Is recycling worth it?

In the long run its better to "PRECYCLE" use a canvas bag instead of a paper or plastic one. Buy local fresh produce rather than things in packages. Lets face it Bottled water is just plain dumb uses lots of plastic and requires shipping .. use tap water and a filter. Tap water is lots cheaper and in some cases what you're getting in that bottle isn't any better than bottled tap water.

Here's an idea...don't buy plastic bottles anymore!

[yeah yeah yeah, I know, it's harder than it sounds.]

We as a race are just in over our head. It makes sense how can recycling work, if we consume to much, produce more and more garbage, its not just you and I its 6 billion others rich and poor it makes no difference, it upsets me to think this way and I apologize I just hope we all do our best to educate ourselves, and others to perform and demand change and efficiency.

I don't think this article settles any questions on recycling. In fact it does more to promote it, because the only anti-recycling theories it supports is that there is no landfill shortage, and that in some cases it might not make money.

interesting

Conserving our resources is a worth while effort. There continues to be more people on this earth every year. We're growing; our resources aren't. Maybe our scientists will save the day. But maybe not. What's prudent is to work & hope for the best while planning for the worst. Mis-management can be found in every industry.

I think recycling has made everyone aware they need to take a little personal responsibility, and can do so. This may well end up being more important than how much we're currently saving.

i think recycling is going the right way, but is much needed for energy than just recycling altogether, recycling can be part of the cycle of how things are wasted, but needs to be more efficeint, such as trash for example, you can recycle trash, or you can use trash for energy..still recycling can go both ways, recycling is definitly worth it in the end...

what kind of mindset does the person writing this article have recycling is most likely one of the greatest assets to todays waste disposal because not only can you reuse the materials already purchased but if you where just to throw away the bottles then we would be wasting plastic/alluminam/and glass which could have been used to create your new bathroom or some other luxury so instead of complaining they should be glad that we have the opportunity to reuse materials that we have already purchased

the same goes with everything else that "saves mother nature".

I don't think we should be worrying about cost when it comes for the planet. What ever amount of more money we spend will be worth it latter.

Pollution control is not a technical problem, its a behavioral problem

Also, there are collecting bins for all these materials that are set all over the place, which makes them within walking distance of any part of town. They also have lots of them in the countryside.

Switzerland is probably the world's recycling champion. The plastic bottles are made of PET, and are recycled into polar textiles. Paper and cardboard are recycled into more paper and cardboard which are recycled again several times - this spares a fair number of trees. Glass is recycled to make new glass items. Aluminium is recycled to make more aluminium, and this process is less polluting and energy-consuming than making aluminium from ore. Tin cans are recycled into more metallic objects. Vegetable and other food leftovers, as well as withered flowers, etc., are recycled through composting. Both mineral and vegetable oils are recycled into lubricants and diesels. Clothes, textiles and shoes are collected and sorted out - those that are still in good condition are either sold in charity second-hand shops or distributed to the poor in third-world countries, and those textiles that are not in a state to be re-used as such are recycled into paper or cleaning rags, etc. Electric and electronic equipment, televisions, computers, etc., are recycled - precious metals are recuperated, and toxic metals and materials are destroyed in a clean manner.

All this leads to there being far less trash mounting up or being burnt in incinerators, which means decreased pollution of the air, of soil, and of aquifers.

So, I feel just as much in the dark about the subject as I did before I read the article. According to the article, recycling is environmentally sound, but maybe not economically? That doesn't make much sense to me. Eventually, it will be uneconomical to waste our raw material, if it isn't already. My opinion is that recycling promotes intensive growth, which promotes intelligence, education, technology, and so forth. Essentially intensive growth allows us to use resources better,which should lead to more economically efficient production. The opposite, as happened to the Russians under Stalin, is using as many resources as possible to promote growth (extensive). It was productive and economical until they began to run out of resources.

the issues are numbers and methods to apply to different quantities; not if it is worth to act rationally, that is implied in the math and art needed.

I have believed in recycling! Please don't tell me it went all wrong! My faith in government will be marred forever!

