[GreenYes] Tierney on Recycling

[RJayW2@aol.com]

Can we educate John Tierney on recycling?  Nah.  Can we muzzle Tierney's 
anti-recycling diatribes?  Nah--freedom of the press and all that.  Can we 
counter Tierney's arguments?  Sure we can and not with stale sayings like 
"more people recycle than vote" because more people do most everything more 
than vote (that's why we have the politicians that we have).  Instead, the 
environmental community should call for a suspension of the expensive 
practice of landfilling.  How much does landfilling cost New Yorkers?  Is it 
more expensive than recycling?  Do we moan about transportation costs and 
storage costs and labor costs associated with the laborous act of throwing 
away and storing throwaways before the trash man comes and takes the material 
away to live with Jesus?  If not, we should!

I'm reasonably sure that most knowledgeable New Yorkers will read John 
Tierney's opinion piece and shrug.  Those who would stop recycling because of 
what Tierney writes probably don't read newspapers anyway.  The best way to 
counter what Mr. Tierney has to say is to find out what the City of New York 
pays to landfill vs. what it pays to recycle.  I'm sure the Mayor's office 
has these figures handy.  Bet me landfilling costs dwarf those of recycling.

John Waddell
KJWB Publications/Refuse News
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