The Collegian

I'll make this brief,

While I agree that the mocking of those who make a point to recycle out of the goodness of their own hearts is in poor taste, I must add a few comments about the general problem that libertarians/conservatives have with recycling.

In a nutshell, we (the conservatives/libertarians) dislike the fact that the government subsidizises it. If someone could independantly make a profit on it, good for them! Unfortunately, no one has found a way to turn an unsubsidized buck out of it.

Talk to someone who works in the paper industry and ask them how much more it costs to recycle old paper than to produce the new stuff (you may be in for a surprise). Furthermore, it's a silly proposition to recycle wood products when North America has more trees now than it did 150 years ago. For an industry that has, more or less on it's own, become self-renewing with replanting and breeding strategies, recycling has become a thing to which the companies will only pay lip service.

Also, have you ever noticed how the price you get per-can returned varies from state to state? That's determined and funded by the government, not Walmart. If the aluminum can producers needed the aluminum so badly, believe me they'd be paying you for it.

Think if there were a way to recycle oil and gasoline, don't you think Exxon would be beating down your door to get it?

If recycling were socially beneficial, there would be people lining up at my doorstep offering me money for my trash. The fact that they don't is proof that recycling is a socially wasteful enterprise. Here in Michigan, where we are compelled to recycle in the form of bottle deposits (yes, bottle deposits also solve an externality problem), recycling is an oppressive action of those who don't understand the concept of opportunity cost against those who do.

From reading this I'm guessing there isn't an Eagles for a sustainable campus movement. While I agree that the recycling many products is not economically productive, I'd argue that the growing number and size of landfills has a long term environmental impacts that must be considered. It is worthwhile to note that there are other measures that have a greater enviro-impact than recycling if you follow the carbon footprint idea. Among these measure are reduction of travel and maintaining the family unit. Both of these things I would say Hillsdale is pretty good at!

Is there nothing more valuable than money? If recycling doesn't make money one shouldn't do it? Since when do people line up at one's door to do something socially beneficial? Unless by socially beneficial you mean make money.

Government subsidies of recycling are essentially monetary gifts to the corporations that receive the scrap. The problem is the system not the concern for the environment. The system allows those who feel bad about filling landfills to assuage their guilt by sorting their trash. (Those who feel bad for not feeling bad like to point out that the recycling is not cost effective.) But sorting trash is not enough. The concept of trash is the problem and until we stop perceiving things as "trash" or "waste" or "a write off" we will not begin to really make a difference. Unfortunately for us modern Americans trash is as necessary to consumerism as manure is to cows and rotting is to flesh. We must do our own recycling if we want it to be done properly, and if we stop consuming on such a scale as we do currently it is possible. For example we shouldn't just stop buying eggs in non-recyclable cartons, instead we should stop buying egg cartons. (Why buy something you don't need? How is that cost effective?) Rampant consumerism creates nothing but trash. We need to stop consuming and start creating useful things--and then finally we will begin conserving.

While I'm vehemently against government plunder of the people by forcing programs like recycling when the free market won't support it, I fully support a personal and local effort to do so. As all may know politically, we make a great difference when the many act individually in such grassroots actions. Therefore, if it's a free choice by individuals, and it shouldn't be "pooh pooh'd". As a Boy Scout leader I think it is being thrifty to reduce our personal trash, recycle when we can and minimally dispose of it for others to separate and reclaim if they choose. In some areas of the country you can get real money for the alumium or glass. That is a local economy, and we should let it work. At least it's a target for some free market entreprenurial type to find a niche market.
Cheers,
Eric

Eh... this seems like a silly connection.