Does anyone else think recycling is a waste of time?
612242
yeah, except cans ... the rest is hippy BS
1010820
Off the top of my head, we recycle newspapers, cardboard, glass, metal, plastic, and plastic bags.\n\nThe recycle container gets bigger each week, while the trash container gets smaller.\n\nI suspect this is the way it's supposed to work.\n\nThings that don't get recycled include garbage, pizza boxes, egg cartons (fiber ones), furniture, appliances, and oil/paint/chemical containers.
5114
No.\n\nActually I'm wasting my time anyway, so your question makes this waste of time more funny :)
758102
Your recycling program. It turns out that at my high school we have recycle bins, but we don't even have a recycling contract with disposal company, so everything gets trashed anyway.
1070197
i am not sure if they do it in america but i get rid of all mine on freecycle.\n\nas long as you give it away for free then the person that wants it comes to your house and takes it away, at your convienience.  \n\nit's good for big items and stops landfill sites becoming even fuller.  i have given away a lot of baby stuff that otherwise the people couldn't have afforded  -a pram for example\n\ni feel that i am doing something good for me - gets rid of clutter, for the people getting the stuff and for the planet\n\nbest of wishes to you for thinking of other people - take care and lots of hugs\n\nthey do do it in the us - just checked - visit here and if there is not one for your area then start your own.
474364
I think it does help. In Europe they have a policy that most of a building has to be recycled.  It does take energy to recycle, but over all it takes more energy to make it from scratch.  Not to mention the limited resources that are depleted and destroyed over time.  Just my two cents and your millage may very.  :)
430573
Paper has always been used as a alternative material for making bags because they biodegrade better than most plastics, but recent discoveries has allowed for making plastic out of more ecologically-friendly materials that biodegrade after exposure to the elements. Though the process is much slower than paper's decomposition, it's still an improvement. As for other plastic items like bottles, there's a reason why we try to gather them for recycling! After all, the material would just go to waste if we dump it and just let it literally rot in the dump. But through recycling, we can actually ensure that they are processed for reuse instead of just being wasted. Recycling, however, is subject to the availability of facilities within the community--certain countries like Japan tend to have advanced recycling facilities while less developed countries don't. Then it's up to the community citizens to speak up and demand less wastage and more recycling!
222786
Try your local recycling center. You may be able to get a good one for free!
204557
No.  Your urine contains things that your body either couldn't use or didn't need so re-introducing those things a 2nd time provides no benefit whatsoever.  If your body had needed them, they wouldn't be being cast off in a waste product.
207856
It is true.  I don't know that they can be recycled, and they don't break down.  That is a problem.  This stuff will fill landfills soon.
445525
I think back on the years actions and think of how much crap I recycle, and that if we didn't care so much about packaging that I wouldn't have do recycle so damn much.  Why is there a piece of tagboard wrapped around my styrofoam cup o noodles?  NOT NECESSARY!  The cup tells all I need to know.  Inside is Beef Flavored Sodium and fried noodles.  NUF SAID.  Toys should be vacuum packed in bright red plastic.  Recyclable- that's it, no box, instruction sheet, tag, insert, sparkly logo.  Packaging pisses me off.  But I love Earth Day.
1070913
recycling material is A. harder than what you get out of it and B it porduces green house gases that you know about and C it costs a shit load more than just dumping it in a land fill and getting thousands of years of methane out of it. and also why isn't there a no green house gases law, or no sex before your married law, or a morally correct law that bans gays from marrying (which i oppose) because this is America stupid, and i have a right to do with my garbage whatever the hell i want with it (except litter) YAY
317525
I think everyone (not just Americans), has become a "throw away" society. \n\nSeeing the new items, we toss the old. \n\nWe need to have the newest, biggest, best. \n\nBecause we have disposable income, it makes it easier to get what we want, vs just what we need. \n\nNot slighting anyone for doing it, I just think, sometimes we have to take a look at what we do, what we buy, and what we waste.  *(myself included)
367994
Yes. Its a great concept. \n\nBeware of that person with the "freecycled" blog - there's a lot of bitterness from some people about the Freecycle(TM) concept. I'm not sure why... jealousy, perhaps, that they didn't think of it first? \n\nAnyway, I always maintain that you should go to the source for information, and the link I've posted is the official home page, so have fun...
