?

fiscal conservative/social liberal

 

[Zoom-boing]

trash is a huge problem...i dont down play that...but i think trying to cut your personal production of trash...ie trying to buy products with the least boxing etc...you would be amazed how much useless packaging goes on...just start noting it..we compost...so much of our waste goes into that..including most paper which is shredded for composting or used for mulching...organic waste goes to compost bucket..proteins go to the dogs...but i dont sort trash or anything like that

Oh, I know! Packaging or over-packaging gets my goat! Just think about how much you spend on just the packaging when buying products. I heard, and I haven't verified the truth so I treat it as a rumor, that when you buy a drink at the store such as soda or Gatorade or Rock Star or some other such "drink" (blegh) you pay more for the packaging than you do for what comes in the packaging! If that's true then does that extend to cereal, chips, and who knows how many other products. Just speculate on how much we might save if it was all bulk!

I think idiots are in charge of packaging on many items. When my kids get computer games, on one side of the aisle the game is sold in a box that is approx the size of a paperback book. The only thing inside is the cd disc. These games sell for $20-$30. On the other side of the aisle you can find the same game packaged as just the cd with plastic wrap around it. They sell for $10-$15. The bigger the packaging the more likely it is to be seen and purchased, which is why they do it. But it's deceiving because you think you're getting something more but you're not.

Why do they pack cds and dvds in crappy hard plastic cases that always break anyway? Some music artists (Seal comes to mind) package their cds in cardboard - very much like a mini record album sleeve from days of old.

One of the worst offenders of overpackaging are kids toys. I mean, do Barbie, Ken and the gang really need 27 plastic straps to ensure that they stay put?? Are they really alive until sold and they try to escape? If eggs can be packaged in cardboard and make the trip relatively unscathed, I think toys can too.

Oh and what's with cereals and crackers packaged in waxed covered plastic bags that can only be opened with scissors? And who came up with cookie packaging that once you take the thing of cookies out you cannot get it back into the outer bag without the bag completely tearing, so then you have to get a plastic zip bag to put them in. Idiots.

 

[JohnStOnge]

No, because it makes little or no difference to anything.

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

I don't recycle. And depending on which commodity you're talking about, recycling may actually waste more resources than just throwing it away.

In order to recycle (not counting grass clippings), you have to burn gasoline or diesel to transport the waste. The trucks use steel, glass, rubber, and so forth too. In order to manufacture the steel, energy had to be used as well. Then there's the workers, all of whose consumption can be counted towards the resources used by recycling. Yes, they have to eat no matter what, but they could be doing something productive, and working at a job that solves real scarcity.

Want to know if something is worth recycling? Look at the price. If a whole pickup bed full of a commodity barely brings in enough money to pay for the trip to the recycling center, it's wasteful. If the recycling has to be subsidized, it's wasteful. Glass and paper, for example. They are made from sand and trees--not exactly scarce.

On the other hand, nobody has to harass people into recycling automobiles or computers. They are recycled because it is profitable. And the reason for that is, it's cheaper to recycle than to dig out fresh iron and gold and so forth from the earth. A company can use relatively simple and cheap machinery to grind up cars and do what mining companies do, while spending fewer resources.

But what about landfills? Surely we should conserve landfill space? It depends where you live. If you live in a heavily populated area, say Taiwan, then yes of course. Land is scarce. If you live in Montana...not so much. But again, no one has to hector people into solving the problem. Prices do that. Disposing of waste in Taiwan and NYC and so forth is considerably more expensive than in Montana. The high price has led at least two companies to develop thermal depolymerization and trash vaporization technology. No need to separate trash, the plant processes it into useful and profitable resources--namely, metals and synthetic petroleum.

 

[editec]

I recyle bottles I pay a deposit on.

I compost.

I tend to buy used clothing whenever possible.

I eat leftovers.

But recycling requires someplace to take your recyclables.

Hell, I'm still sitting on bags full of batteries, computers, old paint and varnish, cleaning products and stuff like that, which I cannot throw away (because I know it ends up polluting some landfill someplace) and I cannot recycle because there's no place to take it.

So I don't really recycle, I just accumulate crap I cannot get rid of in any environmentally sound way.

I'm surprised they don't have some kind of recycling program in Maine. Do you live in the sticks?

Sticks is such a harsh term

Waldo county DOES have two stoplights, after all.

It isn't like we're completely in the wilderness.

Speaking of which

We now have a young one of these

...taking up residence in or near the beaver damn which the beaver just build across the stream.