I am pro-recycling

i do my part bye turning used bottles and containers into bongs for school children.............what?! lol jk
i lot of energy dose go into recycling but can you imagine the picture at the top of the page in the ocean? cause thats were a crap load of plastic is anyway!

If communities would provide easy access drop off sites then recycling would be not only efficient but definitely eco friendly. My grocery store has bins there and it makes it so convenient when I shop to drop off my items.

plastic soda bottles are recycled to make polar fleece.

so... any suggestions about garbage disposal then?

Of course recycling is really worth it. More people need to have the mentality of making a change. One person can't do it alone but it is a start!

Reduse and reuse, yes. Recycle last resort, yes. This is a big shift for most people. We are creatures of habit and we won't change unless we are given damn good reason to. The well-being of the planet (which we are a part of, not just living on) is not reason enough for most Americans.

The current framework through which most of American's view reality includes a value system which holds money and comfort above the well being of the bio-sphere. This makes no practical sense, since without a planet, there will be no materials to make all the stuff "we" value so dearly.

I say "tax it". Tax all the unnecessary BS that people use, and do, at the expense of the natural world. People are more connected to their bank accounts than to the moans of the earth. So, we should really start hitting people where they can feel it.

I feel that its too late in the game to only make the changes that don't disrupt our cushy day to day lives, to only make changes that require no sacrifice. We've been living in an unsustainable way, we've been stepping, dancing, out of bounds. There are consequences, and we're going to have to feel them.

Let's do it.

peace and love,

travis

I think if recycling is done RIGHT, its worth it. Problem is there is a lot of GREED in the industry and many time money is more important than the end result.

jess
http://www.privacy.mx.tc

yeh I always wondered about this issue; whether the petrol required to take the recycling to the centers is worse for the environment than the effects of actually not recycling. But I think this has a lot to do with the method of recycling itself, for example, if local community trucks pick up the rubbish rather than everyone driving to leave it off, then that's better.

it's only a panacea if the recycling isn't managed properly - like if it's shipped to places like China or India for 'processing', which turns out mostly just to be landfill. This doesn't discredit the principle of recyling as whole though, just the cynical way with which some companies exploit people's good intentions.

Abolish all plastics.

except maybe for medical supplies.

Watch Penn and Teller's episode of "Bullshit" about recycling. It is mind blowing.

It is the concept of making smart decisions about your lifestyle...and if everyone is making smarter decisions about environmentally smart living collectively, the impacts can be monumental....its not just about one thing, such as recycling plastic bottles....its a larger picture of people doing smart things to help our wonderful Planet and in turn, ourselves and the generations to come...and it is definately worth it....

although recycling does cost money... with out it we would have to find more and more places to store our ever growing piles of trash.... why not recycle?

Really the best form of recycling is reusing things, especially plastic containers, if you reuse them rather than throwing them away, there's no cost evaluation necessary.

Yes but how much water is conserved from recycling. Sure it takes gas to make a bottle but did you know it also takes up to 8 litres of water!

Saving water is so much more important than oil.

If all the process of garbage removal is a problem then change how the garbage removal is done. The problem is not the recycling in itself but the way to do it.

ANY FORM OF GARBAGE REMOVAL IS WORTHTHE EFFORT.

i think it's probably the best we've got right now (apart from reducing and reusing) but i do think it gives people a sense of undue complacency.

again, apart from reducing and reusing (which i don't think are ever emphasized enough, particularly the former), a better solution might be biodegradable, compostable bioplastics, and minimized packaging.

and just avoiding bottled beverages altogether. it's unfortunate that plain tap water has become an acquired taste.

It's an unfortunate reality. And the thing is that Americans are crappy at recycling! 100s of millions more go straight into the Earth!

I'll tell you what's not worth it!!

You should probably post their conclusion for clarification: yes, it is worth it in both cost and energy saving, even when it's relatively inefficient in some locations.

This story is really about curb side recycling, where you put your recycled stuff and people come and collected it.

There's good and bad things about curb side recycling.

It costs more to make a plastic bottle out of recycled plastic than to make a new plastic bottle.

It costs less to make a aluminum can out of recycled aluminum than to make a new aluminum can.

Composting is recycling and that works.

I saw a Penn&Teller Bullshit about this a while ago!