The case for recycling

[ConstantineX]

The Economist and the economist, Mike Munger , both have really good pieces on the follies of most recycling in the United States. Some recycling, like the recycling of aluminum cans is cost-effective (notice that homeless people and the like get PAID to recycle, albeit for very small amounts). If most recycling were really effective, some company would be knocking our your door to pay you to take your grass clippings. Most analyses by environmentalists fail to take into account costs of transportation and the economies of scale in transporting non-recyclable goods.

That is not to say I disdain advocacy though. This is a very tricky line; just as I nominally support efforts to reduce energy usage, if I were an environmentalist, I would encourage and lobby (NOT to Congress or any law body) companies to look for innovative ways to package their goods, like Walmart is attempting to do right now, because it actually leads to savings to their bottom lines.