is recycling more expensive?

"Do the Benefits of Recycling Outweigh the Costs?"

By : Larry West


Summary: This article shows that it is possible that recycling may cost more than the cost of regular garbage pick-up and disposal.

According to Michael Shapiro, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste, “A well-run curbside recycling program can cost anywhere from $50 to more than $150 per ton…trash collection and disposal programs, on the other hand, cost anywhere from $70 to more than $200 per ton. This demonstrates that, while there’s still room for improvements, recycling can be cost-effective.” This sounds accurate to me because this is what i've been raised to believe. This article makes me think maybe society is just brainwashed to THINK recycling is cheaper when it maybe it is not. I've never personally compared. Although i know recycling makes much more sense to me than wasting things, I am not informned on any of the costs. "According to Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the benefits of recycling plastic and glass were outweighed by the price -- recycling cost twice as much as disposal." This article has decent sources (atleast it claims) But only the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Solid Waste has a direct quote. This article does make me want to look more into the facts and statistics for myself. It also makes me wonder if recycling is more expensive do the actual outcomes outbalenace the financial cost?

http://environment.about.com/od/recycling/a/benefit_vs_cost.htm

Coal plants are now more important than wildlife

Title: Rule eases mandate under a law on wildlife

Author: Felicity Barringer
Published: December 11, 2008

Summary: A rule was announced that has largely freed federal agencies from their obligation to consult independent wildlife biologists before they build dams or highways or permit construction of transmission towers, housing developments or other projects that might harm federally protected wildlife.

I think this sounds nuts! I'm kind of confused actually. We are always trying to look out for our wildlife and perserve their natural habitat as best as we can but now the army corps of engineers are relying on their own personell to whats okay to build and whats not? How can they decide what impact a project would have on a fish, bird, plant, animal or insect!?!? The interior secretary claimed this was so that projects couldn't be blocked off when not neccisary. I don't know about this one... I guess Legal experts said "the change seemed intended to ensure that the protection of species like the polar bear would not impede development of coal-fired power plants or otherfederal actions that increased emissions of heat-trapping gases. " Well geez sorry that the polar bears and natural planet are in the way of your building cola plants! It does seem like the The Endangered Species Act is very complicated thought. Soposable its even infuriated business interests and property rights advocates. I wonder what polar bears would say about this if they could speak. This article seems it has a lack of professionals and facts included in it. Brian E. Gray, a professor at the Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco gave a lot of his imput but the article never says why he is important to the actually issue. This article's topic doesn't directly effect me but it does bother me a bit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/12/science/earth/12species.html?_r=1

Miss piggy is giving off high emisions

Title: As More Eat Meat, a Bid to Cut Emissions

By: Elisabeth Rosenthal

Published: December 3, 2008

Summary of blog: This blog is mainly about the idea that trillions of farm animals around the world generate 18 percent of the emissions that are raising global temperatures. According to United Nations estimates they are giving off more emissions than cars, buses and airplanes.

Farm animals are cute and a primary source of our food but as this article states "when looked at through the lens of greenhouse gas accounting, they are living smokestacks, spewing methane emissions into the air." This just recently became an issue because more and more people are beginning to consume meat around the world. The main concern with this is that the problematic issue will be over looked...when thinking of emmisons we usuually jump to think of cars and factories, and smoggy cities...not farmlands or little miss piggy! One thought up solution for the problem is called the "methane capture". This method would invente food that will make cows belch less methane, which traps heat with 25 times the efficiency of carbon dioxide. "Other proposals include everything from persuading consumers to eat less meat to slapping a “sin tax” on pork and beef. Next year, Sweden will start labeling food products so that shoppers can look at how much emission can be attributed to serving steak compared with, say, chicken or turkey." How bizzare is it that on your food label you will find out out much emisions your dinner had given off? I guess thats a good way to raise awareness but to be honest as much as I want to keep the environment healthy I'd also like keep my stomach and tastebuds health and happy. This will affect my family because we do eat a lot of meat. I do not think it wil become a major issue while i'm a young person but it may effect my granchildren's generation. I think that this issue is not as dangerous as the statistics try to exemplify.As a nation I do not feel this issue will become very large either. There other contributors that we are better off trying to fix like cars and such. People can control that better then there intact of food (one is more a luxury where the other is a bigger factor in survival when it truely comes down to it). I think this article was pretty interesting overall! It seems pretty reliable with statistics from a few different countries along with facts from the chief of sustainability at the Swedish agricultural group Lantmannen.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/science/earth/04meat.html?_r=1

NIKE eco friendly clothing!

"JUST DO IT: Nike Wins With Green Athletic Gear"
By: Margret
on November 7th, 2008

Summary of blog: This blog is about Nike creating eco friendly clothing!

