Ah, but David, this makes a couple of assumptions that I don't find valid: (1) that you're going to make a special trip for the recycle stuff. If you're already going to be there and you pick up the recycle stuff and take it back with you, isn't that a net gain? (2) that you're compensated for your "off" time at the same rate as your "professional" time. For me, my off time is more valuable than my professional time--and, as a government employee, I don't make anywhere near $300/hr (though some people may find that hard to believe considering my lavish lifestyle). So maybe in these terms alone, it's a wash.
Louise
From: "David Locklear" <[email protected]>
To: "Texas Cavers" <[email protected]>
Subject: [Texascavers] OT - recycling economics
Date: Sat, 27 Oct 2007 15:26:28 -0500
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I am all for recycling.
However, I think it is interesting to look at the total cost of the
effort. For example, if you calculate mileage at 30 cents per
mile ( taking into consideration wear & depriciation of your vehicle ).
Let's assume one drives 10 miles round-trip to recycle their load.
That would be $ 3.00.
If the street value of the raw recycled goods is, say $ 22, then there
was some sort of gain of $ 19.
Then there is the time consideration. How much is your time
worth? If you are a doctor that charges $ 300 per hour, then you
could help the environment more by just working and donating
money to the recycling effort. But if you are unemployed
or serving community service, then your time isn't really lost,
because it would have been spent on some equilavent task.
Then you have to consider what becomes of the material at
the recycling center. What are their cost to turn the aluminum
can into raw aluminum? What pollution is created in this process?
From a physics point of view, there is no way that the entire cycle
could be 100 percent efficient. Some of the lost money isn't
wasted though, because you are gaining intangible things of
value such as a clean park. And other monies used simply
for park cleaning, possibly are reduced.
And there are other subtle effects. For-profit recycling centers generate
crime. They provide a easy way for theives to make money, which
in turn is laundered, and used to buy guns, drugs and other unwanted
things in your neighborhood. They can also attract vagrants in
the area, that sleep nearby in the woods and under the bridges.
There is also a corruption factor, as white-collar criminals step in to
take over the major industrial part of the recycling effort. These
are the guys that own and operate the big diesel trash trucks that
cruze the neighborhoods picking up few recyclable material yet
get a fat government contract, and the contractors that operate
the landfills, and their lawyers, and the politicians that are
secretly in cohoots with, etc.
In summary, recycling can give you a warm fuzzy feeling, but
the overall picture isn't rosy.
On a related note,
When I was a young kid going to the beach, it was littered with millions
of aluminum tabs that were once pulled off of an aluminum can. I remember
when a canned-drink company introduced a monkey to demonstrate
the method for popping the top on the new integrated cans.
Remember that ? That was
a historical moment in my life. I haven't seen an aluminum tab on the
ground in over 20 years. I believe I cut my foot on one as a young kid
at Turner Falls while swimming.
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