Is recycling bad?

[Danger Bird]

What do you guys think of this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFBO72uQoLo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXLowpL2nec
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgRNrU_koaU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyVclbp0kAw

[BassRevelation1029]

recycling is wonderful. This is just propaganda to give americans an excuse to be wasteful and lazy.

[Danger Bird]

How do you refute their arguments?

[Pint of stella]

Everyone should be encouraged to recycle as much as possible. It's the best way to make Earth substainable for the future. Those Youtube videos were bollocks. Probably set up by corparations that pollute the planet and want to stop being restricted for it. Just a thought.

[Danger Bird]

Everyone should be encouraged to recycle as much as possible. It's the best way to make Earth substainable for the future. Those Youtube videos were bollocks. Probably set up by corparations that pollute the planet and want to stop being restricted for it. Just a thought.
It's interesting that this was posted in less time than it could have possibly taken you to watch all those videos. And Penn and Teller is a long-running Showtime series.

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

It takes less energy and materials to recycle something than it does to make something new. Not using something is better than recycling, but recycling is better than throwing it out. Period.

The only thing that's even close to not being worthy of being recycled is glass, because it takes almost as much energy to melt as to make new glass. It's still worth it though.

[Pint of stella]

It's interesting that this was posted in less time than it could have possibly taken you to watch all those videos. And Penn and Teller is a long-running Showtime series.

I watched the first one and a bit of the second. Sorry mate I really can't be arsed to watch all of them. My comment was "just a thought" as I indicated. Question, are you for recycling?

[Steerpike]

Recycling aluminum is fine. It costs a hell of a lot less money and energy to recycle cans than dig up new bauxite.

Recycling paper on the other hand is wasteful and actually more polluting than making new paper. And deforestation has been so heavily regulated that paper companies now are just replanting trees in the same patches of land that they already own, and cut it down in cycles much like crop rotation. It's actually a cheaper, and far more efficient system than buying new land, clear-cutting it, and then never using it again.

Recycling plastic I'm still on the fence about.

Recycling glass isn't as wasteful as paper, but still not the Earth-saving miracle it's being touted as.

[Danger Bird]

I wasn't completely swayed byt the video, I'm with-holding judgement until I do my own research.

[Danger Bird]

Recycling aluminum is fine. It costs a hell of a lot less money and energy to recycle cans than dig up new bauxite.

Recycling paper on the other hand is wasteful and actually more polluting than making new paper. And deforestation has been so heavily regulated that paper companies now are just replanting trees in the same patches of land that they already own, and cut it down in cycles much like crop rotation. It's actually a cheaper, and far more efficient system than buying new land, clear-cutting it, and then never using it again.

Recycling plastic I'm still on the fence about.

Recycling glass isn't as wasteful as paper, but still not the Earth-saving miracle it's being touted as.
Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what the video said.

[Steerpike]

My comment was "just a thought" as I indicated.

Your comment was reactionary and sophomoric. Next time, actually look at the source before you shoot your mouth off.

Yeah, that's pretty much exactly what the video said.

That's the whole point. I've done some checking, and I refuse to recycle paper anymore. I still recycle all of my cans, though.

[Pint of stella]

[QUOTE=Steerpike]Your comment was reactionary and sophomoric. Next time, actually look at the source before you shoot your mouth off.

Allright mate, no need to get irate.

[RNR]

Recycling aluminum is fine. It costs a hell of a lot less money and energy to recycle cans than dig up new bauxite.

Recycling paper on the other hand is wasteful and actually more polluting than making new paper. And deforestation has been so heavily regulated that paper companies now are just replanting trees in the same patches of land that they already own, and cut it down in cycles much like crop rotation. It's actually a cheaper, and far more efficient system than buying new land, clear-cutting it, and then never using it again.

Recycling plastic I'm still on the fence about.

Recycling glass isn't as wasteful as paper, but still not the Earth-saving miracle it's being touted as.

Definitely. They completely wrote off all forms of recycling as a bad just because a few elements of it are wasteful. If they had picked and chosen different materials and educated us about which ones are wasteful and which ones are beneficial, it wouldn't be nearly as good for the show.

+ the way Penn talks makes me want to punch him in the face.

[Steerpike]

Definitely. They completely wrote off all forms of recycling as a bad just because a few elements of it are wasteful. If they had picked and chosen different materials and educated us about which ones are wasteful and which ones are beneficial, it wouldn't be nearly as good for the show.

+ the way Penn talks makes me want to punch him in the face.

Actually, they defended aluminum recycling. They were specifically attacking glass and paper and the fervor surrounding recycling. People need to question their sacred cows.

[free_thinkers_are_dangerous]

I guess they had a point in attacking the way people go "nuh uh i recycle" to forgive themselves for doing everything else wrong, but recycling is still better than throwing everything away.

[Steerpike]

Did you see the section on landfills? They're not as bad as they're made out to be.

No matter which way you slice it, recycling paper in particular is wasteful and more harmful to the environment than actually throwing it out.

[Against Miik!]

Based on that video, most of the downsides of recycling are economic. It's not the actual idea of recycling that is that bad it seems. Its more in the methodolgy.

