# This is the end: I really cannot be bothered to sort my trash **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2011, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803 "2011-12-20T03:16:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jacobsta811](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jacobsta811/32/2893_2.png) [@jacobsta811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jacobsta811)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/21 "2011-12-20T22:32:21Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > I’m not sure whether you regard the US EPA as a reliable source, but they say: > > [Recycling one aluminum beverage can saves enough energy to run a 100 watt bulb for 20 hours, a computer for 3 hours, or a TV for 2 hours. > > The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.]([http://www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/wastewise/wrr/factoid.htm](http://www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/wastewise/wrr/factoid.htm)) Even if its true, it ignores the larger point that it isn’t free or even cheap to drive around and collect & sort the recycling before it gets to that point. Clearly it isn’t profitable to recycle most things except metals or they would get picked up for free, or people would even be competing for them and stealing for it like they do with cans and scrap metal. If it really is more energy efficient to recycle glass, plastic, and paper/cardboard why doesn’t that show up via market forces with a payment for those items (even if the “payment” ends up going to the company that picks up the recycling for “free”). That is to say, if all the energy inputs for recycling including the costs to pick it up or for you to drive and drop it off are really less than the total energy input for virgin materials, why isn’t the difference in energy reflected in money that can go to either the companies picking up the recycling or the end user ? ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/22 "2011-12-20T22:59:09Z")
> [@jacobsta811](#): > > Even if its true, it ignores the larger point that it isn’t free or even cheap to drive around and collect & sort the recycling before it gets to that point. Clearly it isn’t profitable to recycle most things except metals or they would get picked up for free, or people would even be competing for them and stealing for it like they do with cans and scrap metal. If it really is more energy efficient to recycle glass, plastic, and paper/cardboard why doesn’t that show up via market forces with a payment for those items (even if the “payment” ends up going to the company that picks up the recycling for “free”). That is to say, if all the energy inputs for recycling including the costs to pick it up or for you to drive and drop it off are really less than the total energy input for virgin materials, why isn’t the difference in energy reflected in money that can go to either the companies picking up the recycling or the end user ? I get recycling anything metal. The energy cost of mining, refining, and processing new metal is huge, and the cost of recycling it is tiny, even when you factor in driving around picking it up (and realistically, in Vancouver at least, a huge number of cans are collected by the homeless and carried in on a shopping cart, so the fuel cost is zero). But you hit the nail on the head for the rest of it. There’s no way that recycling glass and plastic can use significantly less energy overall than just making new stuff. I don’t know enough about paper recycling to make a call on that, though. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/23 "2011-12-20T23:28:22Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > Just please, throw everything in Landfill when you get frustrated That sounds like a viable solution to me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/24 "2011-12-20T23:30:54Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > I’m not sure whether you regard the US EPA as a reliable source, but they say: > > [… > The energy saved from recycling one glass bottle will operate a 100-watt light bulb for four hours.](http://www.epa.gov/osw/partnerships/wastewise/wrr/factoid.htm) I too find that hard to believe. It takes a lot of heat to melt glass. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/25 "2011-12-20T23:34:24Z")
> [@EKDS5k](#): > > I get recycling anything metal. The energy cost of mining, refining, and processing new metal is huge, and the cost of recycling it is tiny, even when you factor in driving around picking it up (and realistically, in Vancouver at least, a huge number of cans are collected by the homeless and carried in on a shopping cart, so the fuel cost is zero). But you hit the nail on the head for the rest of it. There’s no way that recycling glass and plastic can use significantly less energy overall than just making new stuff. I don’t know enough about paper recycling to make a call on that, though. I think you’re probably wrong on glass - it takes a lot of energy to manufacture, so even a small percentage saving there has the potential to offset a lot of fuel/energy expended in collecting and transporting the cullet. And for the other things - recycling may not generate a net profit, but neither does digging a hole and burying it - The cost of recycling vs the cost of landfilling would be a better comparison metric. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/26 "2011-12-20T23:42:49Z")
Sorting pays off for us; we repurpose and recycle like mad and it’s reflected in our checking account first and foremost. We get paid for our metal trash and don’t buy new what we can reuse to the nth degree. ---
**Author:** ![Bloodless\_Turnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@Bloodless\_Turnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bloodless_Turnip)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/27 "2011-12-20T23:46:32Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > I’m skeptical. I’d need to know how they arrived at these figures before I’d feel any confidence in them. Ditto. Follow the money I always say. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/28 "2011-12-20T23:48:04Z")
Stuff like [this](http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18915483) makes me skeptical. And [this](http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/11/colorado-retooling-tire-recycling-program-after-denver-post-expose/). And [this](http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2011/12/report_claims_link_between_tre.html). ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/29 "2011-12-20T23:50:21Z")
