Questions about recycling: America’s Eight billion dollar Investment
First I should state that I am all for taking care of the environment. As God’s Image here on earth I believe that we have been entrusted with this planet to care for it as God would have us. If all creation is redeemed through Christ then Christians must be concerned about the care of creation too. But… is it really cheap and easy? The way recycling is today – what good does it really do (other than make us feel like good people)? Are we running out of recourses? Does it always help the environment? Is it worth the money we spend on it, or could we simply use that money to help the environment without recycling?
Well, the original EPA (Jay Winston Porter) who wrote the guidelines on recycling in the United States says – It may not be worth it. In reality recycling spends huge amounts of money, man power, and space (more so than already established landfills).In addition, recycling cost far more than landfilling (most of which becomes compost naturally). Landfills for instance costs around $50 a ton for disposal. Recycling on the other hand cost around $140 dollars per ton for disposal. Just think of what else we might be able to do with that money – 8 billion dollars a year! With the exception of aluminum cans which are the only recycled items that cost less to reuse than to create from scratch.
Here is another example of some problems. Paper: Most paper is made from tree farmed producers. This means that we plant trees just to make paper and then replant MORE trees (twice as many) once they have been cut down for use. And here is a little fact you won’t learn from Greenpeace - we now have 3 times more trees in North America than we did 50 years ago. Recycling however uses large factories that go through longer more costly processes (also making more expensive products), that produce more pollution in their factories (plus the doubled cost of transporting it) than simply making paper from farmed trees.
Here is just one more thing. Aren’t landfills gross (I know it isn’t smart – but it is essentially a common “green” argument). Well maybe, most of us wouldn’t want to live by a landfill while it is in its relatively short operations mode. Still landfill spaces produce small amounts of methane gas (that’s an energy source just in case you’re wondering) and they do it for free. Next this environmentally friendly gas is used to create energy to power entire homes and in only a few short years those very same landfills are then used to build some of North America’s most beautiful golf courses.
So apparently much of today’s recycling is actually quite bad for the environment, costs more money (and tax money) produces more expensive products, takes up more space, but seems to make us feel good.
Now I am not against environmentalism, in fact I think I am one in some regards, but what I am not is stupid. And I am not about to simply accept the arguments of a bunch of drugged up hippies, that can’t do their research and think protests and bongo parties are the same thing.
