Re: [GreenYes] Plastics and TRUE recycling

["Paul Goettlich" <gottlich@infi.net>]

Dear C. William,

You are, to a certain level, taking what I said out of context.

What you quoted was a hypothetical question by one who doesn't know the
facts of what is misrepresented as recycling.

            One may say, "but by not collecting it,
            you send it directly to the landfill."

I responded to this hypothetical question by saying:

         ...it will go there anyway, even if it is
            collected at the curbside. It may not
            be the first trip from the curbside that
            goes to the landfill. But within a few
            short reuses of this waste, it will go there...
            hopefully, instead of the alternatives
            like incineration in this country or some
            other that is out of sight.

I am certainly not about to degrade the meaning of this fine word
(recycling) in English language. The present degradation rate is far too
great already.

Please keep focused on plastic. We could also go back into that terribly
murky subject of health effects of plastics in contact with food, or the way
much of the plastic is "recycled" by incineration. We all use water
inappropriately as well, but that is not the topic here. Think plastics. :-)

Recycling of plastics is not only an oxymoron, it is a hoax perpetrated and
orchestrated by the virgin plastics industries to get consumers to feel warm
and cozy about plastics being the savior of the world. I like the saying by
the APC "Think of it as the 6th basic food group."

We need to be asking the right question. The way to reduce solid waste is to
extract the mad consumerism from the collective mind of America. Now, THAT
would be a patriotic cause. The question again, should be how do we reduce
the consumption? Not--what the hec do we do with all this stuff now that we
made it???!

Comparisons of asking the wrong questions abound. Here's the latest that
everyone can relate to:

                Will genetically engineered crops feed the millions of
starving people in the world?

The correct question is:

                Why are so many starving when so many have more than enough?

FACT:
There are 6 billion people on Earth and enough to feed 9 billion.

So, start by to telling the truth, at least to ourselves, we must ask the
correct questions before finding a question for the answer we've
manufactured.

Paul

----- Original Message -----
From: "C E F G" <hither@qwest.net>
To: "GreenYes" <greenyes@grrn.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2001 12:50 PM
Subject: [GreenYes] Plastics and TRUE recycling


>
> Paul Goettlich wrote in part "and still, none is truly recycled."  He
> continues to go on stating [One may say, "but by not collecting it, you
> send it directly to the
> landfill."].
>
> Although this is a reference to plastics, I believe that the same could
> be said about most collected recyclables.  Metals and glass are the only
> curbside collected items that I can think of which can keep "chasing
> their own arrows as they are recycled time and time again."  Paperstocks
> and cardboard only have about 3 times thru the recycling cycle.  In fact
> most old curbside recycling bins end in the trash.
>
> Lets get rid of the "TRULY" mentality and accept reuse/reprocess as what
> happens to most collected recyclables.  What is wrong with
> reuse/reprocessing if
> it saves on need for virgin feedstock while keeping final disposal in
> limbo for yet to be determined years?
>
> Regards, C. William

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