719647
Listen, I'm a very devout, strong-faithed Christian (though not always very obedient), but I gotta tell you, bibles are JUST BOOKS WITH PAPER.  Sure, the paper is special and extra-thin, but recycling them won't send you to hell.  God doesn't want you to waste, and if they're sitting around not being used, they're going to waste.  Recycle them, God won't hate you for it.
798248
In my county in Maryland, we have recycling of glass, plastic, and mixed paper with weekly pickup at our houses. There seems to be widespread participation and it's much more convenient than lugging your bottles back to the store.
594716
Recycling is the collection of used materials that would otherwise be waste to be broken down and remade into new products. Similarly, reuse is collecting waste such as food and drink containers to be cleaned, refilled and resold. Proponents of recycling say that it prevents waste and reduces the consumption of new raw materials. Commonly recycled materials include glass, paper, aluminum, asphalt, and steel. These materials can be derived either from pre-consumer waste (materials used in manufacturing) or post-consumer waste (materials discarded by the consumer).Many manufactured products are not readily biodegradable and take up space in landfills or must be incinerated. Recycling is an alternative to this. In fact, now there are machines that can recycle waste into energy sources and water. In theory, recycling would allow a continuing reuse of materials for the same purpose. In practice, recycling most often extends the useful life of a material, but in a less-versatile form. For example, when paper is recycled, the fibers shorten, making it less useful for high grade papers. Other materials can suffer from contamination, making them unsuitable for food packaging.\n\nOf the 24 OECD-countries where figures were available, only 16% of household waste was recycled in 2002.\n\n\nUS issues\nA neighbourhood recycling station in Oxford, England.\nEnlarge\nA neighbourhood recycling station in Oxford, England.\n\nState support for recycling may be more expensive than alternatives such as landfill; recycling efforts in New York City in the USA cost $57 million per year.1 Environmentalists argue that the benefits to society from recycling compensate for any difference in cost.\n\nA number of U.S. states, such as California, Hawaii, Oregon, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Iowa, Michigan and New York have passed laws that establish deposits or refund values on beverage containers in order to promote recycling. Most are five cents per can or bottle. Michigan's deposit is 10 cents.\n\nSome cities, such as New York and Seattle, have even created laws that enforce fines upon citizens who throw away certain recyclable materials.\n[edit]\n\nReuse\nThe 600ml brown bottle are the "standard beer reused bottle" in Brazil.\nEnlarge\nThe 600ml brown bottle are the "standard beer reused bottle" in Brazil.\n\nOne form of recycling is the reuse of goods, especially bottles. Reuse is distinguished from most forms of recycling, where the good is reduced to a raw material and used in the making of a new good (example: crushing of bottles to make glass for new bottles). Refillable bottles are used extensively in many European countries; for example in Denmark, 98% of bottles are refillable, and 98% of those are returned by consumers. [1] These systems are typically supported by deposit laws and other regulations.\n\nIn some developing nations like India and Pakistan, the cost of new bottles often forces manufacturers to collect and refill old glass bottles for selling cola and other drinks. India and Pakistan also have a way of reusing old newspapers: "Kabadiwalas" buy these from the readers for scrap value and reuse them in packaging or in recycling plants. These scrap intermediaries also help in disposing other articles and metals from the consumers and is a lucrative business for the resellers. [citation needed]\n\nIn the former East Germany, organic household waste was collected and used as fodder for pigs. This integrated system was made possible by the state's control of agriculture; the complexities of continuing it in a market economy after German reunification meant the system had to be discontinued. Organic household waste is still collected separately in some towns in Germany, and may be used for fertilizer or landfilled in more sensitive locations where other waste cannot be.\n\nIn North America, organic household waste, especially yard waste such as leaves on a seasonal basis, is oft