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Should I recycle?

When I don't have to go out of my way to recycle--if both bins are right in front of me, say--should I? And what if I am sharing an apartment with someone who will fish recyclables out of the trash and put them in the recycling bin? Are there cases where one should just recycle in order to avoid confrontations at home or in the workplace?

Anonymous , 21.03.2011, 16:37
Idea status: completed

Comments

Bryan, 21.03.2011, 17:24
It's economically inefficient to recycle anything other than aluminum on the US. If you choose to recycle plastic containers for instance, you're adding to the goverent subsidies needed to make these recycling facilities operable.
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Sandy McArthur, 22.03.2011, 07:05
Bryan's right, only the metals are cost effective to recycle. I would add that batteries or other sources of toxic materials should be properly disposed of and often this method is labeled "recycling" even if it is actually something else.

If your roommate enjoys sorting things I suggest you introduce him to Tetris. More seriously the masses have been conditioned to sort their trash. It will take a lot of effort to overcome him conditioning. Unless he imposes his views on you, let it slide.
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Anonymous, 27.03.2011, 03:56
I am the original author of the question:

I was aware that recycling generally requires subsidies and would not be feasible otherwise. However, that by itself doesn't answer the question. Suppose hybrid cars wouldn't exist at all right now were it not for subsidies (that might not be true, but suppose it is). Suppose it made sense for me personally to buy a hybrid car (because I would save money on gas in the long run). Surely it wouldn't be wrong to buy a hybrid car in that case, even if doing so caused the government to spend still more on subsidies.

To summarize: if one has good reasons for finding value in a product or service, it might make sense to take advantage of it even if doing so adds to government subsidies.
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tomhall, 07.04.2011, 15:24
I live in the "home rule" city of Louisville, CO, where the government has established a single-trash-hauling monopoly, and they only provide a small bin for trash, and a big one for "multi-stream recycling" (which basically includes everything with that stupid little triangle with the number inside printed on it). If I don't recycle, there's not enough room for my trash. It sucks.
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Jennifer Snow, 01.06.2011, 22:38
Trying to control government waste by recycling or not recycling a few plastic bottles is an exercise in futility. Are you going to stop buying gas for your car because it contains ethanol and ethanol is only economically viable because of massive subsidies? This is a massively inverted approach to living your life.

Do whatever's most convenient for you. That includes recycling only because your municipality will hassle you about it if you don't. I recycle because I can just huck all the plastic bottles out the garage door into the bin without having to put shoes on and go out to our trash receptacle. It minimizes the number of times I have to take the trash bag out of the bin, tie it up, cart it out to the receptacle, and put a new bag in, too. If your housemate grubs through the garbage, I'd just put it down to a personality quirk and leave him/her to it. If he/she starts to hassle you about it, stand up for yourself to a reasonable degree--one-sided agreements where YOU agree to do something EXCLUSIVELY to keep your housemate happy generally don't work, but you can certainly compromise to the point of saying, well, I'll just leave all the bottles and cans on the counter so you can recycle them without having to grub through potato peelings and chicken packages.
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