recycling

[mandangalo18]

Penn&Teller did an interesting episode of "Bullshit" on this.

They concluded that aluminum is the only thing that actually ends up being worthwhile to recycle

discuss

 

[Shapeshifter]

Well if you call "worthwhile" if it costs less. Yes, aluminum has a clear case of costing less when recycled instead of being harvested and made from scratch, while some other materials might even cost more when recycled than when made from scratch (although that's definitely a minority). The point is, a nice share of resources come from recycling, so a big plus for recycling is that we don't just dump our garbage in the ground or burn it, instead we reuse it, even if in some cases this produces higher costs than producing new materials and dumping the old ones. Also, I'm not familiar with that "Bullshit", and which country they looked at, but for example (quoting Wikipedia) "In Denmark 98% of bottles are refillable and 98% of those are returned by consumers." I doubt that's not "worthwhile". Maybe for the US that's right, but I doubt it is for most European countries.

edit: from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling#Cost-benefit_analysis

<i>
</i>Material             Energy Savings 	Air Pollution Savings
Aluminium            95%[2][6]         95%[2][12]
Cardboard            24%               ,
Glass                5-30%             20%
Paper                40%[6]            73%
Plastics             70%[6]            ,
Steel                60%[4]            ,

 

[irmerk]

I like the idea of stores using more and more cardboard boxes to pack purchased items instead of just throwing them away. Also, I have heard that grocery stores in Germany are trying to get rid of extra packaging of products. Like already said, most bottles can and should be reused. Paper, I hear, is not so great to recycle due to all the chemicals needed to clean it. However, I have heard that hemp is a great source of paper and clothing. Oh, wait, that's right, hemp is evil.

 

[thepeacefulatheist]

Recycling is the reusing of waste rather than simply throwing it in the garbage., not just turning one thing into another. In the city of Port Coquitlam, where I live, we are creating buring facilities that burn all the garbage and turn it into energy to heat homes. It was tested in Sweden and is being introduced here. We will effectively stop using hydro for electricity to power our homes. The filtration system effectively neutralizes the air pollutants. It saves our rivers from being dammed and our landfills from being filled. We have greenwaste facilites that take all lawn trimmings and compost. Plastic bags are being replaced with reusable bags(wish need to be washed regularily). REcycling programs are worthwhile if people wouldnt be so fat and lazy and actually deal with waste rather than doing the same old and dumping it. The world shouldnt be a dumping ground. I'm not a hippy or anything but i do encourage recycling.

 

[Sando]

Take your canvas bags when you go to the super market, market, market!
Why use plastic bags when you know, you know the world can't take it?

*choir* Take your canvas bags, take your canvas bags, take your canvas bags to the super market! *choir*