How Useful Is Recycling Really
Of all the possible climate action options, Recycling is among the least effective in the impact it has on.
One of the few issues Americans can all be in agreement about is recycling. It is a popular activity for Democrats, Republicans, free-market environmentalists, and those who are ardent as well, according to data that consistently prove. For those who are recycling-minded, there is one group that is especially attracted by those who are already concerned about climate change.
This makes a lot of intuitive sense since recycling has proven benefits for the environment as well as can lower carbon emissions. But as far as climate action takes place, even the most enthusiastic recyclers warn that this is not without limits.
“There are a lot of climate benefits to bolstering the recycling system,” Beth Porter is the writer of Reduce Reuse, Reimagine, and Recycle: Sorting Through your Recycle System,told me. “But we also have to acknowledge that recycling is not among the highest-priority actions.”
Recycling can be beneficial. It’s one of the most eco-friendly activities that people can perform, and also can reduce the need to extract natural resources. “Any time you use renewable resources, or secondary resources, there’s less carbon emitted than if you use primary resources,” Adam Minter who is the writer of Junkyard Planet: A Journey Through the Billion-Dollar Trade in Trash an insider’s view of the global recycling industry, told me.
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E. A. Crunden is an environmental journalist who lives within Washington, D.C., covering chemicals and waste concerns.
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