Welcome to the Hardcore Husky Forums. Folks who are well-known in Cyberland and not that dumb.
I Get Emails...
HFNY
Member Posts: 4,728 
in Tug Tavern
...from limited government types (you know, the ones who believe in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and other thingys like that) so do you agree with this one?
"You must go to “City of Seattle Recycling Rules” website. Fines begin July 15. Note rules for tin foil, tin cans, plastic bags, coated vs. uncoated boxes (and coated with food on them vs. coated without food and uncoated with/without food), plastic bags within plastic bags, size of shredded paper…..it is a full time job requiring 3 bins in your kitchen and fines galore for misplacing into compost what should go in recycle or garbage…..After a party, you have to rinse out 3 cases of wine bottles….
The law of unintended consequences (costs to the environment exceeding benefit) apply. Opportunity cost of the citizens’ time (this is hugely time consuming, not to mention inaesthetic – some people do not choose to live with ugly plastic bins all over the kitchen, and interrupting what should be a fun activity such as cooking and entertaining, with constant washing and sorting)…..The Economist did a research section on cost-benefit of recycling – it would not lead one to believe that this program will be accretive to the environment. The requirement to wash everything increases water usage for one thing.
Fungibility of money again. There is no accountability regarding how the fines collected are used. That is, there is not a special fund set up* such that fines would be traceable through audit. This is how bureaucracies expand – more government employees whose pensions must be paid. Recycling started as a reasonable and simple two-bin process – make an honest effort to separate glass bottles and clean newspapers from wet garbage. And will fines be used as a buffer to accommodate garbage worker wage demands? Given the statist tendencies of government these days, it is likely this will turn into quite a party for the public employees and garbage worker unions."
*Most American believe that their Social Security contributions are in a fund somewhere in Washington. There is no fund – no money set aside earning interest. It is simply a journal entry.
"You must go to “City of Seattle Recycling Rules” website. Fines begin July 15. Note rules for tin foil, tin cans, plastic bags, coated vs. uncoated boxes (and coated with food on them vs. coated without food and uncoated with/without food), plastic bags within plastic bags, size of shredded paper…..it is a full time job requiring 3 bins in your kitchen and fines galore for misplacing into compost what should go in recycle or garbage…..After a party, you have to rinse out 3 cases of wine bottles….
The law of unintended consequences (costs to the environment exceeding benefit) apply. Opportunity cost of the citizens’ time (this is hugely time consuming, not to mention inaesthetic – some people do not choose to live with ugly plastic bins all over the kitchen, and interrupting what should be a fun activity such as cooking and entertaining, with constant washing and sorting)…..The Economist did a research section on cost-benefit of recycling – it would not lead one to believe that this program will be accretive to the environment. The requirement to wash everything increases water usage for one thing.
Fungibility of money again. There is no accountability regarding how the fines collected are used. That is, there is not a special fund set up* such that fines would be traceable through audit. This is how bureaucracies expand – more government employees whose pensions must be paid. Recycling started as a reasonable and simple two-bin process – make an honest effort to separate glass bottles and clean newspapers from wet garbage. And will fines be used as a buffer to accommodate garbage worker wage demands? Given the statist tendencies of government these days, it is likely this will turn into quite a party for the public employees and garbage worker unions."
*Most American believe that their Social Security contributions are in a fund somewhere in Washington. There is no fund – no money set aside earning interest. It is simply a journal entry.
Comments
I have two garbage cans in my kitchen - one for garbage and one for recycling bottles, cans, and paper. The only time I ever use compost is if there's some large thing that I'm throwing out in bulk. I don't have a high enough volume to consider composting worth my time and definitely not worth the smells, etc. that go along with it. It's a good week for me if I fill up my entire garbage can.
You make a great point about water consumption. What is the cost for using water? Isn't water also considered a resource that we have in limited supply?
And finally, let's be honest here, recycling, composting, etc. isn't just about the war on "saving the environment" ... if there weren't opportunities for recycling, composting, etc. to be profitable, the process wouldn't exist.