As usual, I will play devil’s advocate. This week’s topic: recycling.
How many of us are taught to reduce, reuse and recycle? How many of us feel guilty tossing that Coke bottle into the trash container as opposed to the specially designated “bottle” one UF so kindly provides? How many of us take notes on our laptops not only for convenience but to avoid filling countless sheets of notebook paper?
Thanks to the green movement that has clearly swept the nation, a lot of us do, but now I’ll bravely wager the following: It might be a waste. In a 1996 issue of New York Times Magazine, columnist John Tierney put it more bluntly than I’d dare: “Rinsing out tuna cans and tying up newspapers may make you feel virtuous, but recycling could be America’s most wasteful activity.”
Wasteful? Really? That is certainly not a word one regularly associates with recycling. His article goes on to debunk recycling religious practice No. 1 by providing evidence that the air of a landfill actually mummifies paper and other organic materials, while plastics become thinner every year.
Another writer, Jim Fedako of the Mises Daily, writes about the psycho social activity recycling has become and how treehuggers and environmentalists convince us of the satisfaction we’ll feel upon using fewer squares of toilet paper. It’s for the good of the planet, after all, and what heartless demon hates the planet?
Why, instead of shaking our heads in disgust at these writers, don’t we take a minute to humor their opinions? If so many similar articles are available online, there must be something to this “garbage.”
So, is recycling worth it? Yes, it feels good when we drop the annoying Turlington flier into the “paper” slot, but how far does that really go toward the thousands of trees cut down every day to print newspapers and magazines? We all like to do our part in hopes that together we can save the earth, but are we in danger of spending enough time and resources on recycling that we offset its benefits?
Recycling programs cost millions of dollars a year, not to mention the trucks that pick up the trash, the workers who sort it and the administration that dictates what can and can’t be recycled.
Contrary to common belief, landfill space is plentiful, and the level of human and natural resources required for any recycling program only loses money in their minimal return. Recycling programs are economic atrocities that consume resources and provide almost no compensation. In fact, most are government-subsidized because of their inability to sustain their programs.
According to the New York Times, recycling costs New York City $284 a ton, while curbside trash disposal costs only $267 a ton. It makes us feel good, but it’s just losing money in an already aching economy. It’s also not to much avail, as many materials people think can be recycled actually cannot be and are picked out of waste by hand.
Of the three R’s, I am completely for reduce and reuse, but after some research, I’ve been convinced that all recycling does is rub the fuzzy place in our hearts. Please don’t come chasing me down with pitchforks as I realize this may seem sacrilegious. Trust me, I want to protect the planet too; I just don’t think recycling is the way to do it.
Laura Ellermeyer is a first-year finance major. Her column appears on Tuesdays.
