Recycling: America’s False Religion
Issues & Insights,
by
J. Frank Bullitt
Original Article
Posted By: RockyTCB,
6/5/2019 8:00:05 AM
Before climate change became a belief system in which humans are expected to perform penance for their sins against Gaia, recycling was the religion of many in the modern world. Those who didn’t reduce, reuse, and recycle were, and still are, considered heretics.
Nearly a quarter century ago, John Tierney wrote in the New York Times Magazine that “Recycling Is Garbage.” In an article that produced the greatest volume of hate mail in the magazine’s history, Tierney said that rather than recycling, “the simplest and cheapest option is usually to bury garbage in an environmentally safe landfill.” With the exception of a few items — aluminum cans, cardboard, office paper
Reply 1 - Posted by:
anniebc 6/5/2019 8:18:53 AM (No. 91048)
I donated my recycle bin to my neighbors with a large family. It takes up too much room in my garage. I suggest we make California a landfill; parts of it seem to be already on the way.
5 people like this.
Reply 2 - Posted by:
Rumblehog 6/5/2019 8:27:43 AM (No. 91056)
Burn it all for electricity, or convert it to synthetic fuel using the Fischer-Tropsch process, which is now so popular in South Africa.
3 people like this.
Reply 3 - Posted by:
cat2 6/5/2019 8:46:12 AM (No. 91069)
This should be a Must Read. It rebuts the reams of pro-recycling drivel that the mass media churn out every day. And it reminds us to keep an eye out for the writings of the great brook-no-nonsense John Tierney, who used to be a breath of fresh air in the NYT.
2 people like this.
Reply 4 - Posted by:
DVC 6/5/2019 8:46:15 AM (No. 91070)
Yeah, I love the hysterical shrieks "We are running out of landfill space!"
Oh, really. So, even IF the current 150 acre landfill for a big city is filling up, how about some of
the 1,000,000 adjacent acres that are just sitting there? Is there NONE of that which could be
used?
Certain items, such as aluminum, take a great deal of energy to separate from the ore, and are
recycled with a tiny fraction of that energy needed, so make sense from an energy standpoint,
as long as you don't waste huge amounts of energy moving around tiny amounts of it. Like hauling
20 aluminum cans in your car to a recycle center, maybe half a pound of aluminum.
Most of the rest of it is worthless. The market will tell you if it makes sense. Stop subsidizing
and forcing this stupidity on us.
All part of the "you must do penance for living a comfortable life" leftist/greenie lunatic world
view, which includes the Fake News MMGW and "climate change", neither of which have anything
to do with mankind.
6 people like this.
Reply 5 - Posted by:
Dodge Boy 6/5/2019 8:54:34 AM (No. 91085)
I would suggest reading Ann Coulter's book, "Godless - The Church of Liberalism" to better understand what is the false religion.
1 person likes this.
Reply 6 - Posted by:
hurricanegirl 6/5/2019 9:02:31 AM (No. 91092)
I find it hilarious that many places have found recycling to be too cost prohibitive, so after everyone carefully separates out their recycled items from the trash, the city just dumps everything into the same bin and hauls it ALL off to the landfill anyway.
But, hey, at least those recyclers can pat themselves on the back and believe they're saving the planet!
10 people like this.
Reply 7 - Posted by:
Hermoine 6/5/2019 9:11:03 AM (No. 91100)
Yes, yes and yes! It is amazing how many practical, common-sense solutions are out there for the ginned-up environmental problems of today. Unlike global warming, the garbage situation in Asia is truly terrible -- and they are dumping tons of plastics into the oceans and endangering marine life. Yet, the solution is pretty simple but our unbelievably arrogant and dumb politicians won't get out of the way.
1 person likes this.
Reply 8 - Posted by:
Upright2 6/5/2019 9:24:24 AM (No. 91110)
I think re-cycling as a political issue is a straw horse.. Reusing packaging materials is common sense.
0 people like this.
Reply 9 - Posted by:
chance_232 6/5/2019 9:41:04 AM (No. 91124)
Recycling paper is a waste of time and resources. Trees, contrary to popular opinion are a cash crop.
Metal and glass should be recycled.
The issue that I have is that packaging has gone overboard and uses way too much single use plastic.
Frankly, I dont see anything changing thats realistic or cost effective.
0 people like this.
Reply 10 - Posted by:
padiva 6/5/2019 9:43:51 AM (No. 91127)
I live in the thrift lane. I re-purpose what I can. The rest, I delightfully throw out.
2 people like this.
Reply 11 - Posted by:
Johneboy2 6/5/2019 9:44:07 AM (No. 91128)
The problem is … different commodities such as paper, plastic, aluminum, steel, etc. vary from day to day in their value when recycled. So the timing changes but the system does not. You can't teach the families to habitually recycle everything and then say, "well, next Wednesday, only, recycle just your plastic". So everything continues to be recycled, whether economical or not.
1 person likes this.
Reply 12 - Posted by:
MeiDei 6/5/2019 11:41:24 AM (No. 91210)
Today we are a throw-away society: too inclined to use things once or twice, one season, one meal, etc. I've seen mothers throw out her children's barely used clothing rather than pass along (God forbid anyone in their family wear hand-me-downs) to even the charity containers. I've seen untouched food be scraped off into a garbage can, God forbid if something should be repurposed or composted. Trained by advertising firms to be a single-use society we've lost that frugal spirit that prevailed after both WW's. Well, the pendulum can swing both ways and more and more avenues of being super frugal are turning up on videos called 'hacks' for everyday issues in and around the house - many by non-born & raised Americans. Resistance works both ways and is out there for those who don't mind 'being bothered'. BTW I'm not out to close down 2nd hand or antique shops.
1 person likes this.
Reply 13 - Posted by:
slab 6/5/2019 11:49:05 AM (No. 91216)
A smallish city of 150,000 near me operates a methane reclamation project at their landfill that takes in around $700,000 per year in gas sales to a nearby industry and an electric co-op, along with in-house use for heating and equipment fuel.
That's recycling that makes some sense.
2 people like this.
Reply 14 - Posted by:
WV.Hillbilly 6/5/2019 11:53:40 AM (No. 91222)
Glass isn't worth the energy it takes to cart it away, crush it up and remelt it. That's why most cities don't take it anymore. Sand is cheap.
It's not worth my time to sort trash. I have better things to do. It all goes in my compactor and out in a bag.
1 person likes this.
I have a green plastic bin that I put junk into before throwing it into the garbage. Nice little gift from my Garbage Service, No? I also have a separate large Garbage Bin. They look different, but we put the same stuff in both. That sounds right? Thanks! I knew we were Environmentally Friendly!
1 person likes this.
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