Cries of “Save the earth!” may have a nice ring to them and convey a proper sentiment, but unreasoned efforts often produce less than satisfactory results. As example, people who are buying plug-in electric cars often demonstrate short-sightedness. They congratulate themselves on avoiding gas pumps altogether, but never consider that because more than 80 percent of electricity generation in the United States is accomplished with oil or coal, they merely shift their fuel source from a visible one to one that demands their personal attention only when it is time to pay the bill.
Recycling is a wonderful idea, but it is becoming less and less workable for some materials. Many municipalities that sorted and sold recyclable materials in the past to create additional revenue no longer sort items at all and certainly do not recycle them. Two classes of materials that so many local communities have stopped selling for recycling are paper and glass. Paper that contains post-consumer content often is of a quality too poor for much more than egg cartons, and the recycling process for glass claims so much labor and energy inputs that it cannot pay its own way. Particularly concerning these two materials classes, avoidance is the better part of becoming more environmentally aware. There are conservation and avoidance measures that are very nearly painless. Some of these are:
• Work toward developing a paperless office. Some businesses cannot easily go paperless, but others can. Recycled paper is undesirable in virtually every post-consumer use other than utilitarian applications, so it is far better to avoid creating waste paper.
• Rely on electronic file transmission more than on physical delivery of presentations, letters, reports and similar products.
• Choose eco friendly products that include far less packaging. Some items contain layer after layer of throw away packaging that cannot easily be recycled. Avoiding over-packaged products is the better choice.
• Let manufacturers and marketers of over-packaged products know why you now refuse to buy them.
• Offer used furniture, office equipment, clothing and other still-useful items to individuals or groups that may be able to make use of them. A battered women’s shelter assisting a single mom with finding a job and getting an apartment cares little about the styling of clean, useable items that the mother and her children need. The dump does not have to be the first consideration, particularly in a difficult economy.
• Pay attention to the ambient temperature. Most people understand that summer generally is hot and winter often is cold. Homes and offices do not need to be 72̊ at all times throughout the entire year. Remember that nuclear power generation accounts for only about 15 percent of the total electricity used in the United States, and water accounts for far less than five percent. There are some solar and wind applications here and there, but well more than 80 percent of the electricity used in the United States originates with oil or coal.
• Be aware of the true nature of energy tradeoffs. Though a plug-in hybrid car can be totally useless depending on where its electricity originates, a hybrid on the order of a gas-assisted mobile power plant that generates its own electricity while moving is highly beneficial in environmental concerns.
These are only a few of the suggestions that can yield big results, both at present and in the future. Many of the same types of concerns exist for other materials classes as well. As example, some classes of plastics are still cost efficient for recycling. Though plastic grocery bags likely will be buried in a landfill, plastic drink bottles are valuable for their versatile polyester content that is easy to recycle and assign to other uses, with the “plastic” material virtually unchanged in terms of quality and performance. The key lies in learning what is advantageous for processors and resellers, and then avoiding those product classes that are not cost effective to recycle, reform or repurpose.