Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?

[mikem317]

How many of us actively recycle? Why do you chose to recycle? Does your place of employment have a recycling program? What are your other environmentally-friendly activities?

I recycle plastic, paper, and return deposited bottles. I'm also very energy-focused, and this is not limited to my car and motorcycle but also home heating, and electricity usage.

Anyone else?

[Ershank]

The only thing thats actually worthwhile to recycle are aluminum cans. The rest cost too much energy to recycle to actually be saving resources, FYI.

[mikem317]

Care to elaborate?

[Ershank]

Sure, I won't be ashamed to admit that I'm a big fan of Penn + Tellers "Bullshit", and they had an entire episode devoted to recycling.

[scatterbrained]

I only recycle metals since it actually pays to recycle them. At work we recycle all of the chemicals because most of them aren't biodegradeable and require special processes to break down.
As far as being eco-friendly, I'm not too crazy with it, I use organic milk and produce when available, eat eggs from free range chickens, drive Volvos and where new balance shoes, stuff like that. I use energy saving appliances and florescent or l.e.d. bulbs whenever possible. I just gererally try to not be wasteful in my day to day routines.
As a very active mountain biker I do spend a considerable amount of time volunteering at state parks doing work to preserve/maintain wilderness as well as donating to organizations that do likewise. Other than that I don't really go out of my way, but if there is an enviromental option available for whatever I'm doing or buying at the time I'll take it.

[scatterbrained]

Originally Posted by Ershank

Sure, I won't be ashamed to admit that I'm a big fan of Penn + Tellers "Bullshit", and they had an entire episode devoted to recycling.

Too true. My girfriend got mad that I don't have a seperate wastebin for paper, but paper is not only biodegradeable but it cost's more to recycle it to reusable paper than it does to grow more trees to make more paper. On top of that there are tax exemptions for reforestation and many paper companies own the land they take trees from so they have developed elaborate ways to make the most of the land and fit as many trees in as possible.

[bush]

I save my old motor oil for various lubrication duties - bicycle, chain, etc. I drive a 1.8L car, work by candlelight, and use my old newspapers to light my grill. The heat in my house stays around 64-66F, I use blankets and sweaters when I need to stay warm.

The amount of time I spend at home means I only have one bag of garbage every two weeks or so. There's not much there to begin with, so recycling in the curbside meaning of the word is pretty worthless.

[Hanya]

Originally Posted by mikem317

How many of us actively recycle? Why do you chose to recycle? Does your place of employment have a recycling program? What are your other environmentally-friendly activities?

I recycle all plastic, glass, and aluminum/tin containers as well as paper and cardboard, some of which has to go to an offsite recycling place (the paper products). I also don't drink much soda or juice because the bottles generate so much waste - I drink water or buy gatorade powder or the like and use my nalgenes. I work on campus so they recycle the same things and have bins for it all. I ride the motorcycle, take the bus, ride my bicycle, or walk to campus as much as possible. My back up vehicle is a 1992 Mazda protege that gets 30+ mpg. We keep the apartment heat at 67 degrees or so in the winter and I prefer to keep the air conditioner at 76 in the summer (magic numbers I guess). I wash all my dishes by hand and don't use the dishwasher b/c it uses a lot of electricity and I also try not to waste food. I've always tried to carpool rides back home to see my parents in the past, and if I take my car to the grocery store or the like I offer to my friends who don't have cars if they want to go. I always turn off my computer and all lights when I leave home. Hmm, I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting; I'm a regular environmentalist most of the time!

[Rascus]

We recycle our soda cans and bottles, etc. Mainly because they charge us 6 cents a can on top of the price of the product. (I'm not sure if this is done elsewhere)

Sadly, this state has little to no recycling program. The can thing just kicked off a year ago. Which is sad considering resources are limited here.

[scatterbrained]

Originally Posted by Rascus

We recycle our soda cans and bottles, etc. Mainly because they charge us 6 cents a can on top of the price of the product. (I'm not sure if this is done elsewhere)

Sadly, this state has little to no recycling program. The can thing just kicked off a year ago. Which is sad considering resources are limited here.

Odd, I would think it would be quite strong there since it costs so much to import things to the island. I guess most soda etc. comes pre packaged so it may be rather pointless. Paper recycling for the limited print media, bags, napkin etc used there would make sense though.

[Rascus]

Originally Posted by scatterbrained

Odd, I would think it would be quite strong there since it costs so much to import things to the island. I guess most soda etc. comes pre packaged so it may be rather pointless. Paper recycling for the limited print media, bags, napkin etc used there would make sense though.

Exactly, soda on average (without sales) is over 5 bucks for a 12pack, add on 1.20 for the 12 sodas and another charge you're looking at 7 bucks for a 12pack of soda. Granted I can re-coup most of that 1.20 but still

At one time they had a recycling program but it was dropped, for whatever reason and again for whatever reason the legislature is having issues getting it enacted again.

[jim schmidt]

Originally Posted by Ershank

Sure, I won't be ashamed to admit that I'm a big fan of Penn + Tellers "Bullshit", and they had an entire episode devoted to recycling.

This is the danger of a one-source conclusion about anything.

Here are just a few things they left out:

1 ton of recycled paper makes almost 1 ton of paper. About 2.5 tons of tree are required to make 1 ton of paper.

The process of making paper from paper is virtually the same as making paper from wood, excepting the cost of harvesting and processing the wood. When harvesting costs are are included, including harvest-based energy costs, the cost of new paper is much higher, both in terms of dollar cost and in terms of energy consumed.

Landfill costs are another substantial cost that is consistently rising.

[Ershank]

Well, I'm not too worried about paper. It's biodegradable, and I don't throw away enough to actually get a bin.

[Fargin_Bastige]

Originally Posted by Ershank

Sure, I won't be ashamed to admit that I'm a big fan of Penn + Tellers "Bullshit", and they had an entire episode devoted to recycling.

That was a good episode.

[jim schmidt]

Originally Posted by Fargin_Bastige

That was a good episode.

How can you tell the difference. Each topic gets plugged into the exact same show, basically. Other than the occasional tit or ass, I can't tell the difference in any of them.