Sooo.... it's the new year, 2010 and I only have 2 quarters left until I graduate from community college and move on to university. The excitement of anticipation is definitely there but I wasn't really excited when I saw my grades from last quarter. I resolved to work harder and become a better person this year. Contrary to my own resolve, the new year did not start with a bang of good deeds but a prank resulting from lack of proper judgment and bad influence (you people know who you are). Hanging out at a friend's messed up apartment playing cards and Truth or Dare on New Year's Eve might not have been the most ideal celebration. The impact of the change of year didn't really sink in. Instead the ridiculous things that were said and done left more of an impression and since we swore that anything said and done in that cramped room will never leave that room, I shall keep what happened only in my heart (unless one of my dear comrades decides to blabber).
Without realizing it, winter break was over and classes started. Physics, Linear Algebra, and Dynamics... this pattern of classes seem awfully familiar. Let's hope I don't screw up these classes like I screwed up Calculus and Mechanic Physics like last quarter. Something was mentioned in the first day of Linear Algebra that had absolutely nothing to do with math but still perked my interest. A classmate decided to attempt to throw an empty water bottle from the second row into a bin in front of the class. He succeeded and applaud from the class followed.
The teacher then comments : "That bin isn't for recyclables, right?". The class laughs.
The student then says:"It actually takes a lot more energy to recycle most waste instead of just disposing it," to justify his action.
Another student: "Oh... he's against the green movement"
More laughter from the class and the case ended at that. We moved on to math. I love my class.
But wait.... really? It actually takes more energy to recycle than dispose? I thought recycling is good.. I do it all the time especially since I came to Seattle because it's 'greener' than most US cities in general and recycling is mandated by law. I had to look into this. Apparently, scientists are still debating the answer to that question even now. An article in The New York Times back in 1996 by John Tiemey went quite into depth on this and the main ideas that really got me was:
- Incinerators makes more energy than recycling saves
- Modern landfills, if managed properly, are not harmful to the environment and parks are often built on top of them.
- "A. Clark Wiseman, an economist at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington, has calculated that if Americans keep generating garbage at current rates for 1,000 years, and if all their garbage is put in a landfill 100 yards (91 m) deep, by the year 3000 this national garbage heap will fill a square piece of land 35 miles (56 km) on each side. This doesn't seem a huge imposition in a country the size of America".
- Lightweight plastic packaging of food costs less than and requires less energy to manufacture compared to paper or cardboard packaging. They also prevent food from going bad quickly.
- Plastic takes much less space in landfills than paper and cardboard (and other recyclables that usually end up there as well). Despite being biodegradable, they tend to still be intact because of the airless environment of the landfills.
Overall, the article seemed a bit too heavily against recycling but it really widened my view a bit. I've always been pretty against landfills since my image of them has been horrible. A typical landfill in Indonesia is almost always poorly managed. They are not lined with clay and plastic, not equipped with drainage and gas collection-systems, not covered daily with soil nor are they regularly monitored for leaks. They're just huge wastelands where the people's garbage are dumped and left untouched to continue to pile and rot away or cause harm to the environment. The argument presented in the article would only be valid in developed countries like US that has the money and transparent system to carry out such projects (they wouldn't need to worry about MANY corrupt officials trying to make quick easy money and neglect doing their jobs).
I see how recycling seems kinda pointless when you look at it this way but nevertheless, we have limited resources here on planet earth. I mean, plastics are made from polymers which come from crude oil or natural gas and we all know that there isn't an infinite supply of crude oil here. Why continue to make waste out of limited resources when you can reuse what's already available (inn the form of trash)? I know I'm not providing a strong counter argument backed by a bunch of facts and quotes but it doesn't sit well with me how we're wasting our resources. (I tend to reuse lots of stuff, I'm a student on a slightly tight budget afterall). Interestingly enough, I found a webpage by Utah State University that listed a bunch of facts that basically contradicts a lot of what was said in the article. I'm not sure where they got their numbers but a university must have some valid sources, right?
I'm gonna sleep on this. It's giving me a bit of a headache and I'm still not sure what my opinion is.
I wanna say : "GO GREEN!" but which way is green??
Citations and sources:
http://www.usu.edu/recycle/factsFigures.htm
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/30/magazine/recycling-is-garbage.html?pagewanted=1
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