Why do we not recycle?

[Boarder]

"We" meaning the country in general. Although, I consider myself a part of this "we".

Why don't we recycle more? Wouldn't it help out the environment a lot? Use less energy? Cut costs? Won't things eventually run out if we don't start recycling?

I didn't come up with this but I really think it's cool:

When I was a kid we had a big American made car with a front bench seat. That seat had a flip down armrest. The coolest thing ever was to ride on that arm rest. You were up and could see everything, it was great. How dangerous was that?!? Virtually no one used the seatbelts.

Then, people started noticing that people who wore seatbelts had a lower death percentage in wrecks. It went from virtually none, to some people wearing them. Then, they came out with better shoulder belts and a massively annoying alarm if you didn't wear it. Then, they made it illegal to not wear one.

So, in one generation's time it went from no one doing it, to some, to virtually everyone, to it feeling strange not to do it, to it being illegal to not do it.

You think recycling could become the new seatbelt?

Thoughts? Comments?

[sanantoniosooner]

I had a grandfather that was killed when he didn't throw a dixie cup in the right container.

[mdklatt]

So, in one generation's time it went from no one doing it, to some, to virtually everyone, to it feeling strange not to do it, to it being illegal to not do it.

You think recycling could become the new seatbelt?



In a lot of places it's already illegal to not recycle.

[Boarder]

So do you think it could become the new seatbelt?

[sanantoniosooner]

And the point of that smart butt remark is that people change when it affects THEM, not some generation down the road.

Unfortunately. We really should recycle more.

[Boarder]

From the early returns, I'm thinking it's all about the effort.

[sooner_born_1960]

In a lot of places it's already illegal to not recycle.
So, they're gonna fine you for putting a beer can in the trash?

[Ike]

Out here, pretty much everyone recycles...in large part due to the way trash collection is managed.

See, the city doesn't handle trash collection in the burbs of chicago...instead, they outsource it, and in doing so, you don't have to pay a trash bill every month, but rather, you have to buy stickers to put on each of your trash cans every week. But the recyclables get picked up for free. So people recycle because that way they can throw away more stuff for less money.

[Pricetag]

I think it's a combination of the first and last choice. It's mostly laziness, but some people are so politically turned off by militant environmentalism that they go the other direction.

[picasso]

"We" meaning the country in general. Although, I consider myself a part of this "we".

Why don't we recycle more? Wouldn't it help out the environment a lot? Use less energy? Cut costs? Won't things eventually run out if we don't start recycling?

I didn't come up with this but I really think it's cool:

When I was a kid we had a big American made car with a front bench seat. That seat had a flip down armrest. The coolest thing ever was to ride on that arm rest. You were up and could see everything, it was great. How dangerous was that?!? Virtually no one used the seatbelts.

Then, people started noticing that people who wore seatbelts had a lower death percentage in wrecks. It went from virtually none, to some people wearing them. Then, they came out with better shoulder belts and a massively annoying alarm if you didn't wear it. Then, they made it illegal to not wear one.

So, in one generation's time it went from no one doing it, to some, to virtually everyone, to it feeling strange not to do it, to it being illegal to not do it.

You think recycling could become the new seatbelt?

Thoughts? Comments?

when I was a kid we did that, and a lot of people tossed their trash out the window.
I contribute by throwing my trash away in the proper place.

[mdklatt]

So, they're gonna fine you for putting a beer can in the trash?

Yes.

[stoopified]

If they manufacturing co. who use the recycled want to pay me to recycle and save them money,I'll do it.If I am not paid to do it then it is not worth my time.

[Boarder]

I think I'm looking at in in more of an Oklahoma context. Isn't Oklahoma one of the least recycling places in the country? Not sure, thought I read that.

[sooner_born_1960]

Yes.
I'm still safe. I put my beer cans in the neighbor's trash can.

[Boarder]

I think it's a combination of the first and last choice. It's mostly laziness, but some people are so politically turned off by militant environmentalism that they go the other direction.
That's something the environmentalists really need to take note of. And, I think you're right.

[mdklatt]

If I am not paid to do it then it is not worth my time.

