35 replies to this topic

[FamilyTreeClimber]

I was on another forum where recycling was discussed today.  The responses were interesting but then there was the one you always expect.  The person stated that recycling is a big waste of time.  They stated that the market for recycling fell through so there is no reason to recycle anymore.  We are wasting our efforts and our government's money.

I've heard others say this, yet I see more and more recycled products hitting the market.  So, is it true that there is too much recycled waste and no one is buying it?  Or, is this an old argument that lets people gives people an out so they don't have to do it?

[zararina]

Maybe there are some things that are just a waste of time and even money to be recycled since they seems more costly in a process and output. But I do not think that is generally true, there are things that are worth to be recycled in terms of energy, money and of course it benefits the environment. There should be something to recycled if we want to at least lessen the garbage.

[Sandra Piddock]

Recycling is never a waste of time. The people who take this view are probably too lazy to bother with the process. I think if more people realised that recycling and re-using can save them money, they'd be more willing to do it. I think green campaigners should emphasize this aspect more, because most people are up for saving some cash.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

You can tell that person that if they don't mind cutting their own oxygen supply, they shouldn't recycle
paper or cardboard because it saves trees from being felled; our main oxygen supplier on this planet.

Tell that person that if they like the idea of giving money to foreign governments that wish us harm and
harbor terrorists, some of whom may still be living in their country after they bombed the World Trade
Center on September 11, that they shouldn't bother recycling plastics made from oil and gas.

Even without that in consideration, tell them that should know that as plastics break down in the oceans
from sun/salt water exposure, that thousands of animals, birds, turtles and other creatures consider these
"pieces" food, and starve to death eating it.

Ask that person if they can go beyond the 3 day limit of not drinking water and why they consider themselves
"better" than someone else that doesn't want to go beyond the 3 day limit of dying of thirst and that they
should conserve water. Recycling conserves water more than using new resources.

Ask them if they would rather have continuous scars upon the Earth from mining for ore and the devastation
it causes to the Eco-systems or would they rather do the simple act of recycling that can.

Ask them if they know the footprint of making new bottles, the water wasted, the CO-2 emissions, the
transportation costs and emissions to ship it.

Ask them why they are that selfish and inconsiderate of other life forms on this planet.

[mariaandrea]

What I find interesting about the people who claim recycling is a waste of time is that they choose to focus mainly on two issues: landfill space (as in there's enough and we're not "running out of room") and the energy required to haul and sort trash and produce new goods from recycled materials.

Those of us in the recycling camp choose to focus on reducing the use of virgin resources and lessening the amount of garbage that doesn't make it into a landfill and pollutes the surrounding environment, and also the issue of pollution from landfills.

Both camps tend to believe that re-use is a very good thing.

Just some observations.

[FamilyTreeClimber]

I asked this question in the right place :D   When people say these things, I wonder where they are going from.  Are they lazy as Sandra says?  Do they only look at the profit line?  Do they not care about the environment, their drinking water, etc.?

I thought from a business standpoint a surplus is a good thing because it drives down prices making something cheaper to do?  I guess the question would be would you rather have a glut of garbage sitting in a landfill contaminating water and ground soil or would you rather have a glut of recycled materials?  Is it really cheaper to make something from brand new materials (include the cost of labor to chop down trees through to the end product) or to keep recycling materials and continually make things from them?

Sometimes I think what we lack is imagination.  How many products can be made with recycled materials?

[dziomek]

I recently checked a tag on a reusable shopping bag, and it was made from recycled plastic bottles. Had the bottles not been recycled that bag would have been made from new petroleum products. We save our bottles, cans and milk cartons, and when we have 20 bags or so we will take them to the bottle depot. We then get a nice little bonus when we get paid for our efforts. I think recycling is not a waste of time; if everyone does their part then we can all make the Earth a little greener.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

In one way, it's personal to me. If many people had not recycled their newspapers, that paper wouldn't have
been available for the blown-in insulation folks to use so they could pump it into my walls.
It took 35 bales of compressed, shredded paper and that's a lot.
I say, Thank You!

[FamilyTreeClimber]

Shortpoet,  That had to be a heck of a lot of newspaper to make 35 bales.  That's where the innovation comes in.  They need to make more paper products with that paper.  In this case they made insulation.  There could many uses for something like that.

[TashWord]

I completely agree with reusing and then recycling.

However, in my experience, what some people say about recycling being a waste is about in their area. That is, Mary puts out recycling which her council collects and throws in with the general ladnfill stuff anyway so Mary thinks sorting and colelcting it separately is a waste. In that case, I agree with mary. I know various people who swear this is what happens and I know one area did do this for a while (while dealing with industrial issues or some such) - but ostly I htink that is a cop out and conspiracy thinking.