To begin this article states that there was an eco friendly pair of Air Jordan XX3's created! I don't think that I'd ever wear these shoes but the idea is very cool! Nike has created "track jackets, shorts, and pants that are made from 100% recycled polyester yet still feature the Nike Dri-FIT technology with wick away action to draw sweat off the athlete." The shoes in the line are made cork and recycled material (which is literally ground up old Nike shoes). The tees shirts are made of100% organic cotton. This article could affect me in the future. I love to shop so maybe I will have to start looking in the green friendly section. The only problem is I'm not exactly sure where that is located in the mall...haha. But truly one day maybe it will be very easy to buy clothes like this at any or even every clothing store. Anyways this article is not incredibly reliable, I'm not exactly sure who the author is but some of the principals in the article are pretty informational.

http://www.lazyenvironmentalist.com/

obamas energy plan

A closer look at Obama’s energy plan

By: Mark Clayton (Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor)
November 12, 2008

Summary of blog: This article is about Obama's energy plan

It discusses how American taxpayers will each get a $500 rebate check which will be funded as a result of the taxation on big oil companies. His 30-point energy plan will call for changes dealing with carbon emissions, fuel efficient vehicles, and renewable power. "“Obama’s energy plan is much more than a campaign laundry list,” says Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a think tank chaired by John Podesta, who heads the Obama administration’s transition effort. “It really is a centerpiece of Obama’s economic development strategy for the nation, for energy security, and rebuilding our cities and infrastructure" The information comes from rather good sources in this article BUT it is from a fairly bias viewpoint. It doesn't list any possible harms or negative issues. It also all sounds very pleasing but wether it will come true or not is questionable. The information in this article affects my family and i very much. Since Obama is going to be the leader of our nation details such as this are important! Some of the things in this article that really excite is the idea of having hybrid cars that get about 150 miles to the gallon. Another thing i'm excited for is Obamas plan to have 10 percent of the nation’s electricity to come from renewable energy sources like wind, solar, geothermal, and biomass by 2012.

http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/11/12/a-closer-look-at-obama%E2%80%99s-energy-plan/

The green RV

"The Green RV"
By: Linda Baker
on November 7, 2008

Summary of blog: This article is about a few people who have changed their lifestyle to help save and promote Eco-friendly lifestyles. The main way that these people do so is by living in an RV powered by biodiesel, a fuel made from vegetable oil, rather than a home.

I think this article brings up a lot of good points. "When people talk about conservation, they get so bogged down with recycling and living lightly they forget what they are trying to save said Brian Brawdy, a 47-year-old former police investigator turned wilderness expert." This quote by Brian Brawdy hit me very hard and made me realize this is soo true. People are always trying to buy food that is "healthier" or save on things but do they even know why they are doing this? I think some people are so caught up in the fact that they are "saving" that they forget the purpose as to why they are sdoing so! There are other interesting things in this article too. One family has left there 1600 square foot home to live in a small RV. Doing this prevents them from buying things they do not need, because there is no room to store uneeded goods. The family also limits their use of hot water. The hot water capacity in the RV is 6 gallons, so they must be recourseful! They decorates with all non-toxic paints and even used bamboo for the flooring to protect our recourses. Most inportantly the family is using a fuel that is made from vetetable oil to run their vehicle. I think this is a very inspiring article and i beleive the promotion of these types of lifestyles could inspire other families aswell. Maybe one day this type of fuel will be easily and affordably avaliable to all families. This article is fairly reliable. It has many sources listed and direct quotes from people. It also has photos of the actual family who has made this lifestyle switch and lots of solid facts.


http://travel.nytimes.com/2008/11/07/travel/escapes/07RV.html

Challenging car culture

"With Free Bikes, Challenging Car Culture on Campus"

By: Katie Zezima
Date: October 19, 2008

Summary: This article provides information about riding a bike on college campuses (rather than driving a car).


This article was really fun to read. It discusses how a colleges are really trying to push bike riding to be the primary transportation on campus. "When Kylie Galliani started at the University of New England in August, she was given a key to her dorm, a class schedule and something more unusual: a $480 bicycle." Universities in England and Wisconsin are giving free bikes to any freshmen who agrees to leave their car at home. How cool! Other colleges are setting up rental programs for their campuses or working with bike stores to help keep prices low. The goal is to eliminate parking shortages and help unclog the city roads around the school. I feel like this is an awsome idea because it will help eliminate collede kids from doing other things in addition to what was mentioned like limit drinking and driving and giving off co2 emision. It will also help teenagers from gaining the typical "freshman 15". Young adults will also get to keep the inner child in them who can pop wheelies and coast down big hills! This could impact many familes by saving them lots of gas money along with insurance and car payments. On the negitive side, other schools are shutting this program down because to many bikes are being stolen or vandelized. =[ This source is fairly reliable. A woman from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, comments on the explosion of bikes in this topic. Their are also a few quortes from college students and there opinions and Michael Daley, head of the university’s environmental council and a professor of economics (in England). Lots of the stats in this article are opinions though.

Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs

"Simple ways Wednesday-Episode 11"
By: A. Caleb Hartley
on October 1st, 2008

Summary of blog: This blog is about the benefits of replacing incandescent light bulbs with more efficient light bulbs.

I believe this article makes a few very good points. It explains how efficient light bulbs such as Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs (CFLs) can save people energy. This is because these light bulbs do not radiate as much heat (which is unused anyway) and therefore saving the energy used to cool buildings down. "If each household in the US changed just ONE incandescent bulb to compact fluorescent, the US would save enough energy to power all the homes in Delaware and Rhode Island combined. And because of that, CFLs save money that can be spent on other things." I think people should consider replacing a few lightbulbs with CFLs. As the blog says they seem very good financiallty and ecologically. This source seems reliable to me because it contains information from the American Council for and Energy Efficient Economy. It also provides additional information about the negative effects from the CFL. In addition it consists of a link comparing the two different light bulbs and a link for those who are very concerned with the harms that come along with the CFLs. These lightbulbs would impact me and my family by lowering our energy bill. We would not have to pay as much to cool our home in the summer. This would result in a surplus of money for us in other areas.

P.S. you would also avoid the painful burns that you may get from hot lightbulbs when you want to change them!

Welcome post

Hey everyone I'm Kate...Welcome to my blog! I hope you have fun visiting my page.