Why do you hate the troops?

less recycling = more energy use = more foreign oil = more troops in the Middle East

There are costs to not recycling.

[Boarder]

That's another thing.

You think we're going to eventually have to take into account the costs of items, not just what they cost?

I think that the time is coming where we'll have to run everything we eat, wear, buy, etc through the filter of "what does this really cost us, environmentally."

[Ike]

I think I'm looking at in in more of an Oklahoma context. Isn't Oklahoma one of the least recycling places in the country? Not sure, thought I read that.

It may be. I know norman just voted in curbside pickup of recyclables recently, but its going to cost everyone an extra buck or two a month...

I prefer our system, where if you somehow manage to only produce recyclable trash, you don't pay a dime for collection.

[IB4OU2]

I'm thinking Olevet recycles his Natty cans and makes good money doing it.

[Ike]

Oh, and back to the original question, I don't think it will become the next seatbelt. The way I see it, most people don't really care one way or another, and in such a situation there are ways to encourage recycling without a need for litigation. You just have to play to the common sense of lazyness and greed that pretty much everyone in the country shares.

[mdklatt]

That's another thing.

You think we're going to eventually have to take into account the costs of items, not just what they cost?


Why shouldn't we? For example, gasoline costs everybody a lot more than $2.75/gallon. If people knew the true cost there would be a lot more demand for an actual energy policy in this country.

[Boarder]

Oh, and back to the original question, I don't think it will become the next seatbelt. The way I see it, most people don't really care one way or another, and in such a situation there are ways to encourage recycling without a need for litigation. You just have to play to the common sense of lazyness and greed that pretty much everyone in the country shares.


I think that there are and will be a lot of people who start recycling or already do. But, kind of like with the seatbelt I don't think it will really catch on to people unless they are forced. The sense of lazyness will win unless the greed of not getting fined kicks in.

The real questin I was asking is do you think that recycling can catch on in the span of a generation like the seatbelt did.

[Boarder]

Why shouldn't we? For example, gasoline costs everybody a lot more than $2.75/gallon. If people knew the true cost there would be a lot more demand for an actual energy policy in this country.
Whether we should or not and whether we have to or not are two different things. You think we'll soon have to?

[Ike]

I think that there are and will be a lot of people who start recycling or already do. But, kind of like with the seatbelt I don't think it will really catch on to people unless they are forced. The sense of lazyness will win unless the greed of not getting fined kicks in.

The real questin I was asking is do you think that recycling can catch on in the span of a generation like the seatbelt did.

nah...see my earlier explanation of why everyone here recycles. It has nothing to do with law and everything to do with the way trash collection is managed. I could put all my recyclables in with everything else I throw away, but then it would cost me more to throw that stuff away, cause I might have to buy another sticker or fill up another trash can.

All I'm saying is that you don't need fines or forcing, just a system that makes it advantageous to the consumer.

Me personally, I wouldn't recycle if it didn't cost me less to do so.

[yermom]

i think the only way is money, either artificially or by natural progression

if materials get too scarce (trees, for example) then prices would go up and it would make sense to make more things from recycled material

also when we start running out of places to put trash, and disposal costs go up.

until it hits the pocket book, i doubt much will happen

[jk the sooner fan]

the city i live in just gave us a big container for recycling thats as big as our trash bin....so it makes it MUCH easier.....they pick up every 2 weeks.....i think its a good thing, but i dont know how you'd make it mandatory (i.e. "new seatbelt")

i just dont know how you'd check that...

maybe they could come up with a device that when it picked up your bin, it also read a bar code on the bin thats traceable to your address.....the bin is weighed for content, and maybe you're given some sort of rebate on your bill for the more you recycle

[mdklatt]

i dont know how you'd make it mandatory (i.e. "new seatbelt")

i just dont know how you'd check that...



In the places where it's mandatory, you can get a fine for having recyclables in your regular trash.

[Scott D]

*shrug* I think we have some hybrid plan similar to Ike's for recycling, but it seems to apply more to how you set things up with Waste Management. I know that my complex doesn't have that type of agreement, however most of the homes nearby have recycle bins out there with the trash also.

