NationStates Jolt Archive

Something I saw on another thread got me thinking about this. What are people's reasons for choosing to recycle or not to recycle.

I recycle fairly religiously ... to me it makes sense that in a world of limited resources and space we are going to have to keep waste to a minimum and make use of our resources as efficiently as possible. I also think recycling should be a choice of last resort among the three R's ... much more emphasis needs to be placed on reducing and reusing, which are less resource intensive.

However, some people have suggested that the amount of energy, chemicals, water, etc. that go into recycling make it worse than simply making a new product. Does anyone have any evidence to support or refute this claim?

What are people's thoughts on this?

our city recycles and is one of the best in the UK at it apparently. thats why i do - i'd like to if the city didn't collect and do it for me, but i probably wouldn't bother.
its a matter of preserving the environment - if you can recycle x many tonnes of tin (for example - first material that came to mind) then thats x many tonnes of ore that doesn't have to be dug out the ground :)

I recycle as much as I can, which is a lot, and I reuse religiously.

There's a separate collection of recyclable materials round here. When you think about it that too helps then enviroment. Instead of dozens of cars driving off to the recycling plant a handful of trucks do the dirty work. :D

In most of the UK you get two bins - one for recyclables (green), and one for everything else (black). They're collected on alternate weeks, so if you don't put anything in the recyclable version you could easily run out of room in the other one (if you use the recyclable one for non-recyclable rubbish on multiple occasions then the council will stop taking your rubbish).

We have three wheelie bins.

A grey one for general rubbish, a blue one for some recyclable stuff, and a brown one for other recyclable stuff.

We use them the way their meant to be used.

I recycle diligently. My town collects recycleables seperately- Glass,plastic, paper,cardboard. I always have it all properly seperated and ready for pick up on the days they come.
The only thing my town didnt take yet was styrofoam-like the kind used in egg cartons and coffee cups, packaging, etc...
I found out the next town over takes it, so from time to time, I drop it off there.
I change my own oil as well as that of an elderly neighbor and take the used oil to a local oil collection center.
I got the office I work for to go with a mobile shredding service-so now the reams of documents are not only shredded to be used for post consumer products, but the firm has no issues with proprietary materials falling into the hands of others-I got a great bonus for that plan. I also got one when I found a co that refills ink cartridges for the office's many printers- at half the price of a new cartridge. (the small individual desk top printers- over 20 of them)

I've also done roadside/beach cleanups with the cub scouts and my family-we seperate it all and arrange to have the town pick it up. Thats another important aspect of reducing, reusing and recycling-making it second nature to the next generation.

I recycle as often as I possibly can.

However, for most of my garbage, it'd be nice if there was some possibility to recycle. Glass, plastic and so on already is, but some things still need to be.

Oh yes, and compost.

btw - if it's more wasteful than just making a landfill, then it's not recycling. At least, not practical recycling.

However, some people have suggested that the amount of energy, chemicals, water, etc. that go into recycling make it worse than simply making a new product. Does anyone have any evidence to support or refute this claim?
If that was true then it would only be charities using recycled products - companies would have to go for the cheaper new product or go out of business. As we see many companies using recycled products (newspapers being one of the best examples) then it obviously makes economic sense.

On garbage day, I put out two recycle bins – one for glass metal and plastic and one for paper and one small bag of garbage for my family. It amazes me how much garbage some people have to put out.

Cutting down on consumption is the easiest way to For example, I cancelled the daily newpaper – only get the Sunday paper – that cuts down on a huge amount of paper garbage. Our local paper is terrible and I wasn’t reading much of it anyway. Appropriate magazines, egg containers, shoeboxes, and paper towel or wrapping paper rolls get donated to my son’s preschool for projects. I have a compost bin, so all my veggies, eggshells, teabags and stuff get composted along with some yard waste. That stuff gets mixed into my garden beds. I try to buy fresh foods, so less metal and glass there.

Our town picks up Christmas trees and shreds them into free mulch that you can pick up. The local recycling agency has several “dropoffs” a year too, for things like hazardous household waste like old fertilizer, oil based paints, fire extinguishers, tv sets and air conditioners. We get orange bags that we can drop off dead batteries to our local grocery store. Latex paints are recycled into 10 gallon buckets of white or gray paint that get used by local non-profits.