[FamilyTreeClimber]

Tash, we had a little bit of that here, but it wasn't at the landfill.  There was one lazy driver for the waste management company who was taking all the cans and dumping them in the garbage truck (we have a separate truck that picks up recycling).  I guess it was too much trouble for him to look at the colors of the cans and figure out which was which.  People were very angry that they separated everything and then it got dumped together.  But, that was an isolated case.  It was resolved after two weeks of complaints.

[TashWord]

Good to hear it was resolved but shocking to think the driver was so lazy as surely that was part of his job!

We have spearate trucks here, too, and even used to separate paper from other recylables but now we just dump it all in one recycling bin and someone else sorts it for us :)

[dconklin]

I think that people who say it is useless and think nobody buys recycled products do not have a full understanding of recycling.  They also probably do not realize that many of the packages they purchase are actually made with recycled material.  Various food packaging are made with recycled card board.  

My personal opinion is that some people just don't understand and are not taking the steps to recycle.  Some people are lazy, I know a couple of people who took a while to actually decide to take the time to separate trash from recyclables. They had the idea of "why bother?"

[Shortpoet-GTD]

FamilyTreeClimber, on 11 June 2012 - 05:07 PM, said:

Shortpoet,  That had to be a heck of a lot of newspaper to make 35 bales.  That's where the innovation comes in.  They need to make more paper products with that paper.  In this case they made insulation.  There could many uses for something like that.

Whenever I take paper to the bins here, it's always loaded with newspapers (thank goodness) so a lot of people
recycle them. The insulation was shredded and compacted, so yes; 35 bales worth was a lot of newspapers.

[Sandra Piddock]

The people who say recycling is a waste of time are obviously lacking in imagination, because all they see are mountains of bottles and newspapers that nobody wants or needs. What their tiny brains can't envisage is what can be done with those things, such as making Shortpoet's insulation, which will save both energy and money, or Dziomek's bag, which is keeping plastic carrier bags out of landfill sites.

There's a lot more involved in recycling than people realise. They see it as a wast of time and effort, while others see it as a way to make 'new from old' and help the environment, as well as providing useful products we can all benefit from.

[Shortpoet-GTD]

Sandra Piddock, on 12 June 2012 - 02:12 PM, said:

The people who say recycling is a waste of time are obviously lacking in imagination, because all they see are mountains of bottles and newspapers that nobody wants or needs. What their tiny brains can't envisage is what can be done with those things, such as making Shortpoet's insulation, which will save both energy and money, or Dziomek's bag, which is keeping plastic carrier bags out of landfill sites.

There's a lot more involved in recycling than people realise. They see it as a wast of time and effort, while others see it as a way to make 'new from old' and help the environment, as well as providing useful products we can all benefit from.

Damn. I could only vote that post UP once. Thanks for your insight.

[FamilyTreeClimber]

I wonder if part of it is they feel they should be paid to recycle.  Maybe they feel the waste company is taking advantage of them because they make money off it but the consumer does all the work by sorting it.  Of course, our part in this puzzle is only a small fraction of what really happens.

Sandra, I think you are right.  Really, all we need are innovators and entrepreneurs who take that pile of newspaper and see insulation for buildings (something I wasn't aware that they do).  Maybe what we need to do is put children on the recycling boards.  Children see all sorts of possibilities in a box of Legos and a container of clay.  They can make something out of anything.  Adult thinking can be far too rigid sometimes.

[dziomek]

FamilyTreeClimber, on 12 June 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

I wonder if part of it is they feel they should be paid to recycle.  Maybe they feel the waste company is taking advantage of them because they make money off it but the consumer does all the work by sorting it.  Of course, our part in this puzzle is only a small fraction of what really happens.

Sandra, I think you are right.  Really, all we need are innovators and entrepreneurs who take that pile of newspaper and see insulation for buildings (something I wasn't aware that they do).  Maybe what we need to do is put children on the recycling boards.  Children see all sorts of possibilities in a box of Legos and a container of clay.  They can make something out of anything.  Adult thinking can be far too rigid sometimes.

I agree! Many adults are too set in their ways to even consider change, much less do it. I don't mind change, especially when it it for the better. Kids have wonderful imaginations when given the chance (just take away the video games for awhile first).

[Shortpoet-GTD]

The only constant in life is change.

[FamilyTreeClimber]

dziomek, how true!  I remember my Dad had a difficult time with recycling.  He was very angry that we had to do it.  I think he was more angry at change than anything else.

What I find strange about the those who fight recycling is it really isn't much different from throwing garbage away, at least not where I live.  I have stuff that goes in the garbage can under the sink that goes in the garbage bin.  I have stuff that I have in a bag that I take out and throw in the recycling bin.  It doesn't take any more effort to do this.