8 Reasons Why I Don't Recycle

Top 10 Reasons why I don’t recycle:

I’m not lazy, I’m not an asshole and I’m not particularly stupid…so why don’t I do the right thing and recycle?

My answer is that we haven’t been exposed to the whole truth and the facts about recycling are misrepresented often in the media and by the government. I am not a conspiracy kind of guy, I just think in at least this case we are doing the opposite of help when we have all united to try to do some very real and pretty simple good. Others have written more and better articles on this topic and I encourage you to do your own research. This is just my reasoning for not partaking in this pretty big mistake.

1. Recycling most goods is wasteful and an inefficient energy-saver. What do you do with that toxic inky wastewater from the recycled paper? How do you justify separate trucks to transport recyclables? While there are typically a fair amount of energy savings on recycled goods, it’s hardly the best way to achieve that.
2. The Government spends millions of dollars subsidizing this fiasco. The plan was to sell the recycled goods to make a profit on recycling (good for taxpayers) or at least break even. That’s not quite how it worked out…on a good day, it will only cost the government about $40 to “sell” a ton of garbage to a recycling plant. To clarify, it COSTS money to get rid of this stuff. The cost per ton of recycling is about $200 more than garbage…wow.
3. We are NOT running out of landfill space. Economist, A. Clark Wiseman (you just have to trust that name) of Gonzaga University projected that in 1,000 years, at our current rate of waste, we would require just 1,225 square miles of landfill space for all of our garbage (assuming a 100yd. deep landfill). That’s .0003% of the total U.S. It would all fit comfortably within the confines of a tiny Rhode Island with room for New York City left over.
4. You know the rainforest? Yeah, the one that’s always on the news? Well putting your wastepaper in the office recycling bin ain’t helping out. The paper that we use comes from tree farms. These tree farms are specifically and wholly dedicated to growing trees for paper. They’re not old growth or heavily habitated. If you recycle too much, the tree farmer may have to turn to a developer and sell off the land for construction to make money. Not an ideal solution.
5. The jobs it creates are neither needed nor are they particularly desirable. I’d rather just give the employment money away rather than pay people to do an unnecessary job. The additional savings from giving up the PR campaigns and losses from a failing strategy could be used to support other necessary initiatives.
6. It’s exploiting people’s natural will to help. This one just hurts. I feel cheated and lied to. I expect that during war and election years, but this has just gone on too long. The nation’s children are being taught false information about recycling and the environment. And we’re the one’s teaching it to them. Nobody cries out because it makes logical sense on the surface and it also feels so damn good. We have no pictures of oil-covered birds, starving children or crying Native Americans (FYI: the guy in that commercial was actually Italian, not Native American) to support this cause. All we have is empty municipal pockets, and they don’t usually photograph well.
7. There are other things for us to worry about without fabricating problems. With so much actual need in the world, it just seems stupid, from a common sense standpoint, to waste so much time and energy on a problem that actually doesn’t exist. We’re spending money to solve a “problem” that the PR campaigns that we pay for are responsible for creating.
8. Landfills aren’t an environmental threat in any capacity and hey, you can turn them into parks when you’re done with them! The standards for landfill compliance are absurdly rigid. Even the old landfills that existed prior to heavy regulation are relatively safe. Part of that is because most of our waste is completely nontoxic anyhow; it’s mostly paper, yard waste and construction materials.

So go ahead and use the paper cup at the coffeeshop, get your food to go and take extra napkins and by golly if you drop your plastic fork...get a new one. Be liberated and sleep soundly for now you know the truth about recycling. But seriously, do the research for yourself and tell me what you think!

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How to save about $1,000 a year

Here’s a simple LivGreen solution that is easy, non-invasive and saves you money. I know I’m not the first person to suggest this, especially recently, but just stop consuming so damn much! It doesn’t matter what the product is; soap, electricity, water or plastic bags, just stop using so much of it. I just heard on the radio today that the average household wastes more than a nausea-inducing $1,000/year throwing away food. Good Lord, that’s a lot of food. Just hearing that makes me feel guilty. Potatoes, tomatoes and bananas were among the most wasted food items. You have to throw out a lot of bananas to get to $1,000. I am by no means suggesting that you quit eating potatoes, but I think everyone could cut back on many things in their lives without noticing any real difference. Often times it’s nothing more than a lethal combination of laziness and apathy and I’m not above that myself. But when you think about it, try not leaving the light on in the kitchen after you’ve made your sandwich, or running the water while you brush your teeth, or driving 3 miles down the road to get a lottery ticket, or warming up the car for 15 minutes before you get in over winter (this is a tough one, I know) and, probably most useful, try to reuse anything you can. It’s even fun to try to get creative modifying items for different applications, or simply using them in their current state for a different function. Check some of these ideas for some inspiration. I want to mention that I am not a crazy tree hugger type guy. In fact, I think most of my decisions are based in logic, not emotion, and I am one of the few people who is actually AGAINST recycling (for another post). I mention that because this isn’t an extreme, move to the backwoods and eat berries and dirt for the rest of your life kind of life change. It’s truly common sense that simply consuming more is not necessarily improving your life at all. Try making a few changes and see what happens. Good luck and let me know how it turns out!


