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The myth of recycling
#1

The myth of recycling
Huff Post UK today Wednesday  6 Nov.

A single, now flat dwelling person, saved all of his plastic in huge bags, for a  year. The result was a staggering pile of plastics  ,
The bloke had a scientist weigh and sort the rubbish.

The result was that  said scientist  claimed that only 4% of that rubbish  would be recycled. Although shocking, I suspect there  may some truth in that.

My council has provided me with three large wheely bins; One for landfill, one for  recycling paper and plastics and one for garden refuse .We are asked not to put small  paper scraps into the recycling bin as the machines can't  handle them. 

In my state there is a  10cent deposit payable on drink cans and bottles.  The deposits can be redeemed at recycle centres s scattered around the place.   I don't bother. I put them in the reycle bin. 

Because  of my cynicism about the efficiency of local government , I'm concerned that the  concept of domestic recycling is simply untrue, a myth. IE in terms of the percentage of recycled waste  which is actually recycled. . 

Be very interested in opinions, especially if backed by evidence. I realise the evidence I have presented is pretty flimsy, and presses  my paranoia  button.   Panic
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#2

The myth of recycling
My city finally figured out that re-cycling was too expensive and decided to scrap it - to a point.  The point, and I can not make this up, is that they still want us to use the separate bins for regular and re-cycled (so, they claimed, we do not get out of the habit!) Meanwhile, the truck comes along, picks up each can and dumps both of them into the truck.

There has been some resistance.

There has been a lot more derision.
Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#3

The myth of recycling
Virtually everything we buy today is packaged.  I need a half dozen lag bolts, they come 8 to a bag at the hardware store, a plastic bag, with a paper label.  A new pair of socks has a slip of paper inside the sock to make it feel "new".  A tube of toothpaste comes in a pressboard box, a tube of glue comes in a molded plastic shell attached to a pressboard backing.  We don't need 98% of all this packaging; it's there because it influences marketing.  Steve Jobs made a point of enclosing each precious Apple product in elaborate packaging to make it "cool".

That's what all the damn garbage is - discarded packaging.  We eat the food.  We wear the clothes.  We use the tools and appliances.  We discard the endless eternal packaging without a thought.  It doesn't help that brilliant marketing introduced the disposable razors and other disposables with brand names like "Good News".

Consumers are not to blame for the inundation, corporate marketing is.  But we consumers are to blame for not pushing back on all that packaging, rejecting the packaged for the unadorned.  We like the flash and glamour of glistening "newness" as we unwrap our "gifts" of styrofoam and cellophane enclosed toasters and fill our bins with what only gets a momentary glance of irritation disentangling it from our bauble.
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#4

The myth of recycling
Our trash service has a separate bin for each house for corrugated cardboard. All the other trash goes into the usual bin.
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#5

The myth of recycling
Apres moi, le poopage.
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#6

The myth of recycling
Anyone remember this from Idiocracy?

Robert G. Ingersoll : “No man with a sense of humor ever founded a religion.”
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#7

The myth of recycling
My sister lived in Canada for 5 years (hubby working in the Shell oil fields). She said the canuks were nutty about recycling everything and it was a giant pain in the ass. 

https://www.calgary.ca/UEP/WRS/Pages/Rec...yrecycling

Then I read this: "After 30 years of recycling programs that force residents to collect, wash and fill blue boxes with plastic bottles, bags and containers, it turns out that in 2016 more than 3.2 million metric tonnes ended up as garbage, according to the summary of a report produced by Deloitte for Environment and Climate Change Canada."

https://rco.on.ca/canada-recycles-just-9...-plastics/

She didn't have anything good to say about their healthcare either.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental. 
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#8

The myth of recycling
(11-05-2019, 11:38 PM)airportkid Wrote: Virtually everything we buy today is packaged.  I need a half dozen lag bolts, they come 8 to a bag at the hardware store, a plastic bag, with a paper label.  A new pair of socks has a slip of paper inside the sock to make it feel "new".  A tube of toothpaste comes in a pressboard box, a tube of glue comes in a molded plastic shell attached to a pressboard backing.  We don't need 98% of all this packaging; it's there because it influences marketing.  Steve Jobs made a point of enclosing each precious Apple product in elaborate packaging to make it "cool".

That's what all the damn garbage is - discarded packaging.  We eat the food.  We wear the clothes.  We use the tools and appliances.  We discard the endless eternal packaging without a thought.  It doesn't help that brilliant marketing introduced the disposable razors and other disposables with brand names like "Good News".

