I agree with the comments posted to GreenYes by T Skislak in Digest issue 7, in response to the Washington Post article (which quoted Winston Porter heavily). I would also like to highlight the importance of publicizing the data quantifying the broader resource conservation benefits of recycling. Iowa, Minnesota (and probably other states) have already quantified the benefits of waste reduction and recycling using accepted methodology.
The European Union also completed such a study a few years ago (Coopers and Lybrand and the research institute CSERGE carried out the work) which also supports the benefit of recycling and waste reduction in economic and environmental terms.
For an example of the Iowa research, visit the Tellus Institute web site at www.tellus.org.
If critics of recycling say that the environmental and economic costs to do so outweigh its benefits, then they should be prepared to support these assertions with data. The only recent data I have seen supports the opposite point of view.
Caroline Truth
Minneapolis, MN
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