A decent start would probably be putting a 5 or 10 cent deposit 'fee' on the purchasing of beer/pop. When you pay that, you tend to make a point of taking cans and bottles in because you get a receipt you can use in coupon fashion for whatever you purchase at the grocery store.

[Beef]

I didn't recycle anything other than my newspapers until Dallas gave me a huge pretty blue bin to throw my recyclables into. I don't have to sort anything, so it makes easy enough to where I would feel guilty if I didn't do it. I fill up my recycle container almost as fast as my garbage, though. I wish they came more than every other week.

[olevetonahill]

I'm thinking Olevet recycles his Natty cans and makes good money doing it.
I been savin em all year, Gonna sell em in Nov. spend the coin on the grand kids fer Xmas:D

[Ardmore_Sooner]

Something interesting I found.


Recycling Can Save Energy.
It almost always takes less energy to make a product from recycled materials than it does to make it from new materials. Using recycled aluminum scrap to make new aluminum cans, for example, uses 95 percent less energy than making aluminum cans from bauxite ore, the raw material used to make aluminum. One exception to the recycling-saves-energy rule is plastics. Sometimes it takes more energy to recycle plastics than it does to use all new materials.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/recycling.html

You can learn a lot on this innerweb thingy.

[NormanPride]

I like recycling, but it's not really available to me. I live in an apartment complex that handles all waste via giant dumpsters. Since there aren't any dumpsters associated with recyclables I can't really recycle. Since the city does such a poor job of advertising whatever recycling centers are around, I don't have the drive to store all my recyclables and then hunt one down myself.

[royalfan5]

I recycle. My family has always recycled, more for the fact that we hate wasting stuff that could be used again. That has been deeply ingrained in me. It's not just paper, aluminum, and plastic, it's finding multiple uses for things and wearing things out before you get rid of them. Like my football coach used to say, Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.

[mdklatt]

Something interesting I found.



http://www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/saving/recycling/solidwaste/recycling.html

You can learn a lot on this innerweb thingy.


What about the additional petroleum required to make all new plastic? That's worth something all by itself, and I wonder if the energy required to obtain it is factored in.

[Ike]

What about the additional petroleum required to make all new plastic? That's worth something all by itself, and I wonder if the energy required to obtain it is factored in.

Or the energy to cover it up in a landfill? I don't know...but plastics, and paper even, are not nearly as energy efficient recycle-wise as aluminum is.

However, from that same page, there are other benefits to recycling too, such as reduced landfill usage (kind of a big deal up here), and other factors that for each locale should factor into the cost-benefit analysis of recycling.

It certainly doesn't have the same effect for everyone, nor does it always have the same effect at all times. (if it gets cost prohibitive to take oil from the ground, perhaps recycled plastic is cheaper than new plastic?)

[mdklatt]

I like recycling, but it's not really available to me. I live in an apartment complex that handles all waste via giant dumpsters. Since there aren't any dumpsters associated with recyclables I can't really recycle. Since the city does such a poor job of advertising whatever recycling centers are around, I don't have the drive to store all my recyclables and then hunt one down myself.

There's a recycling center at SE 12th and Lindsey in Norman. OU also has a recycling center on South Campus.

[Boarder]

There's also one at Lindsey and McGee

[M]

I recycle. My prime motivation to do that is because my boss is The Recycle Nazi and refuses to throw anything away that can 1) be recycled or 2) be used for something someday. She has perfected the "disappointed" look when she makes sure you see her digging your empty Diet Coke cans out of the trash.

[NormanPride]

There's a recycling center at SE 12th and Lindsey in Norman. OU also has a recycling center on South Campus.

Man, that's only 2 hours away from me, too! ;)

[Boarder]

Man, that's only 2 hours away from me, too! ;)
Well, if you cared

[NormanPride]

:D

[Pricetag]

That's something the environmentalists really need to take note of. And, I think you're right.
Not that a reaction to militant environmentalism is an acceptable excuse for environmentally reckless behavior. Smart people should be able to separate the idiocy from the essentially good cause that it is promoting.

[usmc-sooner]

I was under the impression that we did recycle.