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Free Book Hack!!!

How to get books for free!

I finally found a hack for getting free books. It's easy to steal music and movies on the internet, so it's about time we're able to get books. I have spent hundreds of dollars on books over the past few years and I'm sick of having to pay for them, so I started looking for ways around the system. After a while, I found a loophole. This isn't hi-tech or anything, so most people can do it with little to no trouble. The steps are outlined below, good luck and happy hacking.

1. Walk, bike or drive to your local library.

2. Get a library card if you don't have one. This step is vital. Without the card, the hack won't work.

3. While your at the library, go around and get all the books you want. Some even have computers on site that tell you what books are there...suckers!

4. Give your books to the librarian. IMPORTANT NOTE: Once you do that, give him/her your library card.

5. If the hack works properly, you'll be able to walk out with the books you want and you can read them at your leisure.

6. Return the books when you're done reading them so others can hack the system.


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LivGreen

LivGreen is an attempt at fine-tuning a socially aware lifestyle and turning it into manageable ideas for you to use and adapt it to your lifestyle. If it works properly, LivGreen will allow you to feel better about yourself without making you smell like patchouli, wear Birkenstocks with socks or organic tie-dyed shirts. If you already do, please accept my sincerest apologies, but really man...really.

Someone once said, "When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." There's a lot to be said for that strategy. I picked up a Men's Health magazine and every page had some statistical data either telling you to stop peeing because you're losing too many nutrients or to eat dirt to rid your body of toxins. There comes a point that you have to stop reading this shit and enjoy your life. I say the sooner you put the newspaper away and the health magazine down, the better off you'll be. The oldest person in the world is around 120 years old (it seems this topic is debatable so we're going with 120 for funsies). I would bet if you asked her her LDL and HDL count or what her BMI or abs routine was she would look at you blankly and form an unflattering opinion of you.

That said, I need to mention that I think this theory only holds to decisions that affect you personally. In other words, to support an industry with your dollars that you know is engaging in questionable or outright apalling practices is probably not a great idea. When a business gets too big, it gets pulled in all kinds of different directions, few of which are good for the people. I'm not saying the corporations are evil, nor the leaders, but there are just too many conflicts of interest to be too far from 50% good or bad. But Andy, how in the world will I know what to buy and what to avoid? There are so many companies with so many really good PR firms behind them, how can I make the right decision? Good question, and I'm glad you asked! Shop locally. It's simple, easy, not too expensive and super-healthful when regarding food. I think it's unreasonable and stupid to expect people to buy everything locally. I buy a lot of stuff online, I own a pair of Nike's, I've been seen in Wal-Mart and Home Depot and I'm too terrified to watch "Blood Diamond" or read anything about the industry for fear that, when the time comes, I won't be able to buy the rock, I'll ruin my girlfriend's dreams, she'll leave me and it will ruin my life. Bear in mind, I don't feel great about any of that. So LivGreen all about finding the places you are comfortable making sacrifices. Do you need to buy the latte from Starbucks when the local shop is a block away, probably not, but if you've fallen in love with the cute barista, then go for it. Do you need the McFlurry or the Whopper Jr. when you have perfectly good leftovers from yesterday's roast (the roast that you got at the local farmer's market from Mark, the butcher) in the fridge at home? Of course not, but dammit it's only a dollar and the McFlurry is green for St. Patty's day for god's sake so enjoy it!

All I'm saying is that there needs to be a concious decision with every purchase you make. Is it worth it? Is it worth getting the pair of shoes, the coffee, the diamond or the new wardrobe if there is the possibility of injustice in the manufacturing of the product? Usually the answer is no. When you need a new pair of shoes, there are plenty of options for fair trade and eco-friendly styles (try Simple brand shoes, I like 'em). I'll bet the baristas at the local coffeeshop (with fair trade coffee) are superhot too and chances are you're girlfriend won't leave you for opting for a less evil jewel. You know the options are there, just take a look at them and make your own decision. If it's not worth it, then don't buy it. If it is worth it, then go for it. Life is really too short to worry as much as we do, but not short enough not to worry at all. Find your LivGreen balance!