Recycling is pointless, amirite?

20% is a lot, when you are talking about billions tons of trash produced everyday

by Apprehensive_Menu 2 days ago

But you said you don't recycle so people like you are part of the problem. You are basically saying you won't do it because enough other people don't do it. Well can't you see the obvious flaw in that logic ?

by alf63 2 days ago

If we think this way about everything.. What the point of trying to make anything better...

by Anonymous 2 days ago

True but you have to be realistic, blind trust in your fellow neighbour isn't going to cut it, and then you add the human error factor, I know 5 people who still recycle the wrong way.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Blind trust in your neighbour isn't going to cut it, but completely giving up is?

by Heathcotecornel 2 days ago

So you say better no one recycle than 20%? Now that's just dumb. Someone has to start the trend.

by Local-Ad-6788 2 days ago

Well it's not working, and i don't think it will ever work, the recycling needs to be either better, or change completely.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

You know metal is worth recycling because they pay you for it.

by Aromatic-Energy-5683 2 days ago

They still do that at least where I live. You can also sort glass and melt it, same for plastics if they are thermoplastic

by Local-Ad-6788 2 days ago

The solution is to eliminate as much single use plastic as possible to begin with.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

Why do you think doing nothing is better than doing something? Would you notice if your paycheck was 20% smaller? Would you notice if your meals were 20% smaller? 1/5th of the earths population isn't nothing. Why do you think it is? Because it isn't 100%?

by Anonymous 2 days ago

You sit there and say "recycling is pointless" and then go on to disprove your own "opinion" by saying 19% of people recycle. Do you have any idea how much trash is mitigated by that 19%? If your boss said "I'm going to cut your salary by 19%" would you consider that nothing and have no problem with it?

by Anonymous 2 days ago

You are right about that, I don't know maybe, I'm overthinking it.

by Anonymous 2 days ago

I think that recycling, while important, is less important than reducing and reusing. People use recycling salve their consciences, to tell themselves that they're doing "something", the same way people eat a salad for lunch and use it to justify a cheeseburger combo meal for dinner.

by reyes14 2 days ago

Punctuation is your friend.

by Pale_Version 2 days ago

Not to mention "19% percent"

by Dickensangie 1 day ago

Incremental improvements are imperfect, but better than no improvements. We could absolutely do better, but we prioritize profit over sustainability.

by Otherwise_Fuel9218 1 day ago

Better than sending two trucks for the two different waste piles, on my to have them end up at the same landfill. That is what usually happens. So then you have the same amount of trash with double the fuel to pick it up.

by Aromatic-Energy-5683 1 day ago

oh agreed. my point was that recycling is a PR stunt for companies.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I agree 100% I feel like you're drunk/high/whatever right now though and you're being ridiculously obtuse. Either that, or you're very mentally ill and you need to go to some sort of doctor or clinic asap

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I'm as sober as I can be, also wtf?

by Anonymous 1 day ago

"as sober as I can be" I'm not saying you aren't sober, but if you are, you legit need some mental help dude.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

So basically….."No body else does it so why should I?"That's the reasoning of a 5 year old

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Well I don't know what to think at this point, it feels futile.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Imagine expecting someone to understand why they should recycle when they don't even understand how paragraphs work

by myrnazboncak 1 day ago

English is not my first language, I speak better then I write, I am also self taught, that's why i write like that, sorry for making your eyes bleed lol

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Tbh it should just be focused on certain materials. Metal for sure, paper probably. But as far as I read plastic is very difficult to reuse since there's a lot of different types and it's not as simple as paper or metal. It comes down to if it's viable. It cheap to reuse aluminum compared to mining and refining it.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Well... this really is an unpopular opinion

by Anonymous 1 day ago

You seem angry.

by Lubowitzlonzo 1 day ago

I am.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Fun fact: most of the stuff in recycling bins isn't recycled at all. They sell it off to third world countries where authorities don't care what they do with the trash or simply burn it because that technically counts as recycling as you crack all the stuff up on a molecular level so basically this is just another scam to make people feel better while simultaneously milking them for money.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Most plastic recycling is actually useless. Type 1 and 2 plastics can only be recycled once before they are rendered completely useless. Types 3-7 cannot be recycled.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Aluminum is pretty much infinitely recyclable to the point that we've almost mined all we'll ever need.

by Firm_Pound579 1 day ago

It would be far better to just reduce our wasteful usage. Next best would be to reuse. Recycling helps some but it's not nearly as helpful as reducing or reusing

by Anonymous 1 day ago

Would you rather have a medical procedure you need have a 20% mortality rate or 40%? I think Japan is one place, and there are a handful of others, where plastic is recycled pretty nicely. If you don't live in those places, I agree with this take for plastic. I still recycle it if it's fairly clean without me doing work, but if I have to clean it up, it usually goes in the trash. Metal, glass and paper are pretty recyclable, so those are worth recycling.

by Anonymous 1 day ago

So your point is. Recycling is hard and not many do it so what's the point. Imagine applying that logic to everything humans have ever done.

by Genevieve31 1 day ago

Some scandinavian countries literally turn recycled trash to billions by producing energy and other stuff like recycled steel etc

by Anonymous 1 day ago

I read somewhere that not all plastic packaging is recyclable. And if the market value of plastic is low, recycling companies aren't interested in processing it, if it's not profitable for them. TLDR: It's a myth that if you throw something in a recycling bin, it will be recycled.

by wardemily 1 day ago