Consumers are not to blame for the inundation, corporate marketing is.  But we consumers are to blame for not pushing back on all that packaging, rejecting the packaged for the unadorned.  We like the flash and glamour of glistening "newness" as we unwrap our "gifts" of styrofoam and cellophane enclosed toasters and fill our bins with what only gets a momentary glance of irritation disentangling it from our bauble.


Yair.

The  packaging industry is a major culprit..They continue on their merry way  replacing jars and bottles with plastic .

Things which were once sold loose, such as nails, screws and bolts, are now sold in far greater quantities and with far larger packaging than is needed.  Those tiny glue tubes are sold  in relatively huge bubble-pack packages. I hate bubble packed anything .

One innovation which I admire every time I see it and silently hoped the man /woman who invented  it made a fortune ;  the paint tinting machines.  Saves the paint industry millions.

Pet tech hate; flat  packs. This because the Allen key fixings come loose and need  to be regularly  tightened. --Recently,   I was sitting here at my computer. Leaned on the arm rest. The fucking thing came off and I was on the floor.
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#9

The myth of recycling
I wish Amazon would start using permanent containers instead of cardboard boxes, at least for ongoing repeat customers. Pick them up when you drop new ones off. But that would cost additional shipping …..
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#10

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 12:54 AM)Dom Wrote: I wish Amazon would start using permanent containers instead of cardboard boxes, at least for ongoing repeat customers. Pick them up when you drop new ones off. But that would cost additional shipping …..

 There was once  'hippy' store in town to which you took your own containers.  Honey, peanut butter, grains, cookies, a big  range.  Sadly, I only went once ; the large very alive rat put me off.
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#11

The myth of recycling
A lot of stuff is packaged with the barcodes on it to prevent shoplifting. 

But it's not just the packaging.  If you ever go to a big mall take a look at everything.  I'd bet 85% of everything sold is petroleum based products.  Furniture; the upholstery is polyester,  all the stuffing inside the furniture is polyester.  The  lamp shades are polyester or some sort of plastic product. Almost all shoes are plastic.  I'd bet 99% of childrens toys are plastic and polyester. 

And then there's clothing.  If you have nylon, dacron, polyester or any sort of elastic in your clothing then it's an oil based product and won't break down. Wind breakers are basically plastic, so are most winter coats. Almost 1/3 of the landfill is clothing.  Yeah, people "recycle" it and give it to Goodwill or a used clothing store but eventually it ends up in landfills and the fibers end up in the ocean or streams.  When you wash your clothes the plastic fibers end up in the water system. Fish eat them.

The Dollar Store, or whatever it might be called in your area, is just a big chain store of plastic products. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING in a dollar store will be passed down through the generations.  Everything in those stores will end up in a landfill.  

I try my damnest to buy things that are real and not plastic but it's soooo hard.  I make a lot of my own clothing and I buy fabrics that are 100% cotton or linen, silk or wool but right now I'm wearing a pair of black jeans that have some nylon streatch in them.  It's so comfortable.  I take yoga and ballet classes and wear stretchy polyester garments.  
I don't know how the world has survived as far as it has what with all the plastics we throw away.  It's horrible.
                                                         T4618
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#12

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 12:58 AM)grympy Wrote:  There was once  'hippy' store in town to which you took your own containers.  Honey, peanut butter, grains, cookies, a big  range.  Sadly, I only went once ; the large very alive rat put me off.

We have one that started up here this year. Saw it on the news, haven't been.
Being told you're delusional does not necessarily mean you're mental. 
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#13

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 01:28 AM)Dancefortwo Wrote: A lot of stuff is packaged with the barcodes on it to prevent shoplifting. 

But it's not just the packaging.  If you ever go to a big mall take a look at everything.  I'd bet 85% of everything sold is petroleum based products.  Furniture; the upholstery is polyester,  all the stuffing inside the furniture is polyester.  The  lamp shades are polyester or some sort of plastic product. Almost all shoes are plastic.  I'd bet 99% of childrens toys are plastic and polyester. 

And then there's clothing.  If you have nylon, dacron, polyester or any sort of elastic in your clothing then it's an oil based product and won't break down. Wind breakers are basically plastic, so are most winter coats. Almost 1/3 of the landfill is clothing.  Yeah, people "recycle" it and give it to Goodwill or a used clothing store but eventually it ends up in landfills and the fibers end up in the ocean or streams.  When you wash your clothes the plastic fibers end up in the water system. Fish eat them.

