Re: [GreenYes] Plastics and TRUE recycling

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

Jay,

The word recycle, the image and meaning (below) in use for at least 7
centuries, has been associated with a circle or wheel. Wheels that have a
bit missing from them do not function as circle or wheel does. They are used
as cams, and have similar but more specialized functions. However, the
subscribers of GreenYes concerned with making recycling a sustainable
process are not concerned with cams at the moment.

While nothing man-made is perfect, we must attempt to get as close as
possible with our use of materials in order that we may be present on Earth
and enjoy its bounties for many more generations. If I had the choice, I
would not "recycle" toxic chemicals through my body. But because of the
state of recycling in the US (and many other countries) there is no choice
for anyone or anything. Many others have the same desire. The Inuit want to
elminate such recycling from their diet, but your definition of "recycling"
has elminated that as one of thier options.

Marine life forms would also choose to elminate such recyling if they had
been asked. In the middle of the Pacific, in the gyre, if one samples the
surface with a fine net and separates all found objects by type, there is a
ratio (by wieght) of plastic to plankton of 6 to 1. In other words, there is
six times more plastic than plankton on the surface in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean. Much of it is preproduction nurdles, which appear to fish as
zooplankton, a major food source for them.

To make matters worse, DDE (a metabolite of DDT), and PCBs are attracted to
the surface of that floating plastic waste, and accumulate to a
concentration about one million times that of the ambient sea level. Marine
animals such as birds and fish eat this floating plastic waste thinking it
is food. Becoming bloated without attaining any nutritive value from the
plastic, and unable to elminate the waste, they die from starvation. The
"lucky" ones that live are thouroughly contaminated with chemicals that
mimic thier hormones--aka endocrine disruptors (EDs)--which totally disrupt
thier endocrine system. The effects of these chemicals are severe
deformities, reduced fertility, sexual abnormalities, cancers, and much
more. EDs are passed from one generation to the next, disrupting the normal
functioning of each generation's endocrine system.

The same process is affecting humans. Fertility rates have been falling at a
rate higher than one percent annually since the introduction of these
heinous elements which are the essence of plastics. The endpoint appears to
be crashing species. In observing the actions of the plastics industry, it
seems that they feel invulnerable to this fate. But like everything on
Earth, even the plastics industry is connected. We are told to forgive. So I
must.

% Change in Cancer Rates for children less than 1 year old.
(comparing the years 1976-84  to 1986-94)
**************************************
All cancer          36
Germ cell*        124
All CNS              57
Hepatic               50
Retinoblastoma   43
Neuroblastoma    35
All leukemia        26
Soft tissue           22
Epithelial            15

*germ cell cancers are those of the reproductive organs--ovaries and testes.

I am not will to accept the industry definition of recycling. Below is the
defintition from a dictionary.

Sincerely,
Paul
************************************************

Definition of the word Recycle
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
***************************

***Cycle***
Main Entry: 1cy·cle

Pronunciation: 'sI-k&l

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English cicle, from Late Latin cyclus, from Greek kyklos
circle, wheel, cycle -- more at WHEEL

Date: 14th century

1 : an interval of time during which a sequence of a recurring succession of
events or phenomena is completed

2 a : a course or series of events or operations that recur regularly and
usually lead back to the starting point b : one complete performance of a
vibration, electric oscillation, current alternation, or other periodic
process c : a permutation of a set of ordered elements in which each element
takes the place of the next and the last becomes first

3 : a circular or spiral arrangement: as a : an imaginary circle or orbit in
the heavens b : WHORL c : RING
***************************

***Recycle***
Main Entry: 1re·cy·cle

Pronunciation: (")rE-'sI-k&l

Date: 1926
transitive senses

1 : to pass again through a series of changes or treatments: as a : to
process (as liquid body waste, glass, or cans) in order to regain material
for human use

b : RECOVER
***************************

***Recover***

Main Entry: re·cov·er

Pronunciation: ri-'k&-v&r

Function: verb

Inflected Form(s): re·cov·ered; re·cov·er·ing /-'k&-v&-ri[ng], -'k&v-ri[ng]/

Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French recoverer, from Latin
recuperare, from re- + (assumed) Latin caperare, from Latin capere to
take -- more at HEAVE

Date: 14th century

transitive senses

1 : to get back : REGAIN

2 a : to bring back to normal position or condition <stumbled, then
recovered himself> b archaic : RESCUE
***************************

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