If nothing else it makes me think to buy products that aren't overpackaged, or think of creative ways to reuse or recycle the garbage that I do generate.

I live way on the outskirts of my town so I have to drive all my garbage & recylables to the waste collection center. I recycle glass, paper, and aluminium, but not plastic because they don't have a spot for it oddly enough.

I recycle because I have to. If I don't, I get a fine and my garbage won't be picked up anymore.

I reduce first. As much as I can, I cut down on the amount of things that we consume, I avoid buying products that are heavily packaged, and I look for goods in containers that will be useful to me later on. This alone has cut down the amount of garbage we produce by about half. Then I compost. This cuts down our garbage even more. THEN I worry about recycling. There isn't much to recycle. Milk containers is the biggest one. Tin cans would be next, and paper is the last. At the end of the day, what actually makes it into the garbage bags are dirty diapers (I know I could be using cloth, but just no), bones, and the odd packaging that can't be recycled.

As for why...I don't understand the question. Why WOULDN'T you?

I reuse a lot more than I recycle. Our city has a new recycling thingy though and I have my blue tub so I will probably start recycling my newspaper and stuff. I don't really have anything else that can be recycled that I don't reuse for school, crafts, games, or fun.

Yeah- I forgot to mention the kitchen waste to compost. Thats one my wife cant stand, I do exclusively. Egg shells, rinds,peels tea bags (with that tag,string and staple removed) coffee grinds and the unbleached paper filters.

Something I saw on another thread got me thinking about this. What are people's reasons for choosing to recycle or not to recycle.

I recycle fairly religiously ... to me it makes sense that in a world of limited resources and space we are going to have to keep waste to a minimum and make use of our resources as efficiently as possible. I also think recycling should be a choice of last resort among the three R's ... much more emphasis needs to be placed on reducing and reusing, which are less resource intensive.

However, some people have suggested that the amount of energy, chemicals, water, etc. that go into recycling make it worse than simply making a new product. Does anyone have any evidence to support or refute this claim?

What are people's thoughts on this?

Wait...did my thread get you thinking about it??? if so...well that makes my day!

Yeah- I forgot to mention the kitchen waste to compost. Thats one my wife cant stand, I do exclusively. Egg shells, rinds,peels tea bags (with that tag,string and staple removed) coffee grinds and the unbleached paper filters.
Why can't your wife stand it? My mom bought me a really nice stainless steel pail a couple of Christmases ago. It sits on our counter, and looks quite nice. I put all the peelings in it, and it has a very snug lid, so there is no smell. It's also really easy to wash out. I dump the compost every two days...more if I've been cooking a lot. When we finally started doing it again (I grew up composting...or saving the peels for pigs), we noticed a shocking decline in the amount of garbage. We hadn't realised we threw out so much organic stuff.

Why can't your wife stand it? My mom bought me a really nice stainless steel pail a couple of Christmases ago. It sits on our counter, and looks quite nice. I put all the peelings in it, and it has a very snug lid, so there is no smell. It's also really easy to wash out. I dump the compost every two days...more if I've been cooking a lot. When we finally started doing it again (I grew up composting...or saving the peels for pigs), we noticed a shocking decline in the amount of garbage. We hadn't realised we threw out so much organic stuff.
My 4 year old has been interested in composting, what types of things can you use? The thought of it disgusts me, but I told her that I would find out and we could try it. What do you do with the compost?

She is planting veggies this spring, can we use it for her garden?

Why can't your wife stand it? My mom bought me a really nice stainless steel pail a couple of Christmases ago. It sits on our counter, and looks quite nice. I put all the peelings in it, and it has a very snug lid, so there is no smell. It's also really easy to wash out. I dump the compost every two days...more if I've been cooking a lot. When we finally started doing it again (I grew up composting...or saving the peels for pigs), we noticed a shocking decline in the amount of garbage. We hadn't realised we threw out so much organic stuff.


She hates the smell. All that organic stuff is usually what makes the garbage stink.
I have an old, but sturdy blender. I throw the stuff in there and chop it thoroughly before I dump it in the compost. It probably cuts the breakdown time in half.

I know what you mean about the diapers- I'd love to use cloth- its a quality of life issue there- I dont have the time to spend emptying and cleaning the cloth diapers. Or the money to hire a service.