Lontra canadensis

Unlike the beaver and muskrats, who are both obsessively on the job being beavers and muskrats, otters like to play around, sun bath, goof off and generally have a good time being otters.

They PLAY folks, they PLAY a lot!

And this young one doesn't seem to mind that I sit on the top of my bank overlooking the beaver dam where it likes to hang out.

In fact it's damned near come right up to me just to see what I'm all about, too. It was perhaps twenty feet from me, looking right at me as I was talking to it a few days back.

It's basically curious and apparently somewhat fearless, too.


I'm gushing because when I first moved into this place, the pond was basically recoving from having been the sewage system of this town for a century or so. It was a disgusting mess twenty years ago, but it's clearly not anymore.

And now that pond and associated wetlands are so rehabilitated that freaking OTTER has taken up residence

Otters are very sensitive to pollution, so this otter is informing me that this brook/stream/pond/wetland is now clean enough to attract pretty much anything native which had been driven off due to the pollution.

I really must get a good camera to share this place with some of you.

I am one lucky man, folks.

 

[random3434]

I recyle bottles I pay a deposit on.

I compost.

I tend to buy used clothing whenever possible.

I eat leftovers.

But recycling requires someplace to take your recyclables.

Hell, I'm still sitting on bags full of batteries, computers, old paint and varnish, cleaning products and stuff like that, which I cannot throw away (because I know it ends up polluting some landfill someplace) and I cannot recycle because there's no place to take it.

So I don't really recycle, I just accumulate crap I cannot get rid of in any environmentally sound way.

I'm surprised they don't have some kind of recycling program in Maine. Do you live in the sticks?

Sticks is such a harsh term

Waldo county DOES have two stoplights, after all.

It isn't like we're completely in the wilderness.

Speaking of which

We now have a young one of these

...taking up residence in or near the beaver damn which the beaver just build across the stream.

Lontra canadensis

Unlike the beaver and muskrats, who are both obsessively on the job being beavers and muskrats, otters like to play around, sun bath, goof off and generally have a good time being otters.

They PLAY folks, they PLAY a lot!

And this young one doesn't seem to mind that I sit on the top of my bank overlooking the beaver dam where it likes to hang out.

In fact it's damned near come right up to me just to see what I'm all about, too. It was perhaps twenty feet from me, looking right at me as I was talking to it a few days back.

It's basically curious and apparently somewhat fearless, too.


I'm gushing because when I first moved into this place, the pond was basically recoving from having been the sewage system of this town for a century or so. It was a disgusting mess twenty years ago, but it's clearly not anymore.

And now that pond and associated wetlands are so rehabilitated that freaking OTTER has taken up residence

Otters are very sensitive to pollution, so this otter is informing me that this brook/stream/pond/wetland is now clean enough to attract pretty much anything native which had been driven off due to the pollution.

I really must get a good camera to share this place with some of you.

I am one lucky man, folks.

That is GREAT ed, thanks for sharing, and for the pic! Nature can entertain us for hours, can't it?

 

[Dis]

I'm bored with the current threads, so I thought I'd start one that might stir things up a bit (Amanda!). So here you go:

Answer this for me:

Do you recycle?

Why or why not?

Where do you fall in the political spectrum i.e. liberal, conservative, fiscal conservative/social liberal?

Its my guess that conservatives generally don't recycle and liberals, well, I would hope that they generally do.
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I recycle everything I can because I think that waste is stupid, the environment is the most important current issue and I do everything I can to minimize my impact; and I live by the categorical imperative that if I want everyone to recycle, I have to recycle. I'm very liberal.

1) Yes.

2) Because it's required; $500 fine if you get nailed.

3) Conservative, mostly.

 

[DamnYankee]

I did when it was a choice, now that we are forced to I even go as far as littering on purpose.

Really? Where do you live that you have to recycle?

Jersey for one. Some towns actually do enforce with summonses for mixing recyclables with garbage. Wonder if they get paid extra for inspecting....

Anyway, it depends on the town how the service is provided. Some use their Public Works dept., others contract it out, as ours does. Problem with that is, there are 2 pick-ups a month for paper and 2 a month for co-mingled (cans, bottles, etc.) While I do recycle as much as possible, it's inconvenient having stuff around for 2 weeks or more (if there's a 3rd Tues. for instance in the month, no pick-up).

As for your other question, while there's a tendency to lean conservative, it is definitely based on specific issues. No problem seeing this as a good thing since other states use ours for garbage landfill. It just isn't a hot-button item in the greater "global warming" argument for me, which is probably where you were going....