Is Recycling Good for the Environment?
AluminumAluminum is one of the many materials that is considered as being a good material for recycling, however there is now a stand being taken that says that aluminum is not environmentally friendly at all. In fact, aluminum is a material which has a huge contribution to global climate change, and therefore it is actually causing problems in our environment. As well, aluminum is a material which produces sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide during its smelting process, and this is something that actually contributes heavily to such things as acid rain and fog. Furthermore, aluminum is also a serious electricity hazard, and this is another reason why it may not be a good idea to recycle this material.
Paper RecyclingThis is another form of recycling that is surprisingly not as positive as we all seem to think. This is because paper is made from pulpwood, which is something that comes from soft wood trees, such as pine, and recycled paper must be collected, cleaned, shredded, and treated chemically before it can finally be turned into a paper that is of lesser quality. This treatment of the recycled paper actually uses more chemicals than the original paper did, which is releasing more substances into the atmosphere.
CostSome critics argue that collection costs make recycling a bad bargain for many locations because the costs often exceed the prices that the recyclables bring onto the market. The recycling process is expensive as well as the cost of the truck that are needed to pick up the recycled materials. In addition, the trucks that are used to pick up recyclables increases toxic diesel emissions, offsetting any environmental gains. Finding an alternative method to get rid of recycled materials may be a more financially sound method.
It is clear that there are many reasons that recycling may actually be hurting the environment instead of benefiting it. When taking the cost and the process of recycling into consideration, it is clear that it is a flawed procedure. Perhaps if there was a way to recycle without utilizing such harmful substances than it may be worth continuing. However, it now seems to be simply not worth the time and energy when creating new substances may be a wiser choice overall.
Published by Heather Wood
I am a 28 year old graduate of The College of NJ with a Bachelor's degree in English. I have been writing and editing for a variety of companies over the past few years. Also, I'm working on a novel and a fe... View profile
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- Aluminum is a material which produces sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide during its smelting process, and this is something that actually contributes heavily to such things as acid rain and fog.
- This treatment of the recycled paper actually uses more chemicals than the original paper did, which is releasing more substances into the atmosphere.
- Collection costs make recycling a bad bargain for many locations because the costs often exceed the prices that the recyclables bring onto the market.
22 Comments
Post a Commentkody rogers - that article does not 'outweigh' anything, it simply states that recycling is effective. This article presents a rational, logica, founded argument to why it is not. Please re-read the article you are citing, it is as one-sided as they come.
http://thegogreenblog.com/is-recycling-good-for-the-environment/
Please take a look at this website. it shows the exact same problems your stating. but outweighs them with positive things about recycling. sure it has its downfalls but the positive things outweigh them majorly.
I clicked the 'Did you Like This' to say 'No', and it registered as 'Yes'; I want it removed. I thought the article was poorly written and shed no light on the subject. The sentences are disjointed and cumbersome, and generally void of meaningful content. The use of the word 'clearly' twice near the end is so out of place that it accentuates how unclear the whole enterprise has been.
I agree with the guy who compared it to religion. I was already aware of the negative facts about recycling but will never bring it up to anyone again because I practically got assaulted for it. People defend recycling like it were their child. It's kind of pathetic actually that most people can be brainwashed so easily in this day in age - ohh how i thought the Hitler days were over...lets all put our arm up to the sky now and hail
ok this is so 1 sided i mean seriously we know recycling has its disavantages but its alos helpful sometimes and underline sometimes anyways you should give evidence seriously you barely have evidence i think like a bit of evidence but im still in grade 7 but whatever i dont care what you people think
well i was doing a recycling speech for my class this helped alot @.@
Ok my friend here says uh huh. ok but me i say the whole world is stupid, we should all die except for young well behaved children and a few smart adults and completely rebuild the world.
Most of the comments show that we have moved away from actually thinking about recycling and toward treating it as a sort of religion. With the exception of the may 6 post, most of the comments seem to come not from thinking people but religious adherents hopelessly defending their faith.
I actually agree with you. I say a video from Penn & Teller that took on the topic of recycling and did a very good job.
That video can be found on YouTube or other sites, and recently I saw it mentioned in a blog post at http://telletto.com/blogging/2009/05/will-kindle-dx-and-the-paperless-society-really-kill-trees/.
It has a lot of the evidence that your other comments have been asking for.
There is also a great paper from PERC that you can find at http://people.clemson.edu/~wahoo/211/recycling%20myths.pdf about the eight great myths of recycling.
SHIT YALL DONT KNOWE NUHIN STUPID BITCHES