Back in my "environmental activist" days I would remove all the packing
material from purchases at the check-out counter and leave them for the
store to deal with. I always felt that if you could make the retailer absorb
the cost of recycling/disposal there might be some changes. My little
campaign never caught on and I don't do it anymore, but I still recycle. The
town I live in has a very large recycling program that pays for itself. You
can recycle almost anything here including yard waste, chemicals, etc. I use
the mulch made by the city on my garden and think that by-in-large the
program does promote some awareness. I know my wife now checks the bottom of
all containers to make sure they are in the "right" category for recycling.
In the main, however, I agree with Anthony that recycling programs are like
peeing your pants while wearing a blue suit; It gives you a nice warm
feeling, but no-one notices.
Steven
Dada is not dead
Watch your overcoat
-----Original Message-----
From: Discussion forum for environmental ethics.
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Lisa Dangutis
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2001 6:34 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Myths by Anti-environmentalists on Recycling
That applies, if and only if, the market stays on continued products, and
doesn't diversify into new recyclables. I suppose it may have some
validity in that case. (IMHO).
Lisa D.
In a message dated 08/21/01 7:40:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:
> What about the radical argument that a partial recycling program based on
> market demands simply legitimizes the dominant throwaway society? That
> recycling makes people feel good and thus not feel that they need to
change
> the disposable system itself.
> ciao
> -Tc
> Anthony R. S. Chiaviello, Ph.D.
> Assistant Professor, Professional Writing
> Department of English
> University of Houston-Downtown
> One Main Street
> Houston, TX 77002-0001
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