I Want The Truth About Recycling

Hugh Freaking Dillon

A guy I work with used to be a garbage collector. He told me that 95% of the stuff in recycling binds ends up in the landfills right next to the stuff that is in your garbage can.

I see ads from Brita about the perils of drinking bottled water.

Then I see ads from bottled water companies about how your recycled water bottles end up as t shirts and shit.

Obviously these companies have their own motivations for telling you the other way is worse. But I want to know, is there a point to recycling? Or does it all end up in the trash anyway? I want to do my part, and I do, but I want to know how to do more. What is more responsible? For example, if I have the choice of using energy or using water to cool down, which is better for Earth? plugging in my air conditioner, or putting on the sprinkler?

rollings

My part is every seventh day I just don't get out of bed.

brianlux

Some areas are less conscientious about recycling- it's true. We recycle anyway hoping for the best. We also compost all our vegetable matter. It also helps to do your own cooking from scratch- fewer containers to dispose of plus better food.

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, here's a link to a company that bottles water in containers made 100% from plants. No plastic! I bought several of these to keep around the house and at work and refill them with my own filtered water. Because they're made from plants they don't last as long as plastic but... they're not plastic! And they decompose! Here's the link:

http://www.greenplanetbottling.com/

Hugh Freaking Dillon

thanks Brian!

Tenzing N.

I've been to our recycling facility and I can tell you that if it's recyclable ours does it. The bottles, cans, glass, cardboard, paper, all of it gets sorted, bundled and shipped out for profit. It's in their best interest to use it all.

The problem is most people throw just whatever in the bin so it has to get trashed. That and some facilities have better equipment and more options for different materials so maybe our facility can handle lots of stuff.

We recycle more than we throw away every week and our compost bin works overtime as well.

DriftingByTheStorm

The only thing i know about "for sortof" (not for sure) is that food contamination leads to some of it getting tossed out.

From what i understand about the majority of recycling facilities is that the incoming mixed contents get tossed to a conveyor belt where it is first HAND sorted to remove anything that is not recyclable.

THIS is the part that is the "grey" area ... because our county (wake, nc) recycles almost everything curbside in large cans, i throw ANY\EVERY thing that looks like plastic\paper\cardboard\etc in to the recycle can.

Unfortunately i get the feeling that a lot of what i toss in DOES get thrown away,
and i also feel like i'm probably regularly pissing off the conveyor sorter gang.

I probably should just find the number and call for clarification.
I'm talking about stuff like:
Cans with tomato paste still in them (recycled, or "contaminated"?)
Plastic that contained chicken \ meat (gross, right? but recyclable, or not?)
Pizza box cardboard (same thing, contaminated or not?)

Our counties website doesn't offer much help but i found this article which makes me think ALMOST ALL OF IT ***IS***:

“Pretty much everything can be recycled, except for household kitchen waste,” Ken Locke, Brewer’s environmental services director, said Thursday.

Under zero-sort recycling, that pizza box, plastic rotisserie chicken container, cereal box and frozen food box can join the newspapers, milk jugs and steel cans that Mainers have recycled for decades.

Styrofoam cups, foam packing materials, plastic shopping bags, cling wrap, light bulbs, window glass, dishes and food waste are not recyclable, but basically everything else is, Locke said

-source

brianlux

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

thanks Brian!

:thumbup:

peacefrompaul

brianlux wrote:

Some areas are less conscientious about recycling- it's true. We recycle anyway hoping for the best. We also compost all our vegetable matter. It also helps to do your own cooking from scratch- fewer containers to dispose of plus better food.

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, here's a link to a company that bottles water in containers made 100% from plants. No plastic! I bought several of these to keep around the house and at work and refill them with my own filtered water. Because they're made from plants they don't last as long as plastic but... they're not plastic! And they decompose! Here's the link:

http://www.greenplanetbottling.com/

Here's a critique of, what appears to be, the bottling process in general. Take it for what it's worth

http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/03/23/gree ... -so-green/

brianlux

peacefrompaul wrote:

brianlux wrote:

Some areas are less conscientious about recycling- it's true. We recycle anyway hoping for the best. We also compost all our vegetable matter. It also helps to do your own cooking from scratch- fewer containers to dispose of plus better food.

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, here's a link to a company that bottles water in containers made 100% from plants. No plastic! I bought several of these to keep around the house and at work and refill them with my own filtered water. Because they're made from plants they don't last as long as plastic but... they're not plastic! And they decompose! Here's the link:

http://www.greenplanetbottling.com/

Here's a critique of, what appears to be, the bottling process in general. Take it for what it's worth

http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/03/23/gree ... -so-green/

Good points there, peacefrompaul. It would probably be next to impossible for me to argue that ANY bottled water is sustainable in that, with the world human population passing 7 billion, almost nothing we do is truly sustainable. But I would argue that Green Planet Bottling is a move in the right direction and re-emphasize what I said about my reusing these bottles over and over again, refilling them with my own filtered water. If we all used Green Planet bottles and reused them many dozens of times, we'd be closer to sustainable, and the giant plastic waste dump in the Pacific would not be so monstrous.

But thank you for pointing out this article. The facts lead us back to the most important thing- the idea that we would do well to re-use and use less.

FrankieG

My high school had recycling bins next to all garbage cans. They were really strict about what to place in each bin.

Eventually it leaked that the janitors dumped both bins into the trash. :nono: They didn't care and just wanted to finish up there job faster.

