mjeff87 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 How many on here recycle? My wife and I never did, but just started with the new year. I am flat-out stunned at just how much recyclable stuff we've been throwing out all this time. We're not greenies, but when we go from 5-6 bags of trash per week down to 1 or 2 (and all the rest is in the recycle bin), I get a good feeling. :cheers: Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Every time I've lived somewhere that offered the service, we did it. And then when you don't have it, you definitely realize how much crap is going in that landfill that could either be re-used or will still be there in 1000 years. Like you, we're not granola crunchers so when we don't have the service, unfortunately, we have not gone out of our way to do something about it. And yes, when we've had the service, we do feel good about doing our small part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speed_racer Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 I do! Containers full w/beer bottles n boxes weekly :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 My mom is big on recycling. She can be a bit obsessive some times though. :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperWade2 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 We fill a 64 Gal Recycle Bin virtually to the top every week... mostly just cardboard and stuff. All of our Bottles/Cans, etc (anything with the CRV refundable cycle value thing that we pay for when we buy stuff out here in Cali), goes into a separate bin. I save all that stuff up and give to my local 4x4Club who collects it from all the members and then donates the cash to two "local" 4Wheel Drive/Land Preservation groups. Figure I'm doing good for the future of Wheeling in my area by drinking lots of beer and saving the bottles! SW2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
possum Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 All I have to say about recycling is - Go to your video store and rent the episode of Penn and Teller's show called "BS". They will show you how recycling is just a bunch of BS. Like plastics for instance. Plastic food containers usually end up in a landfill even if they are put in a recycling bin. They are sorted out and THROWN AWAY at the recycling plant. Why? Because 1. It is cheaper to make a new plastic container instead of recycling them. And 2. Plastic melts at such a low temperature it is not sanitary enough to use as food containers. Or google "Oaisis of plastic in the ocean" Or "Oaisis of garbage in the ocean". There is a article about this field of trash the size of Texas that has been gathering in a still spot in the ocean for years. Oh yeah and most of our paper comes from trees grown on farms for paper production. If you tree huggers want more trees use more paper. But really check out the Penn and Teller "BS" DVD. It is really informative. :chillin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geonovast Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 I work in a plastic factory. I don't see how it's "cheaper" to make new ones. Of course they make new ones. A good portion of what we make is made up of reground material, i.e. excess plastic that comes out of the mold, bad parts, etc. You don't re-sell the old containers, you wash them, they get ground up into material the size of pebbles, and then re-melted and made into new containers. Throwing them into the landfill is pointless. Anything that's plastic can be reused. Granted, for food containers specifically, the place I work at wouldn't use them, because the stuff we make isn't made from that type of material. If the recycling plants would just wash them and sort it, then they could sell it to plastic companies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Careful about getting your scientific info from comedians. No offense to P+T, but the problem isn't that recycling is bad like they say it is, but rather that the government was pushing to get recycling programs in place without properly studying what it takes to make them profitable. Recycling is indeed a good thing, but it needs to be run like a business and frequently it's not. That's the government's fault and they need to do better. These days there are ways to make it profitable. Heck, there's a privately owned dumpster at the high school across the street where they collect newspaper from the community and give part of the profit to the school. And I call BS on P+T's explanation on how recycling paper is bad. So they have to truck the old paper around to the various plants, yes? And so I guess that they grow the virgin trees in the vacant lot behind the paper mill? Phooey on that. Companies wouldn't use recycled paper if there wasn't profit to be had in doing so. I saw a show on the discovery channel recently that showed a company out in Cali that's making a profit from recycling everything. Oh, and I noticed that P+T never mentioned metals in their show. It takes an insane amount of energy to make aluminum from scratch but only a very little to simply melt down a pop can. And I believe steel and glass are the most recycled materials on the planet. Oh, and P+T need to get their heads out of each other's butts if they can't find any good uses for recycled materials. They sacrificed a lot of integrity for the sake of some laughs there. :mad: All recycling needs is the entrepreneurial spirit and some good ideas, and we've got plenty of both here in the US. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackel18 Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 We recycle cardboard, glass, aluminum, cans. the only thing we don't recycle is plastic. don't know why, but hey....its not my dump. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86FUBAR Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 we have been recycling here for as long as i can rember and think it is great , now I'm no tree hugger but it aint that hard to do our part . when i lived in Mooresvile NC nobody recyclied there and i couldnt understand why and every one i asked couldnt give me a straight answer. i tell ya it sure was hard throwing my beer cans in the garbage when iv been so useto colecting them and turning them in for cash . my last run to the recycle center i got close to $200 in aluminum. :banana: all beer money :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Car RamRod Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 always been recycling here. (NYC) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaekl Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Don't forget the biggest recycling we all are doing and that reusing is even better than recycling. Maintaining/rebuilding 20 year old vehicles is a huge saving of resources particularly energy. It takes less energy to recycle metal that starting fresh, but it takes a whole lot less to keep using the metal as is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WahooSteeler Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 i didn't read everyones response closely to see if this was mentioned, but i'm sure a lot of the plastic that still ends up in the dump is the types that can't be recycled. anywhere i've ever lived that offered that service you can only put #s 2 & 3 (i think) in the bins. a lot of stuff is #1, #6 etc and people just throw any type of plastic in there. i am probably wrong on the correct #s, but you get the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottJ Posted January 31, 2008 Share Posted January 31, 2008 Careful about getting your scientific info from comedians. No offense to P+T, but the problem isn't that recycling is bad like they say it is, but rather that the government was pushing to get recycling programs in place without properly studying what it takes to make them profitable. Recycling is indeed a good thing, but it needs to be run like a business and frequently it's not. That's the government's fault and they need to do better. These days there are ways to make it profitable. Heck, there's a privately owned dumpster at the high school across the street where they collect newspaper from the community and give part of the profit to the school. And I call BS on P+T's explanation on how recycling paper is bad. So they have to truck the old paper around to the various plants, yes? And so I guess that they grow the virgin trees in the vacant lot behind the paper mill? Phooey on that. Companies wouldn't use recycled paper if there wasn't profit to be had in doing so. I saw a show on the discovery channel recently that showed a company out in Cali that's making a profit from recycling everything. Oh, and I noticed that P+T never mentioned metals in their show. It takes an insane amount of energy to make aluminum from scratch but only a very little to simply melt down a pop can. And I believe steel and glass are the most recycled materials on the planet. Oh, and P+T need to get their heads out of each other's butts if they can't find any good uses for recycled materials. They sacrificed a lot of integrity for the sake of some laughs there. :mad: All recycling needs is the entrepreneurial spirit and some good ideas, and we've got plenty of both here in the US. :D I love P&T but I gotta agree with Mr. Pete on this one. As for paper, if the Feds would lift their ridiculous ban on hemp we'd be cutting down far fewer trees - farmed or not. I'm a tree hugger. :-) We've got a 96 gal recycle bin we fill up every 2 weeks and only a 32 gal trash can. Without recycling we'd be throwing away a LOT of stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whowey Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 We stopped recycling.... Our local garbage company got the contract for recycling. They stopped running the sorter truck, and started throwing everything into the packer truck.. They insist they are sorting it at the dump.... Yea, right the Teamsters are out there in the dump sorting the cereal boxes and tuna cans out of the pile of garbage...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 A lot of the sorting is done by machines these days. :D And I don't know if your town does it, but if you take in all of the trash, you can sort out the biodegradables for future fertilizer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjbliley Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 WE do 2 bins every other week. not sure of the gal size but they are about the size of 2 playmate coolers each or a little bigger. with 2 growing boys the milkjugs and cardboard fill em up quick along with my bottles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whowey Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 A lot of the sorting is done by machines these days. :D And I don't know if your town does it, but if you take in all of the trash, you can sort out the biodegradables for future fertilizer. The old company used a sorter truck and a packer. The sorter picked up the recycling, and the packer took the garbage. But we are expected to believe that the new one does it with one truck..... Right..... I've been to the dump, there are NO sorting machines there. Just the old fashioned compactors and bulldozers... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxerman600 Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 The omly tree hugging i do is in a tree stand with my 7mmmag. and keeping 4x4 trails cleen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akamcbird Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 having worked in the biz up here every thing that came in was sorted and bailed, then barged straight to china. when the plant lost funding to do glass it was still collected, just sent to the landfill. keep in mind alaskas recycling has no pickup service aside from aluminum dumpsters at the anchorage grocery stores, so minimal that a single person with an f150 services all of them by hand. so when i worked there i recycled but I'm not driving across town to do it otherwise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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