Re:Recycling Eyeglasses Is a Waste of Money
by RyJones on Saturday July 02, 2016 @11:48PM
(#12024740)
Coincidentally, I was watching a fleet of three garbage trucks going though my neighborhood this week, wondering if the impact of running 3x garbage trucks to pick up trash, compost, recycyling was completely offset by the end product. I suspect the answer is no.
Re:Recycling Eyeglasses Is a Waste of Money
by rjpower9000 on Sunday July 03, 2016 @12:44AM
(#12024855)
3 trucks would only be wasteful if they didn't manage to complete a full load over their entire shift.
I doubt that's the case. (The yard waste and recycling bins are more full in my neighbourhood than the garbage cans...)
Here we are dutifully separating cans, paper, trash, looking at the little triangle and number on each plastic item. And then I had a vision of these trucks going to the same dump, and dumping it all in one big pile, or putting it on a ship and sending it off to another country to be burried there, away from EPA's reach.
The answer I think is it makes us feel good, it makes us think we are doing this to help mother earth, that is important to many people.
In the meantime maybe there is a coal plant across town that is dumping 1000x worse crap in the air, and putting a plastic bottle in the wrong bin is nothing compared to that.
In a way it reminds me when adults would give kids mindless tasks to keep them busy so they don't get bothered. "Here separate the M&Ms by color, I'll be back to check on your progress" kind of a deal.