The Charlotte Capitalist breaks down the logic behind recycling so anyone can understand. In this case, he was explaining it to an 8 and a 6-year-old:
… I asked her why she thought we should recycle.
She answered that if we don’t recycle paper, then there won’t be any trees left.
We discussed whether we should stop eating corn because soon there won’t be any corn stalks left.
Both kids explained to me that farmers plant corn seeds and grow new corn crops.
I explained that tree farmers do the same thing with trees. They grow special trees which are used for paper and when they cut them down they replant.
The official Meck Deck household recycles simply because it is slightly easier to break down paper packaging and stack the still too-huge volumes of publications we plough through every week than empty the garbage can every 15 minutes.
Then if you add in those nuke-proof clear plastic dealies that encase many consumer products — yes! we consume! — the gallon milk jugs, and soft drink/adult beverage containers you’ve got the glass/plastic area covered. Otherwise, we’d need another one of those huge gray dealies from the city at, I think, $45 a month.
Now if the city of Charlotte can piggy-back on my free labor, sell this junk, and pocket the difference, I’ll live with that. But I fear that my bin-filling is just enabling an absurd, money-losing policy. Burn it or bury it and move on.