The Dollar Store, or whatever it might be called in your area, is just a big chain store of plastic products. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING in a dollar store will be passed down through the generations.  Everything in those stores will end up in a landfill.  

I try my damnest to buy things that are real and not plastic but it's soooo hard.  I make a lot of my own clothing and I buy fabrics that are 100% cotton or linen, silk or wool but right now I'm wearing a pair of black jeans that have some nylon streatch in them.  It's so comfortable.  I take yoga and ballet classes and wear stretchy polyester garments.  
I don't know how the world has survived as far as it has what with all the plastics we throw away.  It's horrible.



 Yair. I'm sure people are simply unaware of just how much of what  they buy has petro chemical base.   A quick look around my computer room shows a total of ten items which contain at least some, mainly as plastic. Looking at my car gave me shock; start with tires and end with seat covers and bumper bars.
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#14

The myth of recycling
(11-05-2019, 11:10 PM)grympy Wrote: Huff Post UK today Wednesday  6 Nov.

A single, now flat dwelling person, saved all of his plastic in huge bags, for a  year. The result was a staggering pile of plastics  ,
The bloke had a scientist weigh and sort the rubbish.

The result was that  said scientist  claimed that only 4% of that rubbish  would be recycled. Although shocking, I suspect there  may some truth in that...

Link?
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#15

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 03:16 AM)Inkubus Wrote:
(11-05-2019, 11:10 PM)grympy Wrote: Huff Post UK today Wednesday  6 Nov.

A single, now flat dwelling person, saved all of his plastic in huge bags, for a  year. The result was a staggering pile of plastics  ,
The bloke had a scientist weigh and sort the rubbish.

The result was that  said scientist  claimed that only 4% of that rubbish  would be recycled. Although shocking, I suspect there  may some truth in that...

Link?

See if this works: 

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/p...k-homepage
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#16

The myth of recycling
(11-05-2019, 11:38 PM)airportkid Wrote: Virtually everything we buy today is packaged.  I need a half dozen lag bolts, they come 8 to a bag at the hardware store, a plastic bag, with a paper label.  A new pair of socks has a slip of paper inside the sock to make it feel "new".  A tube of toothpaste comes in a pressboard box, a tube of glue comes in a molded plastic shell attached to a pressboard backing.  We don't need 98% of all this packaging; it's there because it influences marketing.  Steve Jobs made a point of enclosing each precious Apple product in elaborate packaging to make it "cool".

That's what all the damn garbage is - discarded packaging.  We eat the food.  We wear the clothes.  We use the tools and appliances.  We discard the endless eternal packaging without a thought.  It doesn't help that brilliant marketing introduced the disposable razors and other disposables with brand names like "Good News".

Consumers are not to blame for the inundation, corporate marketing is.  But we consumers are to blame for not pushing back on all that packaging, rejecting the packaged for the unadorned.  We like the flash and glamour of glistening "newness" as we unwrap our "gifts" of styrofoam and cellophane enclosed toasters and fill our bins with what only gets a momentary glance of irritation disentangling it from our bauble.

That's a good point, except my understanding is that used diapers, plastic bags, and discarded appliances also contribute a great deal to our landfills.
Mountain-high though the difficulties appear, terrible and gloomy though all things seem, they are but Mâyâ.
Fear not — it is banished. Crush it, and it vanishes. Stamp upon it, and it dies.


Vivekananda
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#17

The myth of recycling
(11-05-2019, 11:52 PM)Dom Wrote: Our trash service has a separate bin for each house for corrugated cardboard. All the other trash goes into the usual bin.

Apparently our building's service takes mixed recyclables, so I can put beverage cans, plastic water bottles, and beer bottles all in the same bin. It's very helpful.
Mountain-high though the difficulties appear, terrible and gloomy though all things seem, they are but Mâyâ.
Fear not — it is banished. Crush it, and it vanishes. Stamp upon it, and it dies.


Vivekananda
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#18

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 12:41 PM)Dānu Wrote:
(11-05-2019, 11:52 PM)Dom Wrote: Our trash service has a separate bin for each house for corrugated cardboard. All the other trash goes into the usual bin.

Apparently our building's service takes mixed recyclables, so I can put beverage cans, plastic water bottles, and beer bottles all in the same bin.  It's very helpful.