On a separate note, it really makes me wonder if it's really worth it. Does recycling really offset all of the extra trucks, recyling centers, and energy used in the recycling process?

chadwick

recycle because it is the right thing to do. throw shit away because wasting is fucking awesome and filling up landfills is soo fucking beautiful.

recycling centers do their jobs. the stuff gets shipped out to plastic refinery facilities

know1

FrankieG wrote:

On a separate note, it really makes me wonder if it's really worth it. Does recycling really offset all of the extra trucks, recyling centers, and energy used in the recycling process?

This is what I wonder as well. For example, If I need to completely clean out an empty peanut butter jar, is all the extra water, etc. that I use to get it empty really make sense compared to the benefit from recycling it?

Byrnzie

Buy less useless crap = produce less waste.

Also, I don't cook at home here. I eat out every day. Though I know that's not an option for everyone. But restaurant food in these parts is so cheap that it would cost me more to cook indoors.

But I do use an air-conditioner. Otherwise I'd end up cooked myself.

peacefrompaul

brianlux wrote:

peacefrompaul wrote:

brianlux wrote:

Some areas are less conscientious about recycling- it's true. We recycle anyway hoping for the best. We also compost all our vegetable matter. It also helps to do your own cooking from scratch- fewer containers to dispose of plus better food.

At the risk of sounding like an advertisement, here's a link to a company that bottles water in containers made 100% from plants. No plastic! I bought several of these to keep around the house and at work and refill them with my own filtered water. Because they're made from plants they don't last as long as plastic but... they're not plastic! And they decompose! Here's the link:

http://www.greenplanetbottling.com/

Here's a critique of, what appears to be, the bottling process in general. Take it for what it's worth

http://ecolocalizer.com/2010/03/23/gree ... -so-green/

Good points there, peacefrompaul. It would probably be next to impossible for me to argue that ANY bottled water is sustainable in that, with the world human population passing 7 billion, almost nothing we do is truly sustainable. But I would argue that Green Planet Bottling is a move in the right direction and re-emphasize what I said about my reusing these bottles over and over again, refilling them with my own filtered water. If we all used Green Planet bottles and reused them many dozens of times, we'd be closer to sustainable, and the giant plastic waste dump in the Pacific would not be so monstrous.

But thank you for pointing out this article. The facts lead us back to the most important thing- the idea that we would do well to re-use and use less.

I agree, and if we had them here, I would definitely buy a couple.

Johnny Abruzzo

know1 wrote:

FrankieG wrote:

On a separate note, it really makes me wonder if it's really worth it. Does recycling really offset all of the extra trucks, recyling centers, and energy used in the recycling process?

This is what I wonder as well. For example, If I need to completely clean out an empty peanut butter jar, is all the extra water, etc. that I use to get it empty really make sense compared to the benefit from recycling it?

I usually clean out jars & recycle, but with peanut butter it's such a pain in the ass to clean it and, yeah I have to use a TON of water, that I just throw the jar in the trash. Figure I'm not contaminating the recycling facility at least.

My office is supposed to have "single stream recycling" and sort out our trash, but I am very skeptical that these guys do that.

markin ball

Johnny Abruzzo

markin ball wrote:

Took a while for somebody to get to that.

tybird

Byrnzie wrote:

Buy less useless crap = produce less waste.

Also, I don't cook at home here. I eat out every day. Though I know that's not an option for everyone. But restaurant food in these parts is so cheap that it would cost me more to cook indoors.

But I do use an air-conditioner. Otherwise I'd end up cooked myself.

For the majority of folks here in the U.S., eating out every day would involve increased fossil fuel use when we drive in our personal automobiles to the food. That would easily offset any gains by producing less household waste by eating out.

P.S. Most of us do not have a mass transit option nor do we live within walking distance of a place to eat out.

Byrnzie

tybird wrote:

Byrnzie wrote:

Buy less useless crap = produce less waste.

Also, I don't cook at home here. I eat out every day. Though I know that's not an option for everyone. But restaurant food in these parts is so cheap that it would cost me more to cook indoors.

But I do use an air-conditioner. Otherwise I'd end up cooked myself.

For the majority of folks here in the U.S., eating out every day would involve increased fossil fuel use when we drive in our personal automobiles to the food. That would easily offset any gains by producing less household waste by eating out.

P.S. Most of us do not have a mass transit option nor do we live within walking distance of a place to eat out.

Yep, I doubt living in the U.S would suit me. For a start, I don't drive. And I like walking. I also like the hustle & bustle and convenience of street life.
Though places like San Francisco, and New York would be o.k.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

it's not easy finding restraurants in Winnipeg (restaurant capital of Canada) that would suit that lifestyle. I'd feel like shit if I did that.

I would really like more awareness and facts to be released on how useful all this recycling is. I mean, the way we do it, as someone else pointed out, isn't it just offsetting the positives of it? is there a better way? is it just a massive PR campaign to make everyone believe they are contributing?

maybe I should contact the good Dr Suzuki. He would probably be able to help me.

Byrnzie

Hugh Freaking Dillon wrote:

it's not easy finding restraurants in Winnipeg (restaurant capital of Canada) that would suit that lifestyle. I'd feel like shit if I did that.

I would really like more awareness and facts to be released on how useful all this recycling is. I mean, the way we do it, as someone else pointed out, isn't it just offsetting the positives of it? is there a better way? is it just a massive PR campaign to make everyone believe they are contributing?

maybe I should contact the good Dr Suzuki. He would probably be able to help me.

Maybe it's different in every state? You could always write to your local politician, or environment minister and ask him for the facts. Or, maybe contact an environmental agency - like Green Peace, or Earth First - and ask them for a run-down of the situation?