And my christmas lights twinkle while the polar icecaps melt… ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/30 "2011-12-20T23:57:05Z")
I use my plastic grocery bags to pick up my puppy’s poop. Does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/31 "2011-12-20T23:57:44Z")
They started single-sort in my county, and at my university. It’s a life-saver. I know they sort trash based on weight; I feel like they could do a similar thing with recycling - shred it and then sort by weight. That’ll also allow them to use ‘contaminated’ recycling (if someone accidentally put in a bottle with some Coke left in it or what-have-you). ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/32 "2011-12-21T01:44:29Z")
> [@River\_Hippie](#): > > I am the opposite. I sort my trash and recycle obsessively. We have curbside recycling here, one big bin for everything. I can go weeks without taking my garbage to the curb but my recycling bin is full every other week when they pick up. I save up dead batteries in a bucket and save florescent bulbs to take to the hardware store for recycling. I also save my plastic shopping bags to take to the grocery for recycling. > I pick the aluminum and plastic bottles out of the trash at work and toss them in the recycle bin a few steps away. > > Can’t help myself. Check… check… we may be related. Although our curbside is one bin, I’ve still got everything separated out. Second nature really, no pun intended. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/33 "2011-12-21T02:31:32Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I too find that hard to believe. It takes a lot of heat to melt glass. Sounds about right to me. A hundred watt bulb is too hot to touch. Shove 4 hours worth of that heat into pne glass bottle all at once I am pretty sure it will get to a few thousand degrees. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/34 "2011-12-21T02:43:23Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Sounds about right to me. A hundred watt bulb is too hot to touch. Shove 4 hours worth of that heat into pne glass bottle all at once I am pretty sure it will get to a few thousand degrees. Sorry, are you agreeing with me or the quote? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/35 "2011-12-21T03:27:32Z")
I can feel this OP. I’m a do-gooder California hippie like everyone else, but I was eating some place last week and there were what seemed like thirty different bins for every item. Was I supposed to separate my napkin from the plastic fork I ate the burrito with from the foil from the little salsa packets? I said, “Fuck this” and just threw everything in the trash. I don’t have time for this shit, so I just left. Sorry, Earth, but I guess this means you have to die now. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/36 "2011-12-21T04:03:21Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Sorry, are you agreeing with me or the quote? I am saying 400 watt hours (100 watts for 4 hours) sounds to me like it would melt a glass bottle. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/37 "2011-12-21T04:15:38Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > I am saying 400 watt hours (100 watts for 4 hours) sounds to me like it would melt a glass bottle. The problem is a lack of utility in recycled glass. It isn’t transparent, mixed types don’t produce quality glass, and there isn’t that much demand for glass since most bottles are now made of plastic. Even re-used glass bottles aren’t worth the money anymore, they’re almost all single use now. I think we’d be better off just burning everything but glass and metal. ---
**Author:** ![EKDS5k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c5a1d2/32.png) [@EKDS5k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EKDS5k)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/38 "2011-12-21T06:14:50Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > The problem is a lack of utility in recycled glass. It isn’t transparent, mixed types don’t produce quality glass, and there isn’t that much demand for glass since most bottles are now made of plastic. Even re-used glass bottles aren’t worth the money anymore, they’re almost all single use now. What about the liquor industry? Most alcohol comes in glass bottles or cans. Actually it occurs to me that they could be returned to the manufacturer, sterilized, and reused, which would have significantly more energy savings. Does anyone know if this is done? I think I’ll ask at the counter the next time I bring my beer bottles back to the liquor store. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/39 "2011-12-21T06:26:56Z")
> [@EKDS5k](#): > > What about the liquor industry? Most alcohol comes in glass bottles or cans. Actually it occurs to me that they could be returned to the manufacturer, sterilized, and reused, which would have significantly more energy savings. Does anyone know if this is done? I think I’ll ask at the counter the next time I bring my beer bottles back to the liquor store. That’s what I was calling re-used. They don’t find it economical. There’s a limited life to the reusable bottles, plus the cost of sorting, washing, and sterilizing, plus the pick-up transportation costs and all the labor involved. And glass is pretty cheap. The disposable bottles use thinner glass than reusables, further reducing the cost. I wouldn’t be surprised if a brown glass disposable beer bottle cost less than a clear plastic soda bottles of the same size. ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2011, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803/40 "2011-12-21T11:59:52Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > The OP started with not being willing to dispose of batteries properly and ended with “fuck the future of the human race,” which seemed pretty much like a nervous breakdown to me. I agree with it. As I’ve said before, I have to haul my trash to the WM “Disposal Site”. For a while, I dealt with it, Plastic, Glass, Cans, and everything else. Then they went to “Separated Glass”, then the plastics had to be organized by type, ditto the cans… Then they decided the glass wasn’t worth it anyway, and said to just bin it with the regular trash. Now I just toss everything (except aluminum cans, they go to the animal shelter) in one bag and send it to the landfill. Hey, look at it this way, with the much touted uncontrollable Global Warming, and the inevitable raising of the sea level, by binning everything, I’m contributing to making new land! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/this-is-the-end-i-really-cannot-be-bothered-to-sort-my-trash/606803.md?page=3)