[Rogue]

I'm pushing our trash folks to extend curbside pickup to our place. They already do curbside recycling on their other routes, come to my place to pick up the trash, so why not extend the recycling route? I think if we make it more convenient, more of my neighbors will "PITCH IN."

[mdklatt]

Man, that's only 2 hours away from me, too! ;)

It's kinda hard to figure out where ":noitacoL" is, NormanPride. :twinkies:

[ultimatesooner1]

I don't have curbside recycyling, currently living in an apt until I decide where to settle down

I would like to recycle my plastic and glass bottles, etc I just have no idea where to take them

[Ike]

I'm pushing our trash folks to extend curbside pickup to our place. They already do curbside recycling on their other routes, come to my place to pick up the trash, so why not extend the recycling route? I think if we make it more convenient, more of my neighbors will "PITCH IN."

Yeah...curbside pickup is pretty much necessary if you want people to voluntarily recycle.

Otherwise, its an excercise that only a few will undertake.

[NormanPride]

It's kinda hard to figure out where ":noitacoL" is, NormanPride. :twinkies:


You should know from my leanings in the Tulsa > OKC threads. ;)

This one, however, is a notch for the Other Team.

[C&CDean]

I recycle. I dump my used oil on the ground so it can become hydrocarbons again, momma hauls the aluminum cans into one of those machines that spits out quarters in Norman, and I burn everything that is paper, plastic, etc. Our food trash stuff gets dumped in whatever dumpster I stop at on my way to work.

[hurricane'bone]

I like recycling, but it's not really available to me. I live in an apartment complex that handles all waste via giant dumpsters. Since there aren't any dumpsters associated with recyclables I can't really recycle. Since the city does such a poor job of advertising whatever recycling centers are around, I don't have the drive to store all my recyclables and then hunt one down myself.


Here is a list of M.e.t. Recycling Centers in Tulsa (http://www.metrecycle.com/depots.htm)

[I_SMELL_FEAR]

I donate my cans, bottles to good causes. Like I will see a sign on the road that says next 2 miles adopted by the Boy Scout Troop 123, or Mt Zion Baptist Church...I always make sure to throw my cans and bottles out there so they will have them to pick up and turn in for money.

[NormanPride]

Here is a list of M.e.t. Recycling Centers in Tulsa (http://www.metrecycle.com/depots.htm)

Man, those are almost as good as government hours.

[hurricane'bone]

Man, those are almost as good as government hours.



Residents can drop off recyclables, EXCLUDING oil, antifreeze and batteries, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

read-wnd

[NormanPride]

pffft. reading is for geeks and losers. ;)


I guess my previous post should have been in the "Work Schedule" thread.

[hurricane'bone]

pffft. reading is for geeks and losers. ;)


So you read it like 8 times, right?

;)

[olevetonahill]

I recycle. I dump my used oil on the ground so it can become hydrocarbons again, momma hauls the aluminum cans into one of those machines that spits out quarters in Norman, and I burn everything that is paper, plastic, etc. Our food trash stuff gets dumped in whatever dumpster I stop at on my way to work.
All My used oil goes into 55 gallon Barrels . I used to dump it But *******s complained .
I now have 5 barrells of that shat .
I to burn everything else . cept the cans :D

[soonerboomer93]

i recycle in the states

I'm pretty sure the house keeper recycles over here for me, since we have all the bins and stuff in the parking area and she takes out the trash

[stoopified]

i recycle in the states

I'm pretty sure the house keeper recycles over here for me, since we have all the bins and stuff in the parking area and she takes out the trash
My staff refuses to recycle for me.Damn that woman,I'd get a divorce except the sex is good. :D:D:D:D

[Jerk]

I recycle.

Every spent peice of brass that hits the ground is picked up, cleaned, re-sized, charged, primed, etc, and shot again.

[OKC-SLC]

I am a very conservative Republican. I therefore believe in taking great care of God's creation (no, environmental responsibility and Republican don't have to be mutually exclusive, and often are not). As such I have always gone out of my way to recycle to a great degree.

