Oooh, oooh, I hope Susan will forgive me for jumping in, but I think I know the answer to this one!
Your friend would be incorrect Diane, although there's a lot more to it than just recycle or send to the garbage burner. The first and best option, like Susan says, is to not make the waste in the first place. So with paper at work, do things like use the duplex function on your photocopier, do editing in your word processor instead of printing out numerous drafts, save emails as text files to back them up instead of printing out, reuse paper that's only had one side printed on (single-sided paper) in your fax machine or for printing out internal stuff like meeting agendas. To learn more about things you can do at work to reduce paper use/waste, go to the Hennepin County Business Waste Reduction Program, http://www.co.hennepin.mn.us/environmental/business/BWReduction.html or to Minnesota Waste Wise, http://www.mnwastewise.org/ At home, do things like use envelopes from stuff that came in the mail or the back of single-sided paper as scratch paper or give to the kids to draw on or something. Get off junk mail lists to keep from getting that paper in the first place. If you don't have time to read all your subscriptions, end them and get your money back and quit getting all that paper. To learn more about things you can do at home to reduce paper and other wastes, go to http://www.reduce.org/ For the stuff you can't do without or get rid of (like bills), recycling beats burning more for health reasons than economics, although the economics can be very favorable if the system is set up so that there's a strong demand for what's collected. Burning bleached papers generate dioxins, which are nasty byproducts of combustion that form when chlorine is present and chlorine is the most common chemical used to bleach paper. Also, some printers still use metal-based inks that contain cadmium or chromium that get released during combustion and you don't want to breathe either of those. Lastly, for low-grade papers that cannot be recycled like napkins or paper towels, an alternative to dumping in the garbage is to compost them with your yard and (vegetable) food waste. Papers can make a good "browns" component to mix with your various "greens" (grass clippings, salad leftovers, etc.) - there's more on this at that reduce.org web site for those interested. And make sure to buy recycled!!! Hope this helps! Mark Snyder Ward 1/Windom Park [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --__--__-- > > Message: 7 > Date: Mon, 07 Jan 2002 14:49:15 -0600 > From: "Diane Wiley" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: "Young, Susan A" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: Re: [Mpls] Wallowing in my new big city trash can > > I'm sooo glad to get your email -- truly -- this is a subject I am very > interested in as we drown in our own ditritis [is that the spelling?] > Anyway, > another question. I heard from someone who thinks she knows, that there is > really not much point in recycling paper because if it goes to the garbage > burner it heats part of downtown, which is a good thing, and there isn't > really > a good market for paper recycling, so some of it ends up in the garbage > burner > anyway. What is the answer, oh guru of trash. > > Diane Wiley > Pack Rat Queen > Powderhorn _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
