recycling is bad for the environment

[jarrod]

recycling & production both take energy, & energy costs money. hence, if companies are willing to pay for the materials to be recycled (like most metals), it is because it is more cost-effective to recycle them & therefore conserves energy. but if they don't pay, like with paper & plastic, it is because the energy expended in recycling is equal to or greater than the energy expended in new production. consider the gas & electricity used transporting recyclables to the recycling center, then compressing the materials, then transporting them, then processing them.

paper is a renewable resourse, plastic is a by-product of oil production, & glass is made from sand, a plentiful resource. therefore, recycling any of these consumes more energy than it saves. metals on the other hand are a finite resource which take more energy to discover & mine than to recycle.

jf

 

[Phoenix44]

Well, energy is one thing, but I know that if I throw that plastic bottle in the trash, it might just be in that landfill for the next 500 years. Now that can't be good for the environment either!

 

[jarrod]

Well, energy is one thing, but I know that if I throw that plastic bottle in the trash, it might just be in that landfill for the next 500 years. Now that can't be good for the environment either!

that's certainly a valid concern. however, i have seen one environmental expert who projected with newer landfill technology & methonds, that a hypothetical 35 square mile landfill would hold all the trash produced by america for the next 200 years.

i think that another risk of recycling is that it de-emphasizes waste reduction. the best solution to the problem of plastic is to not use it!

jf

 

[girlbug2]

Bringing my own shopping totes instead of using the plastic bags at the grocery store has really cut down on the plastic bags in my recycling bin these past 2 months. I've decided to take them everywhere I shop now.

 

[Sukerkin]

Something to consider is that just because a resource is renewable doesn't make it infinite.

Rate of consumption has to be factored in too, which is one reason, I think, for the more or less mandatory recycling of paper (despite the toxic chemicals used in the process).

Plastic particularly is on a 'time line' as, to slightly redirect Jarrod's point, it is not a byproduct of oil production but it is one of the uses to which oil is put. Once the oil is gone then we're stuck with whatever we can cook up from celluslose. So it makes sense not to use up a limited resource for things that can be just as easily made out of something else. Plastic bags in supermarkets are a big bugbear of mine, as are plastic bottles. Not so long ago we used to use a lot more glass bottles and reused them too. I recall that it was a treat to take the empties back and be allowed to spend the money we got from that on what we wanted.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

Buy yourself a good canning set, learn to use it, and every fall can a pantry full of food.
Result is better food, and an elimination of all those cans and bottles in your bin.
Make your own soups and stews and can/freeze those too.
Make and bake your own breads.
Again, healthier, less wasteful and the odd bits can be tossed in the compost pile to feed next years home garden.

 

[jarrod]

Something to consider is that just because a resource is renewable doesn't make it infinite.

Rate of consumption has to be factored in too, which is one reason, I think, for the more or less mandatory recycling of paper (despite the toxic chemicals used in the process).

Plastic particularly is on a 'time line' as, to slightly redirect Jarrod's point, it is not a byproduct of oil production but it is one of the uses to which oil is out. Once the oil is gone then we're stuck with whatever we can cook up from celluslose. So it makes sense not to use up a limited resource for things that can be just as easily made out of something else. Plastic bags in supermarkets are a big bugbear of mine, as are plastic bottles. Not so long ago we used to use a lot more glass bottles and reused them too. I recall that it was a treat to take the empties back and be allowed to spend the money we got from that on what we wanted.

i hadn't thought of it, but paper recycling probably makes more sense on your side of the pond. i'm assuming we have more tree farms than you, & that you have to import a fair amount of your virgin paper.

jf

 

[Ray]

Buy yourself a good canning set, learn to use it, and every fall can a pantry full of food.
Result is better food, and an elimination of all those cans and bottles in your bin.
Make your own soups and stews and can/freeze those too.
Make and bake your own breads.
Again, healthier, less wasteful and the odd bits can be tossed in the compost pile to feed next years home garden.

I never had such a peaceful time as when I had a small home garden a few years ago in Wyoming.

 

[Kacey]

Buy yourself a good canning set, learn to use it, and every fall can a pantry full of food.
Result is better food, and an elimination of all those cans and bottles in your bin.
Make your own soups and stews and can/freeze those too.
Make and bake your own breads.
Again, healthier, less wasteful and the odd bits can be tossed in the compost pile to feed next years home garden.

I haven't tried canning (although I've been considering it) but I did buy a dehydrator I've been quite pleased with. I love dried fruit, but it's really hard to find any that's not loaded with sugar to offset the taste of the ascorbic acid that keeps the fruit from turning brown. I know why it turns brown, and it doesn't bother me - so I dry my fruit without ascorbic acid or sugar. Yummy! And lots of peels for the compost pile. I also tried beef jerky - the first attempt was good enough that I'm going to try it again.

 

[Bob Hubbard]

I tend towards freezing and dehydrating. Try a little lemon juice to retard the browning.

 

[Kacey]

I tend towards freezing and dehydrating. Try a little lemon juice to retard the browning.

Citrus juice of any type is ascorbic acid - but I'd rather put up with the browning than have to add sugar to off-set the taste of the citrus juice... and I don't really like lemon, anyway, and I don't know that orange or grapefruit juice would mix well with some of what I've been drying, like canteloupe. I've been freezing as well - mostly vegetables, as I prefer to cook with frozen vegetables over dehydrated ones - while I love dried fruit as a snack.

 

[MA-Caver]

Well gee... if it's bad for the environment and littering is bad for the environment... we just can't win can we?
SIGH

 

[jarrod]

Well gee... if it's bad for the environment and littering is bad for the environment... we just can't win can we?
SIGH

well littering is just gross, regardless of the consequences.

jf

 

[Jade Tigress]

I recycle many items using this site.

www.freecycle.org

 

[jarrod]

I recycle many items using this site.

www.freecycle.org

freecycle is a great resource, & one of the first places i look when i need something.

jf

 

[MA-Caver]

well littering is just gross, regardless of the consequences.

jf

Ya, we know...