Recycling is evil?

[swouper2]

OK - I'm going to try and stir up something with all you green Canadians!

I think that Recycling is actually hurting the environment - Here's Why

Recycling is supposed to be the THIRD "R", not the FIRST. It annoys me when people think they are so great because they recycle, but then they never make any efforts to REDUCE, or to REUSE.

I think recycling should be a LAST RESORT, if there's no other way to make less waste and be a little more gentle to our world.

I see people buying things that have four times the packaging, because the packaging is recyclable. But more packaging means more waste, as it took resources to make it, and it took 4 times the space on the container being trucked, shipped, hauled and flown all the way from the other side of the world. Think of all the gas, and the insane waste involved!

I don't recycle very many things, but I try not to buy more than I need, and I try to buy local whenever I can. I also try to always check for used things whenever I make a purchase. I just got enough beautiful lino for two bathrooms and my laundry room at a garage sale, and managed to squeeze enough paint from an old can lying around to completely remodel the laundry room. - It's awesome - and ZERO newly manufactured materials were bought!

So let's start the fight - I hate recycling - have your say - and have FUN with it!

[spoony]

okay, recycling is not hurting the earth (have to get that out there)

but, i agree that by only recycling you are not doing everything you can to conserve. you're right it is the third R and it seems some people think as long they recycle they are doing something benificial, regardless of how much they consume and waste.

i don't want to seem offensive, but people (for the most part) are stupid. as a mculture we have a need to be told what to do and the empahasis has been placed on recycling ( it took us a hell of a long to time to fully embrace it but...), and not until all that long ago has it become "cool" to reuse and reduce. there is a shift occuring in public out look and more and more peole are slowly but surely getting a but greener. the more we know what we are doing to the earth the more likely people will wake up and do something.

this is a good day for this thread, i was watching an inconveint truth this morning! a good doc, but my god does al gore have the most boring voice.

[Sally888]

So youd rather just see me throw out everything? Hehe.

I thought I was doing good cutting the pop plastic rings to save some birds lives...

I think its more of the companies faults that there is so much uness. packing.

If I need a new tv and it comes with extra packaging, Im not going to not buy a tv because of that.

I think a lot more people are using the re use part, a lot of people buy the reusable containers nowadays...

But then again maybe there like me and leave it in the fridge too long then just end up tossing them.

I def dont think its hurting the earth though, if there wasnt any recycling at all could you imagine how much would be in the landfills?


I actually though it was a lot cooler in grade 5 to recycle then now :|
Some of my american friends don't recycle anything.

[roseofblack25]

I think it should be the companies that package the stuff to reduce what they use. I mean if I want to buy something I will regardless of the packaging even though yes a lot of products are overly packaged no way to really avoid that if you need something...like memory cards was looking at those this weekend. Those tiny little things come in huge packages with just the little bubble where the card is...it should be up to the company to reduce the amount of packaging they use, you would think they would want to do that since it would save them money that they use for the materials they use to package.

[twin]

I always felt good about recycling. Not anymore Just kidding
I wish we could buy one bottle of laundry detergent, and then when we run out we just go to the store and refill our bottles (sort of like the big water jugs). How many bags of garbage are any of you allowed?
We can only have 2, but I try for just 1

[FastNFurious]

Well since I live in the country I am really BIG on recycling. We have a dump and they are extremely picky about what goes into the dumping area. Not to mention you must have see through bags so they can see what you are dumping. If you are caught dumping recyclables they refuse the bag and send it home with you. I think its a great thing. We only have one planet and we cant make it keep dumping things that cant be broken down. The dump refuses plastic grocery bags so I only use the recyclable bags for my shopping. I feel good about doing tho. Our dump is suppose to close on Jan1 of next yr. Everyone around here is a little unsure what we will do then.

[NSangel]

ooh..i can get my two cents in.

well, my hubby was the first person to actually put compost containers on the streets of halifax ns (many) years ago as part of a pilot project. it caught on and now the whole now amalgamated hrm is takign part officially.

as stewart says..it's a good thing.

but NOW the city is complaining that we shouldn't be putting our grass in the compost bins..we should leave the clippings on our lawn.