I do the best I can other wise.

As you may know, my wife and I both opted to work from home, so we use very little gas/oil. We dont put 20 miles on either car in a week unless we have to travel somewhere. I see that as a major contibition to the effort to reduce the use of resources and pollution.

I also replaced all light bulbs with the significantly lower wattage flourescent bulbs- our electric bills reflect how much less wattage they use. After I saw this was actually fact, I have probably a dozen other households I told about it switch too-family friends and neighbors.

We got 3 differant blue bins for recycled stuff, a general grey bin and green eco bin. The collection of rubbish has been less often so unless you want black bing bangs everywhere you have to recycle. The problems with all this though is that the pavement on tuesday morning is like an obsticle and its troublesome for the elderley and the disabled to take all the bins in and out.

My 4 year old has been interested in composting, what types of things can you use? The thought of it disgusts me, but I told her that I would find out and we could try it. What do you do with the compost?

She is planting veggies this spring, can we use it for her garden?
Are you thinking about a worm compost? That's a bit different, but also cool. All I do is collect peels, rinds...any fruit or vegetable that hasn't come into contact with oil or meat. Outside, I have a compost heap where I dump the pail. You need to mix in grass cuttings, leaves or straw to get a really good mixture going...if it's all fruits and veggies, the acidity might be a bit out of whack. You let things sit for a couple of months...not too dry, by not too wet either, and it rots. Produces enough heat that even in winter, it steams if you stick a pitchfork in and move things around. After a while, the stuff on the bottom is ready for using. If you build your box right, you can scoop the bottom stuff out without unduly messing the top stuff. Then you use it to fertilise your garden, or if you don't have one, you can use it to 'feed' your lawn. Usually when you do that you don't spread it on, you put it in a rain barrel and let it steep...like tea. Then you water the lawn with the 'tea'. You won't need chemical fertilisers again.

I recycle because its available and saves trash space. It doesnt even require effort, and it helps the environment, so it makes me feel better.

I also replaced all light bulbs with the significantly lower wattage flourescent bulbs- our electric bills reflect how much less wattage they use. After I saw this was actually fact, I have probably a dozen other households I told about it switch too-family friends and neighbors.
That pisses me off...we switched quite a while ago to the low wattage lights, but our electrical companies are such that when you use less, they charge more...meaning you end up paying the same no matter what.

Are you thinking about a worm compost? That's a bit different, but also cool. All I do is collect peels, rinds...any fruit or vegetable that hasn't come into contact with oil or meat. Outside, I have a compost heap where I dump the pail. You need to mix in grass cuttings, leaves or straw to get a really good mixture going...if it's all fruits and veggies, the acidity might be a bit out of whack. You let things sit for a couple of months...not too dry, by not too wet either, and it rots. Produces enough heat that even in winter, it steams if you stick a pitchfork in and move things around. After a while, the stuff on the bottom is ready for using. If you build your box right, you can scoop the bottom stuff out without unduly messing the top stuff. Then you use it to fertilise your garden, or if you don't have one, you can use it to 'feed' your lawn. Usually when you do that you don't spread it on, you put it in a rain barrel and let it steep...like tea. Then you water the lawn with the 'tea'. You won't need chemical fertilisers again.

That reminds me- in the summer, I water the garden,flowers with my daughter's bath water. My wife hates that too. Its always a race for me to remember she will empty the tub without telling me.
I'm just not the type that can stand there spraying a hose like that.

After the winter, I usually get the mulch from beneath the covering of leaves and turn it into the garden.

That pisses me off...we switched quite a while ago to the low wattage lights, but our electrical companies are such that when you use less, they charge more...meaning you end up paying the same no matter what.

Our power co has summer rates- they charge more in the peak A/C months and the hourly rate goes down in September. The rates also go down after 7 or 8pm to encourage less use during the day. Thats when I run the dishwasher, pool, washer and dryer to save some money.

I live by the ocean and I have a whole house fan. If I open the basement door and turn the fan on, it can suck all the hot air of the day out pretty quickly, replacing it with the cooler air from downstairs.
Its saved us a lot on the A/C usage.

