Quote Originally Posted by TomOfSweden View Post
I saw a Penn and Teller episode of Bullshit on this. According to them, only recycling aliminium cans saves carbon emission. All other types of recycling, including paper ultimatly ends up in adding to the polution. Collecting and reprocessing paper is less cost efficient than cutting down trees. And the paper industry won't make the trees disapear, since they continously plant new trees.

The people who are making the Amazonas disapear are poor indians using the ancient farming methods of burning down areas of forest, because they can't afford fertilizers.

I haven't read any scientific reports on recycling, so that TV show is the sum total of my "expertese"
You have a point TOS. Actually, I don't know the full effects of recycling using those recyling facilities, so I won't comment on that method more.

But recycling doesn't necessarily mean sending of bottles, cardboards and paper to those plants. Reuse plastic bags or paper bags, join a freecycle group (people give away stuff that they don't need for free), you'll be surprised how many people would make do with an old microwave with an analog timer. I use cardboards to lay around the roots of my plants in my backyard to prevent weeds from growing rather then buy some plastic from Home Depot.

Just a bit of imagination would reduce household waste by a lot, and maybe save you some money as well.

And perhaps you can get a second opinion about the advantages of recyling other then the Penn and Teller episode.