RECYCLING QUOTES III

quotations about recycling

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I think what's important is looking at nature -- in nature all the waste is used in the ecosystem and is a resource. And if we look at what is considered waste, it's actually valuable material. So "zero waste" acknowledges the inherent value of discarded materials as valuable resources. For every ton of material that we dispose of in a landfill or burn in an incinerator, to replace those products, we have to go and extract typically virgin resources, raw materials. This extraction process, and the refining, manufacturing, and transportation, results in creating many times more waste -- on average more than 70 times the amount of waste. And so if we can reduce, reuse, or recycle that ton, then we are saving up to 70 tons.

JACK MACY

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I think people need to look at what they buy. Obviously buying with less packaging, buying in bulk, buying with materials that can be recycled and composted, and then being conscious about where you're putting it. Take on the challenge to see how little waste you can have.

JACK MACY

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There is much work to be done if recycling is to be developed to a stage where it has become as routine an activity as landfill is now, but this work has to be undertaken if we are to realise the contribution that appropriate recycling can undoubtedly make to improving and sustaining our environment.

RICHARD WAITE

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Recycling is better--I won't write "good"--for the environment. But without economics--without supply and demand of raw materials--recycling is nothing more than a meaningless exercise in glorifying garbage. No doubt it's better than throwing something into an incinerator, and worse than fixing something that can be refurbished. It's what you do if you can't bear to see something landfilled. Placing a box or a can or a bottle in a recycling bin doesn't mean you've recycled anything, and it doesn't make you a better, greener person: it just means you've outsourced your problem. Sometimes that outsourcing is near home; and sometimes it's overseas. But wherever it goes, the global market and demand for raw materials is the ultimate arbiter.

ADAM MINTER

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Any realistic recycling scheme will require some form of prior separation, since any attempt to pick through significant quantities of crude waste for recoverables is both impossible and even potentially hazardous. So the waste producers must be encouraged to keep separate those items destined for recycling, and this in turn leads to separate collections or special vehicles, both expensive activities.

A. G. MANSER

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My recycling guy knows 2 things about me ... I don't recycle very often and I like beer.

SILVER S.

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