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Do you like to recycle?

Saw this episode a few years ago. While it is true that in most cases recycling has a net negative impact on the environment, P&T tend to generalize too far. There are cases in which recycling is beneficial - for example, aluminium cans.
 
GodlessAstronomer said:
Saw this episode a few years ago. While it is true that in most cases recycling has a net negative impact on the environment, P&T tend to generalize too far. There are cases in which recycling is beneficial - for example, aluminium cans.
Click to expand...

They covered that.
 
Meh, it's so easy for me to do it. I literally have a 40 gallon barrel I can fill up with paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, cardboard... all sorts of shit and it's picked up twice a month.

With the amount of beer I go through I usually have more stuff in there than in the trash.
 
Crusty said:
Meh, it's so easy for me to do it. I literally have a 40 gallon barrel I can fill up with paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, cardboard... all sorts of shit and it's picked up twice a month.
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Same here. I recycle because my city council offers large, free recycling bins.
 
loki8481 said:
doesn't really matter, it's illegal not to in my town/state
Click to expand...

That's covered.

Crusty said:
Meh, it's so easy for me to do it. I literally have a 40 gallon barrel I can fill up with paper, glass, plastic, aluminum, cardboard... all sorts of shit and it's picked up twice a month.

With the amount of beer I go through I usually have more stuff in there than in the trash.
Click to expand...

Everything but aluminum cans actually wastes more resources, money, and polutes MORE by recycling it than to just make new ones.
 
I try to recycle everything I can. The video wont load for me, but I'm guessing it talks about how the actual process of recycling creates pollution? That makes sense, but think in the end it's still better. Chances are more pollution and other issues are created in getting resources from scratch. ex: paper. You can recycle existing paper, or go cut trees down and make paper. Start from a tree will produce more pollution not to mention kill off most animals in that part of the forest, especially birds and such still nesting.
 
RedSquirrel said:
I try to recycle everything I can. The video wont load for me, but I'm guessing it talks about how the actual process of recycling creates pollution? That makes sense, but think in the end it's still better. Chances are more pollution and other issues are created in getting resources from scratch. ex: paper. You can recycle existing paper, or go cut trees down and make paper. Start from a tree will produce more pollution not to mention kill off most animals in that part of the forest, especially birds and such still nesting.
Click to expand...

The video covers that, too. Very nearly all the virgin paper created comes from trees grown on tree farms specifically for making paper. Not the fucking rainforest. Additionally, the process for recycling paper creates more polutants than recycling much anything else. On top of that, there are more trees today than there was in 1920.
 
RedSquirrel said:
I try to recycle everything I can. The video wont load for me, but I'm guessing it talks about how the actual process of recycling creates pollution? That makes sense, but think in the end it's still better. Chances are more pollution and other issues are created in getting resources from scratch. ex: paper. You can recycle existing paper, or go cut trees down and make paper. Start from a tree will produce more pollution not to mention kill off most animals in that part of the forest, especially birds and such still nesting.
Click to expand...
You should watch the video, it demonstrates how everything you just wrote is wrong.
 
Cans/bottles - I hate waiting in line for the drunktards [people dressed in sweats with a huge bag of beer cans/bottles] taking their sweet ass time at the recycling bin... or when the recycling bin breaks down.

Everything else [glass, plastic, cardboard, etc] - I just throw in the recycle bin the trash man picks up every 2 weeks.
 
Nik said:
That's covered.



Everything but aluminum cans actually wastes more resources, money, and polutes MORE by recycling it than to just make new ones.
Click to expand...
It's not just aluminum, although it benefits the most, because extracting it from bauxite ore is very energy intensive. Most metals are excellent candidates for recycling, which is why recyclers are willing to pay for scrap. And I thought there was a net energy gain for most other recycled materials, although in many cases the gain isn't very large. For some products, you're right, it's actually cheaper to use raw materials than recycled ones.

There's more to it than energy use, though. It reduces the amount of waste that gets put in landfills, and allows finite resources to be reused.

edit: And before you say watch the video, I will, just not right now.
 
frostedflakes said:
It's not just aluminum, although it benefits the most, because extracting it from bauxite ore is very energy intensive. Most metals are excellent candidates for recycling, which is why recyclers are willing to pay for scrap. And I thought there was a net energy gain for most other recycled materials, although in many cases the gain isn't very large. For some products, you're right, it's actually cheaper to use raw materials than recycled ones.

There's more to it than energy use, though. It reduces the amount of waste that gets put in landfills, and allows finite resources to be reused.
Click to expand...

I'll bet you didn't watch the video. I posted it for a goddamn reason.
 
When I lived in the SF/Bay area you were forced to. Every residence was required garbage service and that included recycle bins that you were charged for like it or not.
 
no
mystic_dog_2.gif
 
Nik said:
I'll bet you didn't watch the video. I posted it for a goddamn reason.
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Like I said, everything I've read suggests there's an energy benefit to recycling most materials. I was waiting for the video to cite sources for the claim that it uses more energy to recycle, but nothing so far unless I missed it.

http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/recytbls.asp

AFAIK they're spot on about the cost, though, generally recycling is more expensive (except in the case of metals, which I mentioned earlier).
 
Nik said:
The video covers that, too. Very nearly all the virgin paper created comes from trees grown on tree farms specifically for making paper. Not the fucking rainforest. Additionally, the process for recycling paper creates more polutants than recycling much anything else. On top of that, there are more trees today than there was in 1920.
Click to expand...

I found that section the most interesting part of the video with trees grown specifically for paper, leave it to companies to find the most efficient tree to farm. Then more trees now days than 1920's.
 
frostedflakes said:
Like I said, everything I've read suggests there's an energy benefit to recycling most materials. I was waiting for the video to cite sources for the claim that it uses more energy to recycle, but nothing so far unless I missed it.

http://www.nrdc.org/cities/recycling/recyc/recytbls.asp

AFAIK they're spot on about the cost, though, generally recycling is more expensive (except in the case of metals, which I mentioned earlier).
Click to expand...

If you can't figure out the sources they not only cite but show you the fucking book and have their sources on fucking camera looking into the camera speaking, maybe you should watch it a second time, this time without a closed mind.
 
My recycle bin and trash bin are the same size. I fill up the recycle bin long before the trash bin. Lotsa beer bottles and cardboard.
 
Decided to stop listening to anything Penn & Teller does after they blatantly displayed they are a mouthpiece of big industry during their organic farming episiode. Basically, they presented a big agriculture lobbying group as the "experts" without disclosing that is was just a corporate lobbying group, and then proceeded to present anecdotal evidence against organic farming under the P&T bullshit brand. All in all pretty convincing, but, in the end, complete bullshit.

If anyone is familiar with Ben Stein's film on evolution, be aware that Penn & Teller is the same act.
 
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