Do you like to recycle?

[Nik]

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1444391672891013193#

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

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.

 

[Nik]

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.

They covered that.

 

[nageov3t]

doesn't really matter, it's illegal not to in my town/state

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

They covered that.

Oh whoops. Like I said, few years since I saw it :\

 

[Crusty]

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.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

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.

Same here. I recycle because my city council offers large, free recycling bins.

 

[Nik]

doesn't really matter, it's illegal not to in my town/state

That's covered.

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.

Everything but aluminum cans actually wastes more resources, money, and polutes MORE by recycling it than to just make new ones.

 

[FoBoT]

i decline to participate
i support future archeologists

 

[Red Squirrel]

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.

 

[Nik]

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.

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.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

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.

You should watch the video, it demonstrates how everything you just wrote is wrong.

 

[coloumb]

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.

 

[frostedflakes]

That's covered.



Everything but aluminum cans actually wastes more resources, money, and polutes MORE by recycling it than to just make new ones.

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.

 

[Nik]

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.

I'll bet you didn't watch the video. I posted it for a goddamn reason.

 

[SooperDave]

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.

 

[Nik]

Ya, that's covered too. Stupid, isn't it.

 

[matas]

no

 

[frostedflakes]

I'll bet you didn't watch the video. I posted it for a goddamn reason.

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).

 

[microAmp]

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.

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.

 

[spidey07]

No! And I mean HELL NO! You wanna charge me to recycle? HELL NO!

 

[Nik]

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).

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.

 

[JS80]

Glad they did this, i've been saying all my life recycling harms the environment and the economy.

 

[TubeTote]

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.

 

[Farang]

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.