GOOD PT, EXCEPT for some of us that have crazy grass..that would mean mowing 2-3 times a week! nope sorry city. i do my part, but i'm not killing myself. yes short clippings are good for your lawn, and better there, then going to be processed into mulch.

when they first announced we had to use bluebags, everyone threw out their cans, papers, and laundry bottles. and we got notes that our bluebags were being rejected because we did not cut the tops off the laundry bottles.

ppl want to do the right thing, and i don't believe ppl are lazy, but when it becomes so picky they get frustrated, and dont' want to bother. which is a shame.

you should see how much paper we recycle here. it's INSANE! and it can be avoided. 99% of it is either: schoolwork, or FLYERS! with all the flyers being posted on line and what, 3/4 homes have computers? why do we have to rec flyers? they should be like newsletters, have to sign up for em.

as far as the school goes, they did better in the olden days when they used erasable slates. lots of trees back then.

maybe we should hook ever student up with etcha sketches. too bad they dont' save and print.

but there's a great marketing idea. come up with something that's affordable, that is portable and the info can be transferred to the teacher..like a mini laptop ipod.

i'm ramblign..where was i?

the companies are starting to be more aware of their packaging. i'm so THRILLED that they finally came out with the 2X, and 3X more concentrated liquid laundry soap. (and i always use cold water). i'm tired of dragging those heavy large bottles (to save money).

remember the old boxes of ultra powders? compared to today's small bottles of mighty sunlight, they look huge! and that was the first step to reducing packaging.

but what bugs me about recycling...is that they won't take our cans/bottles without us washing them out. so how much energy to heat the water, the water itself are we using? is it worth it?

[Sally888]

There introducing the clear bag thing here, and I dont feel good about it.
What about women feminine products?
Like im sorry but theres just some things In a garbage bag I don't need the whole world to see.

[spoony]

as far as the school goes, they did better in the olden days when they used erasable slates. lots of trees back then.

maybe we should hook ever student up with etcha sketches. too bad they dont' save and print.

but there's a great marketing idea. come up with something that's affordable, that is portable and the info can be transferred to the teacher..like a mini laptop ipod.

i almost forgot about schools! it is rediculous how much paper is used. i just graduted college and had to sort through everything when i moved home, and for most of my classes i had a least 100 -200 (some classes more) hand outs and packages plus my note taking paper ... the program i was in changes so much textbooks don't keep up, but it is crazy.

the math:
200 pages of paper x 8 classes x 30 or more students in a class = a lot of dead trees.

[spoony]

There introducing the clear bag thing here, and I dont feel good about it.
What about women feminine products?
Like im sorry but theres just some things In a garbage bag I don't need the whole world to see.

i agree, the clear bags are creepy. i have a theory that all of your embarassing garbage migrates to the sides (as to be visible by all) while the normal garbage stays in the middle.

[LisaLisaBoBisa]

i already use a clear bag rather than a bin and realized only recently that it is for the whole world to see.. Or at least those walking by in toronto -- lol.. i am now happy that my clear bag goes in to a big huge blue bin. but really the big blue bin is an eyesore. some neighbours have a lock on theirs? I mean how can i get their thrown out smart source that way? lolol

i agree, the clear bags are creepy. i have a theory that all of your embarassing garbage migrates to the sides (as to be visible by all) while the normal garbage stays in the middle.

[Beast Master]

this is a thought.....paper or plastic at the grocery store....paper means cutting down more trees to make the bags.....how about that one.
Actually, I agree, REDUSE. I use a back pack, have a few plastic bags in it IF I need a plastic bag, like putting meat in, I have a cloth shopping bag in there.
The problem with packaging is that so much of it is to stop theft, little packages are easy to steal.

[roseofblack25]

we burn certain things here like paper and anything that won't be toxic to the environment so we do have less garbage and recycled stuff because we live in the middle of no where and can have a burn barrel.

[shaman2263]

The true culprits here are emissions into the atmosphere. I just watched a show about the "dimming sun" theory that scared the #&^% out of me.

My town is going to composting and my response was Big Deal. Until we can control the pollution pumped into the atmosphere from transportation, smoking and industry we are fighting a losing battle.

I only hope Mother Nature gives us the time to change our ways before wiping the slate clean and starting again

[twin]

i agree, the clear bags are creepy. i have a theory that all of your embarassing garbage migrates to the sides (as to be visible by all) while the normal garbage stays in the middle.

It's good to know that other people feel like I do about clear garbage bags. My family thinks I'm crazy. They say it's only garbage!!! I just don't like it showing lol