Its saved us a lot on the A/C usage.
That's hardly ever an issue here:D

I like the bathwater thing...it'd be a great way to reuse that water, but do you have a portable bath and just dump it out, or do you go back bucket by bucket?

Rainbarrels are a great investment, and if you have a hose attached to a spigot near the bottom you can let gravity water your lawn:)

That's hardly ever an issue here:D

I like the bathwater thing...it'd be a great way to reuse that water, but do you have a portable bath and just dump it out, or do you go back bucket by bucket?

Rainbarrels are a great investment, and if you have a hose attached to a spigot near the bottom you can let gravity water your lawn:)


I go bucket by bucket. I read somewhere that stuff left in bathwater is good for a garden. Its usually only two 5 gallon buckets. We conserve water here too. The boys and I take navy showers. My wife is the only one that luxuriates beneath 20 minutes of steaming hot water. I bet if you timed how long I ran the water, it would be under 5 minutes. I dont even turn the light on in the bathroom when I shower-I know where everything is.

I have one rainbarrell on one long gutter in the back-its always over flowing.

Some of the organic waste that cant be composted- chicken bones & skin and fat- I feed to a pair of ravens that live in a huge pine tree in my back yard and are always watching for when I put it out.

I go bucket by bucket. I read somewhere that stuff left in bathwater is good for a garden. Yeah, especially if your kids have been rolling around in manure:) I just think it's a great idea, because it is so much water that just goes to waste.


Some of the organic waste that cant be composted- chicken bones & skin and fat- I feed to a pair of ravens that live in a huge pine tree in my back yard and are always watching for when I put it out.
We always fed that stuff to a dog, on the farm, but we don't have a dog now. I no longer like ravens, having put up with the giant ones in the North, so I wouldn't encourage their company. Chicken skin is the best part of the animal, by the way. Sheesh!

I'm one of those idealists with revolutionary ideas that I recently picked up and now act upon. Err...meaning, I don't recycle most things. I only recycle aluminum and glass, since Aluminum is the only substance that is cheaper to recycle than to make brand new and glass is...well I just like recycling glass.

Anyway, I've been reading a few books and watching some investigation shows about recycling (8 Great Myths About Recycling and Penn & Teller:Bull****) and it's pretty interesting. It costs about 3 times as much to recycle a ton of trash than it does to throw it away. Plus, we waste energy and oil by needlessly recycling plastics and paper. Plastics can't really be recycled into many re-usable and useful things, while recycling paper can actually harm the environment due to the ink that needs to be ectracted then put...somewhere.

Also, a speck of land in a worthless state (I'm looking at you, Wyoming) can hold 1000's of years of trash, according to analysts. Not to mention that landfills are safe and efficient, but produce energy from the heat and gasses put off from decomposition.

Yup. I think that soon we'll either all stop being fed the propaganda about recycling or we'll actually fix it to where it's beneficial and worthwhile for more than just Aluminum.

Yup. I think that soon we'll either all stop being fed the propaganda about recycling or we'll actually fix it to where it's beneficial and worthwhile for more than just Aluminum.
The biggest obstacle that recycling faces is that people think they can continue to consume at truly horrific rates and then 'save their souls' by recycling their waste. Quit being such disgusting, greedy, wasteful pigs!

As for recylcing plastic...there are a lot of products that are made with post-consumer recycled plastics. Most are a blend of recycled and 'virgin' plastics. These products include laminate flooring, heavy duty plastic trash cans, 'lumber' and so on. The processes for recycling consumer waste plastic are getting better. As for paper...we'd be better off petitioning packagers to cut down on all the stupid packaging. That, and just not using tonnes of paper in every office.

I recycle because we get paid for recycling aluminium, glass and plastic. I also recycle compost from grass clippings because the city picks it up every week. If If I did not get paid to recycle I would just throw it away.

This is really weird...I keep clicking on page three, and it keeps sending me to page 2 of this thread.....WTF???

I recycle because the dumpster for our Condo is constantly near full, but my little plastic grocery bag of rubbish doesn't take up much room.

I take Paper, Glass, Metal and Plastic to the Recycling Roll-Off bout once a month... probably one 30gal bag worth total.

