We all know it’s the latest buzz.  Being green.  Saving the environment.  Saving money.  Reduce, reuse, recycle.  Everywhere you look you’ll see products and packaging details how environmentally friendly it is or how it is made of recycled materials, etc.

I completely believe in recycling our waste.  However, we need to keep in mind that just because something is recycled doesn’t mean it’s always great for the environment.  There is a ripple-effect of sorts involved in the recycling process.

For instance, you have a brand new paper bag.  You use it and put it in the recycle bin.  It gets picked up and shipped off.  That requires fuel in the truck that is transporting it and hourly wages for the driver.  You did the right thing by recycling, but now that brown paper bag is riding in the back of a big diesel truck emitting all sorts of stuff into the air.

Once it does get to the plant, it takes energy to take an object, break it down, and reform it into a new, usable product.  This required energy has to come from somewhere.  Coal, wind, hydro, and geothermal are some options.  I’ll let you guess which source is the largest.  Basically, in order to recycle something (like a paper bag) it often takes more energy to recycle it than to just make a new one.  We need to be better educated about the process and not just buy a bottle of water because it has a white and green label that says it uses less plastic.  (On top of that, a lot of companies will charge slightly more because the consumer is usually okay with paying more if it has a positive effect)

Here’s a quick breakdown of a plastic bag vs a paper bag and the energy it takes to recycle; you’ll see that producing and recycling a paper bag actually has more of an impact on the environment than a paper bag (assuming both are recycled – however, if left in a landfill, the paper bag will breakdown much quicker, thereby leaving the plastic bag to have more of an overall impact):

ENERGY TO PRODUCE BAG ORIGINALLY (BTUs)
Safeway Plastic Bags: 594 BTUs
Safeway Paper Bags: 2511 BTUs
(Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.)

ENERGY TO RECYCLE PACKAGE ONCE (BTUs)
Safeway Plastic Bags: 17 BTUs
Safeway Paper Bags: 1444 BTUs
Source: 1989 Plastic Recycling Directory, Society of Plastics Industry.

I have become very interested in this particular topic of energy costs as related to recycling.  This is something to think about.  More on the way…