There is little financial incentive for recycling, and recycling is generally, with a few exceptions, more expensive than dumping and making new goods from virgin materials. Yet there is a growing campaign for recycling, particularly promoted by local government – and more people are taking it up. The ‘black box’ outside your house is becoming a symbol of virtue, to reassure yourself that you are doing your bit. —Rob Lyons —Being seen to be green (Spiked)
I just picked up a few extra bucks reviewing the manuscript for a forthcoming freshman comp reader that included a whole chapter with about 12 readings on nature and ecology. The chapter included no articles that offered any significant challenges to environmentalist assumptions.
I dutifully put my cans and plastic bottles in a recycling bin. I save up all my junk mail and bring it to the university to recycle. I open the drapes to the east-facing windows in the winter, in order to take advantage of passive solar heat.
So it surprised me to read “recycling is generally, with a few exceptions, more expensive than dumping and making new goods from virgin materials”. I know about the bet between Paul Erlich and Julian Simon, and I’ve blogged from time to time about environmental skepticism, but I still don’t want to think that the (admittedly modest) effort I put into recycling at home makes so little impact.
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It's clear that recycling aluminum is a benefit to all. As for the rest, I have a hard time distinguishing the legitimate proponents (and critics for that matter) from the hucksters. Such situations always make me cautious, usually extremely skeptical.
Moira, there are green bins all around campus, particularly in computer labs that have printers. I think there's one in A405.
You wrote: "I save up all my junk mail and bring it to the university to recycle."
Now, just out of curiosity: where do you do that? I get so much junk mail it makes me sick. For a while I was saving it up, convincing myself that I would one day make paper from it, but yeah, I don't think that's going to happen... ;)
Living outside the city limits, our family recycling is a little different. We have a compost area. Mom uses it in the spring to help fertilize her flower beds. My great grandpa uses it to plant the garden. We save our cans and recycle them usually every quarter. That money goes to the school for class trips. It's not a lot but it helps pay for outside classroom activities. The one thing that is funny to watch, and everyone enjoys watching it. Is when my dad decides he's going to burn weeds,and other things we would normally just trash. My mom claims he's destroying the air environment. My dad claims he's helping by not placing the stuff in the landfills. We all just smile and listen, and try to stay out of range for questions.