However, since moving to KC, MO a year ago, recycling is MUCH easier. Here they do the curbside bins (for free). Each week a separate truck comes by and empties the bin and takes whatever else you have next to it if it's too full. The stuff does not need to be sorted. This includes big azz cardboard boxes after you buy some unnecessarily huge non-recycled plastic toy for the toddler daughter.

The point is this--recycling here is enormously easy. Unless a person is motivated ethically or financially, I think that's the only way it can be done. What I don't know is how cost-effective this is for the city.

[Ike]

I am a very conservative Republican. I therefore believe in taking great care of God's creation (no, environmental responsibility and Republican don't have to be mutually exclusive, and often are not). As such I have always gone out of my way to recycle to a great degree.

However, since moving to KC, MO a year ago, recycling is MUCH easier. Here they do the curbside bins (for free). Each week a separate truck comes by and empties the bin and takes whatever else you have next to it if it's too full. The stuff does not need to be sorted. This includes big azz cardboard boxes after you buy some unnecessarily huge non-recycled plastic toy for the toddler daughter.

The point is this--recycling here is enormously easy. Unless a person is motivated ethically or financially, I think that's the only way it can be done. What I don't know is how cost-effective this is for the city.


It's the same way here...although slightly easier to be a recycler here because it actually costs you less to recycle. The city I'm in has recycle bins, but you don't need one. We've just put ours out in giant tubs, and it gets picked up just the same...no matter how much it is.

The thing about it is that I think here it's win-win for the city...waste management is handled by a private company that contracts with the city. This company can sell off its recyclables to whoever it is that actually does the recycling, which is why I imagine you don't have to pay to throw out recyclables, and not only that but they are paying less to dump in a landfill because (and using the metric that about half the volume of trash thrown out is recyclable) they are hauling half as much stuff there as they would normally.


Now, in cases where landfills or dumps are city owned, the immediate cost or savings of recycling isn't immediately apparent I would think...especially if space at said landfill isn't scarce. The city would then see recycling as an unnecessary burden on them IMO...their trucks are on the roads twice as much, or they have to buy trucks that can separate the trash and recyclables, and the money that this hypothetical city could make for selling off its recyclables may not make up for the extra gas/vehicle costs.

It all depends I think on just how things are run in a particular locale in addition to the scarcity of places to dump the trash.

[Condescending Sooner]

I was watching a show (Bull**** on Showtime?), and they stated that recycling is only beneficial for aluminum cans. Everything else, (plastic, newspapers, etc.) actually used more energy to recycle that making new products.

[mdklatt]

I was watching a show (Bull**** on Showtime?), and they stated that recycling is only beneficial for aluminum cans. Everything else, (plastic, newspapers, etc.) actually used more energy to recycle that making new products.

I think I'm gonna call bull**** on Bull****. Does it take more energy to recycle plastic than it does to explore for new oil, drill for that oil, ship it to the US, refine it into raw material for plastic, and provide for the hundreds of thousands of troops we have overseas to "protect US interests", i.e. keep a secure flow of oil? I doubt it. Even if it does, energy use is only part of the recycling equation. Somebody posted a link a couple of pages back to a EIA web site about recycling.

[yermom]

"not beneficial" could mean a lot of things

but for the record, Penn Gillette is an ***, and i can't watch that show

[Boarder]

I'm really amazed that there are that many people who recycle. Pleasantly surprised would be a better word. I think that's great.

I can see where it has to be an up front money issue for the most part to get people to recycle. The hidden costs savings aren't enough to get people to do it, true.

[skycat]

For me, curb side pickup = recycling.

I'm all about the lazy.

[KsSooner]

Curbside recycling is an additional cost in Wichita. You get charged an additional amount to have a recyclable bin.

[Condescending Sooner]

I think I'm gonna call bull**** on Bull****. Does it take more energy to recycle plastic than it does to explore for new oil, drill for that oil, ship it to the US, refine it into raw material for plastic, and provide for the hundreds of thousands of troops we have overseas to "protect US interests", i.e. keep a secure flow of oil? I doubt it. Even if it does, energy use is only part of the recycling equation. Somebody posted a link a couple of pages back to a EIA web site about recycling.


Yeah, I'm sure you know more than the sources they listed. I should have thought of that.