Your Questions About Recycling

The Expert answers:

You are paying for the recycling process… And possibly for the “green” label, whic sucks and that’s where I think it gets suspicious. However, when buying virgin paper, you’re not paying for the cost that went into chopping down trees, etc. With recycled paper… You are paying for the cost of saving all those trees.

One theory to the price is that paper for recycling isn’t always available and isn’t very efficient to get. It’s bought on the open market, which drives up the prices. We’re very efficient at chopping down a tree, getting it to the mill, getting out, etc. There needs to be a more efficient way of getting recycled paper.

As far as “does it really matter” goes, I suppose you are saving trees and all that and in general there is a lot less energy in producing recycled paper than in producing paper from virgin trees. However, recycling’s energy comes more from fossil fuels than does the energy for getting virgin paper. There is a very close call on many benefits and costs for both, though in general recycling is preferable.

But in a practical sense with your business cards… Trees will be planted, and the energy and money you spent could have been used elsewhere…

The Expert answers:

Pollution from Landfill Leachate
Landfills cause another problem in addition to taking up lots of space. The assortment of chemicals thrown into landfills, plus the chemicals that result when garbage breaks down and blends into a toxic soup known as leachate, creates huge amounts of pollution. Leachate can drain out of the landfill and contaminate groundwater supplies. Today, impermeable clay caps and plastic sheeting prevent much of this run off, making the landfills much safer than they were just a few decades ago. Still, any leachate is too much if it’s draining into your neighborhood.

New Goods Use Up Resources
Making a brand-new product without any recycled material causes natural resources to deplete in the manufacturing process. Paper uses wood pulp from trees, while the manufacture of plastics requires the use of fossil fuels like oil and natural gas. Making something from recycled materials means using fewer natural resources.

Recycling (Sometimes) Uses Less Energy
There’s room for debate on this aspect of recycling, but many recycling processes require less energy than it would take to manufacture the same item brand-new. Manufacturing plastic is very inexpensive, and some plastic goods can be difficult to recycle efficiently. In those cases, the recycling process probably takes more energy. It can also be difficult to weigh all the energy costs along the entire chain of production. Recycling steel certainly uses less energy than the entire process of mining iron ore, refining it and forging new steel. Some contend that the fleet of recycling trucks collecting plastic and paper door to door every week in cities across the United States tips the balance of energy out of recycling’s favor. Energy use is a factor weighed on a case-by-case basis.

Money
Recycling has a variety of economic impacts. For the companies that buy used goods, recycle them and resell new products, recycling is the source of all their income. For cities in densely populated areas that have to pay by the ton for their landfill usage, recycling can shave millions of dollars off municipal budgets. The recycling industry can have an even broader impact. Economic analysis shows that recycling can generate three times as much revenue per ton as landfill disposal and almost six times as many jobs. In the St. Louis area, recycling generates an estimated 16,000 jobs and well more than $4 billion in annual revenue [source: Essential Guide].

The Expert answers:

Salem Oregon Recycles in our schools. Both paper and plastic, they do a great job having a recycle bin in every classroom and a bottle/can collector on every corner

The Expert answers:

Recycling is the process of collecting, separating and converting used or waste products into new products.

Importance:
1. Avoid the depletion of natural resources too quickly. > sustaining future generations.

2. Clean and protect the environment. Example: collecting used plastic bottles, batteries, etc

3. Reduce garbage in land-fields.

4. Job creation. Example: the recycling business (the factory), individuals collecting soda cans on the street to sell to recycling factories.

The Expert answers:

You could baby sit…recycle things..wash cars. See if your neigh boors need basic yard work done. Open a dog walking business and post flayers around your area. Things like that would probably be the best place to start. There aren’t many jobs open for 12 year old sorry =(

hope that helps

The Expert answers:

Lets see. Little money fast. If you live in an area that golfs you could caddie, mow lawns, wash cars, shovel snow, deliver papers, clean garages, do yard work, baby sit, walk dogs recycle cans ($1.55/lb down the street here). Thirty dollars is easy to raise in a day or two. Try lugging packages to some cars in a super market for tips. You could get it in as little as two or three hours, if your lucky.
Keeping the job later will help pay the cell bill. Now your parents probably do that so if you show you are responsible and have a job and use PART of that money to PAY FOR THE BILL, your parents will be MOST IMPRESSED and be much more willing to let you buy other thing you want but don’t need in the future. Face it, you WANT the phone BECAUSE ITS COOL. You have already admitted YOU DON’T NEED the phone.

The Expert answers:

Aluminum cans, steel cans, plastic bottles, are the only things I know for sure you will get money for I dont think you make any money bringing in newspapers anymore.
Try calling your local recycling center and find out what all you can bring in and get friends to drop it off to you that would help too!

The Expert answers:

Age: 43

1. What do you keep your Recycling in?

B) Recycling Bin

2. Does the contents overflow?
A) Yes

3. How often do you take your Recycling to the Recycling Centre (Bottle Bank)?

C) Never, the bin men take some of it and we throw the rest in the normal bin

4. When you get to the Recycling Centre, how long does it take you to Recycle the rubbish?

C) About 0-5 mins

5. Do you find it irritating that you have to take the Recycling to the Recycling Centre?

C) No, it’s fine

6. Does the amount of time Recycling takes up affect how much you Recycle?

C) No

7. Does the Recycling rubbish get in the way or clutter up the house?

B) Sometimes

8. Overall, would you say Recycling is irritating?

B) A bit

9. Do you already have a solution to the problem?

B) Yes, the bin men take some of it and we throw the rest in the normal bin

The Expert answers:

Its a recycling world thats for sure,
One day you’re rich, one day you’re poor,
Depends upon the love we give,
How we choose the life we live.

Recycled boyfriends, recycled cars,
Recycled body parts in glass jars,
Marriage guidance, mechanics fob!
Recycling gives us all a job.

Trust me, its not just the trash,
That’s turned around into cash,
Life to death, without us knowing,
Keeps the eternal circle going.

NB Its not all about junk I think. Recycling used to mean a lot of other things too – in a more natural way. I know we must all think about and take care of our environment and planet, but sometimes its good to go outside this box occassionally.