Do you recycle?

1. 59

   HannahRileyposted 13 years ago

   Do you recycle?

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2. 61

   SEOshortcutsposted 13 years ago

   Yes - but only because I live in Cali.
   
   If I didn't, I'd be tarred and feathered.
   
   The redemption rate's not bad, either!  I think it depends on how you were raised, though - my parents were fastidious savers.
   
   Living in SF, it's hard not to feel socially responsible - or reprehensible, depending on if you spat your gum on the trolley floor or bothered to recycle your soda can or not - it's just our thing I guess.

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3. 68

   eculliganposted 13 years ago

   I recycle now that I know our recycled products are actually going to a site to be recycled.  For many years our recycled materials were actually going directly to the landfills and mixed in with your regular everyday garbage.  It was quite disappointing to see our Government officials not really care about what was going on.

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4. 60

   jdomingoposted 13 years ago

   I love to recycle and use as little plastic as possible, my parents thought me crazy when I told them to buy reusable bags for groceries now the love the fact that they don't have a million plastic bags all over the place.

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5. 0

   klarawieckposted 13 years ago

   I recycle everything, and if I can't I try to give it another use. My husband is always complaining because I keep all the empty glass bottles to grow roots on plant cuttings. lol

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6. 82

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 13 years ago

   Yes, mostly metals; which I sell for tax free and unreported income.  It helps that I'm in the air conditioning business, and get lots of scrap units.
   
   Copper equals money.  So does brass and aluminum.  Really, mercury is the only metal that I know of that can't be sold at a scrapyard.

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7. 60

   eslevy17posted 13 years ago

   There's a lot of data showing that recycling is more harmful to the environment than just throwing things away. The recycling plant has to operate, and that takes CO2, and so on. It works to recycle tin, however, and I think non-biodegradable materials like plastic should be recycled, but we're still paying the price to do so.
   There's no reason at all to recycle paper. Doing so requires bleaching, de-inking, and that creates all sorts of environmental waste. Besides, we're not depleting trees by using paper, since they all get replanted to supply the paper demands anyway. If we all stopped using paper one day, the land would be redeveloped into whatever some rich guy wanted to build that day. If we double our paper consumption, we double the demand and people plant more trees. Deforestation happens for other reasons, like palm tree oil production.
   I think the goal should be for biodegradable products, like those new lunch containers you can just throw away. You'll never be able to get 100% of people to recycle, so I think it's far more practical to develop cheap, biodegradable alternatives.

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8. 59

   HannahRileyposted 13 years ago

   I agree with moving to biodegradeable materials, and that it is more practical since not everyone will recycle & our economy is prepared to not recycle anyway--as far as the recycling factories go & all that.
   
   But I also think that we need to learn to REUSE. klaraweick, you go girl! I love that idea of using bottles for plant cuttings. My boyfriend thinks I am nuts because I save things/use things for other stuff.

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9. 82

   rharperposted 9 years ago

   Yes by finding older electronic printers and cartridges - repair, recover, and resell.  The ultimate recycling program.
   
   Note: From ifixit. The French have new laws requiring easier products to repair.  Less junk in the sewers and trash.
   
   http://m.fastcompany.com/3043252/world- … ign=buffer

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