[Steerpike]

Bingo. It's the action more often than the thought that is the problem.

[Against Miik!]

That bald guy is a dbag though.

[halfdeadhippo]

As far as I've always known, reuse has always been more effective than recycling. Rather than wasting the energy and whatnot with the government recycling your old newspapers, use them to line your birdcage or rinse out pop bottles and fill them with tap water (which, depending on what your tap water's like, is pretty much what bottled water is, anyway). The American mindset of "why bother using a napkin until it's completely saturated when there's a whole stack of nice, pretty, clean ones" is pretty hypocritical when coupled with the "omg save the whales recycle" mindset. That's my take on it, at any rate.

edit: I didn't mean to say "burning your old newspapers", but I'm listening to Iced Earth, and typed it without thinking.

[RNR]

Actually, they defended aluminum recycling. They were specifically attacking glass and paper and the fervor surrounding recycling. People need to question their sacred cows.

Then again, I guess having the title "there are many forms of recycling and many of them are useless but some of them aren't. Watch this show and we'll elaborate and we'll also try not to sound like assholes while doing it" would be sort of impratical. It's the title that throws people off. It sounds like they're attackign all recycling.

[Ghoul Hunter]

It takes less energy and materials to recycle something than it does to make something new. Not using something is better than recycling, but recycling is better than throwing it out. Period.

I was going to say that. Basically it's better than what would go on.

[Steerpike]

I was going to say that. Basically it's better than what would go on.

Not in the case of paper, and arguably in the case of plastic.

[Jharaski]

Recycling reduces waste that goes into landfills, so there's a plus you can't refute.

[Letto]

Recycling paper on the other hand is wasteful and actually more polluting than making new paper. And deforestation has been so heavily regulated that paper companies now are just replanting trees in the same patches of land that they already own, and cut it down in cycles much like crop rotation. It's actually a cheaper, and far more efficient system than buying new land, clear-cutting it, and then never using it again.

They don't just replant trees though. A lot of times they spray down chemicals which infect the local water and residents. Example: http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2006/03/16/coverstory.html

Also, how can used papers be reused? I don't have a bird and I like toilet paper, but I have tons of old newspapers from moving. Can they be shredded and added to plant soil? What are other ideas to reuse paper?

[Steerpike]

Recycling reduces waste that goes into landfills, so there's a plus you can't refute.

I suggest you watch the episode and see the part where they actually go to a landfill. Those things get a worse reputation than they really deserve.

They don't just replant trees though. A lot of times they spray down chemicals which infect the local water and residents. Example: http://www.eugeneweekly.com/2006/03/16/coverstory.html

That's supposed to be the job of the EPA to take care of, not us. Besides, the by-products that result from recycling paper have to go somewhere, and those thoroughly useless toxins can end up in the same place due to carelessness.

Also, how can used papers be reused? I don't have a bird and I like toilet paper, but I have tons of old newspapers from moving. Can they be shredded and added to plant soil? What are other ideas to reuse paper?

You could always take up paper-mache as a hobby.

[Frankie]

TBH I'm more concerned about farmers using nitrates (i.e. eutrphication), then recyling paper. Although I do recyle aluminium.

[Sergio_Rueda]

It's an interesting point of view, and it makes sense but i would like to check more serious sources to make a desition. If this is true i would love to show a paper of it to the environmental club of my school, man how i hate those rich ****s (not because they are environmentalits, because the club is just another excuse for them to be rich ****s).

And for the record i love this show!

[Uberman]

Yes, recycling is bad.

[Knifeboy]

I\m not on a connection right now where I can watch youtube videos.. But Penn and Tellers Bull****, is usually a pretty credible program

[dei]

I thought the point of recycling was to keep from running out of resources.

[Uberman]

Like any action instigated by the government, the widespread implementation of recycling was an attempt on the part of whatever official to say, "Hey, look at me! I'm useful!"

[Chrizzle fo' Shizzle]

I thought the point of recycling was to keep from running out of resources.

If there were a scarcity of any of the resources, it would be more cost-effective to recycle them

[jurialmunkey]

If there were a scarcity of any of the resources, it would be more cost-effective to recycle them

Ummm... Crude Oil... Petroleum, Coal, Natural Gas... ring any bells about a shortage. Guess what they make Plastic from??!! As Crude Oil goes up so does plastic.

Just because its economic now doesn't mean that there shouldn't be safety nets in place for when those resources become very scarce. If a cost effective solution isn't put in place now then it wont be stable enough to support the production of resources if the environment and general mindset doesn't encourage recycling. If you get people recycling now, they wont think twice when it becomes nessicary. Its about getting people to think about what they are wasting, if you recycle you have to think about this a little bit atleast... If you don't, then it all just gets thrown in the trash, taken away and you don't think about it again.

[Chrizzle fo' Shizzle]

Once the price of oil gets the point where manufacturing it into plastic is more expensive than recycling, it would make sense to do so. Until then, we're just wasting more resources by having special trucks picking up our "recycleable" garbage, driving them to a sorting plant, and having them cleaned/reshaped/melted/what ever they do with plastic products

Doing it now simply wastes money