But then, we also generate less than 1/3 the total waste of anyone else in our Condos. :mad:

I don't know how they manage it. :headbang:

This is really weird...I keep clicking on page three, and it keeps sending me to page 2 of this thread.....WTF???
Jolt probably thinks there's a post on page 3, but there really isn't. I have mine set for 40 posts/page, so I'm still on page one :D .

Anyways, I recycle and I'm damn proud of it. Not enough people either do or really see the benefit from it. My town somewhat recently established recycling just like trash. Throw all your recyclables in a trash can sized container, and they come get it. Simple as that, and you're not contributing nearly as much to the landfills and such. I also recycle aluminum cans. Why? Because they pay me.

In relation to power:

our local power company decided to let you choose which kind of energy you want most of your electricity from.

We choose 100% green :D

why why why why am I saying choose when I mean chose?

In relation to power:

our local power company decided to let you choose which kind of energy you want most of your electricity from.

We choose 100% green :D
So where is this green energy coming from?

Yep we recycle whatever is possible here. Cans, boxes, glass, paper. Heck we even tear our older towel into smaller pieces and make cleaning rags out of them.

Yep we recycle whatever is possible here. Cans, boxes, glass, paper. Heck we even tear our older towel into smaller pieces and make cleaning rags out of them.
That's reusing. Cheater;)

I'll walk around until I find a garbage can instead of throwing finished products (pop, chips, etc) on the ground. Maybe other folks should do that and solve our litter problems before we try to tackle recycling issues.

That's reusing. Cheater;)


ack the re-user police! I'm busted!:p

It does kind of help because I dont buy as many paper towels or disposable cleaning wipe thingys, which would go in the garbage anyway. Oh who am I kidding? I have every kind of cleaning wipe/spray/gel/towel known to man .:confused: Its madness I tell you.

Anyone see Penn & Teller's episode about recycling?

EDIT: I guess so

Anyway, I've been reading a few books and watching some investigation shows about recycling (8 Great Myths About Recycling and Penn & Teller:Bull****)

Anyone see Penn & Teller's episode about recycling?
It's been discussed to death in another thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=471843).

It's been discussed to death in another thread.

I'll look for it then. Would you mind posting the link in case I don't find it?

EDIT: Nevermind, saw the link you put up.

In relation to power:

our local power company decided to let you choose which kind of energy you want most of your electricity from.

We choose 100% green :D

why why why why am I saying choose when I mean chose?

Do they charge you extra for it?

When we finally started doing it again (I grew up composting...or saving the peels for pigs), we noticed a shocking decline in the amount of garbage. We hadn't realised we threw out so much organic stuff.

It was a surprise to me too ... once I started composting and making a conscious effort to recycle or reuse everything I could, I was producing very little garbage at all. I had one of those worm composters for awhile and loved it, but my landlady made me get rid of it. She kept nosing around and when she'd open it she'd get a face full of flies!

Some of the people on this thread are putting me to shame though ... but lots of great ideas!

If that was true then it would only be charities using recycled products - companies would have to go for the cheaper new product or go out of business. As we see many companies using recycled products (newspapers being one of the best examples) then it obviously makes economic sense.

That's the one argument I'm not sure about. Alot of companies do things that don't make economic sense except from an extremely short-term and myopic perspective.

Yes. It makes me feel I'm doing something, it's the law in New York City anyway and with the bins right next to the garbage shoot it's no extra effort.

OK ... I'm going to go off on one of my pet peeves. People who throw garbage in recycling bins. Especially with most public bins, there is usually a garbage right next to it. To me it is one of the laziest, most selfish acts possible. If you don't believe in recycling, then don't recycle. Throw all the recyclables you want in the garbage. But once you throw garbage in the recycling, you contaminate it, and make it impossible to recycle, unless it gets sorted by hand, which is unlikely. So you are actively undoing what everyone who took the time to recycle has done. You have crossed the line and are now forcing your non-recycling beliefs on others. Just a jerkhole move if you ask me.

I'll take one last kick at this ... I am looking for someone who has some compelling evidence that recycling is actually worse for the environment than dumping.

I don't care about the fact that it costs more ... that is obvious. Dumping is able to externalize most of its costs onto the community at large (tying up land with better uses, keeping down the property values of surrounding land, etc.), while recycling does not.

I want some studies, preferably scientific ... not Penn and Teller's Bullshit or the 8 Great Myths about recycling. I have seen those already.