Corrugated cardboard is the thing that is actually easy for our service to recycle - so you know it will all be recycled, not disposed of as others mention above.
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#19

The myth of recycling
For privacy's sake, we shred all our personal documents with bank account details, private
names and addresses, phone numbers, medical records or service provider numbers, credit
card account numbers etc.

I would've assumed that I could empty the shredder contents into our paper/plastics recycle bin,
but that's not the case.

The local council by-laws prohibit that.  They also prohibit backyard incinerators. So... how do we
dispose of the shredded paper?      Flush it down the dunny?        Eat it?
I'm a creationist;   I believe that man created God.
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#20

The myth of recycling
We have four different bins... household garbage, glass, yard debris and the usual recyclables which includes cardboard.  Three different trucks  pick up our garbage.   Each of the three trucks have different shapes and look to have different capabilities.  The yard debris truck is pretty straight foreward but the recycling truck has what looks like three compartments in it.  One compartment  is for glass.  I hear them putting the glass in that compartment because the glass shatters and it's really loud.  Another compartment  is for stuff like motor oil and paint and then the other is for all the other recyclables.  The third truck is for household garbage.

Sometimes they put a little star sticker on a small piece of paper and tape it to the garbage bin when you've consistantly done a good job of putting the bins out in a position that is easy for them to pick up and you don't overload the garbage bins.   I must say, I've gotten one of those star stickers and I feel very proud.....but I also feel like I'm in Kindergarten.   girl blushing
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#21

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 07:09 PM)Dancefortwo Wrote: ... I must say, I've gotten one of those star stickers and I feel very proud.....but I also feel like I'm in Kindergarten ...

One of these days your bin won't be emptied and it'll have a frown smiley on it and a star with the points torn in half and a scoresheet with what's wrong checked off and a big letter F and a card that says "Advance to 1st Grade NEXT Year" and the marked up scoresheet will cite improperly color coordinated items and typos in the doodling on discarded notepad sheets.  Tongue
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#22

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 07:37 PM)airportkid Wrote:
(11-06-2019, 07:09 PM)Dancefortwo Wrote: ... I must say, I've gotten one of those star stickers and I feel very proud.....but I also feel like I'm in Kindergarten ...

One of these days your bin won't be emptied and it'll have a frown smiley on it and a star with the points torn in half and a scoresheet with what's wrong checked off and a big letter F and a card that says "Advance to 1st Grade NEXT Year" and the marked up scoresheet will cite improperly color coordinated items and typos in the doodling on discarded notepad sheets.  Tongue

LOLOL!  ^ ^ ^ 

I don't know about the Seattle area but recycling is a big deal here in Portland and the show Portlandia really hit the nail on the head with this sketch. 

 

Oh! and then Portland banned plastic bags so a lot of people bring their own cloth bags to the store. They do have paper bags available but it's frowned upon.   The show Portlandia also took a look at this situation.  

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#23

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 02:52 PM)SYZ Wrote: For privacy's sake, we shred all our personal documents with bank account details, private
names and addresses, phone numbers, medical records or service provider numbers, credit
card account numbers etc.

I would've assumed that I could empty the shredder contents into our paper/plastics recycle bin,
but that's not the case.

The local council by-laws prohibit that.  They also prohibit backyard incinerators. So... how do we
dispose of the shredded paper?      Flush it down the dunny?        Eat it?

Try ending up with a dead Llama. You are not allowed to bury it and there is no agency that will come and remove it. There used to be a soap plant that picked up dead farm animals (yes, you rub them on your body) but they closed. Neighbors will hate you if you leave it for the vultures. So what do you do?
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#24

The myth of recycling
(11-06-2019, 01:04 PM)Dom Wrote:
(11-06-2019, 12:41 PM)Dānu Wrote:
(11-05-2019, 11:52 PM)Dom Wrote: Our trash service has a separate bin for each house for corrugated cardboard. All the other trash goes into the usual bin.

Apparently our building's service takes mixed recyclables, so I can put beverage cans, plastic water bottles, and beer bottles all in the same bin.  It's very helpful.

Corrugated cardboard is the thing that is actually easy for our service to recycle - so you know it will all be recycled, not disposed of as others mention above.

Come to think of it; how does one dispose of used nappies (diapers) legally?
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#25

The myth of recycling
LOL

I was today years old when I learned about a show called Portlandia.

Yay!
      Christianity: 
God meddles in the affairs of humans in a small part the Earth for 1500 years, giving one tribal society rules to live by.
He stops all direct contact for the next 2,000 years, leaving us with a metaphorical set of instructions.
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