Does recycling save, or cost you more money?

Question

I am an avid Conservative, and recycle almost everything under the sun, even as far as to re-use napkin's more than once, if not messy enough. I USE EVERYTHING, re-wash over, and over freezer-baggies, flush the toilet only when necessary, use my cut grass as mulch, (other stuff that may seem gross to some) yadda yadda, but I am spending a lot more on trash bags for my cans, and bottles (even though I also use grocery baggies for trash), , more for soap, paper towels, sponges, just to keep my home clean. Often there are spills from recycling, and my hands get filthy separating the recycles from the non-recycles, therefore the extra cost.

Is it all worth it? I know I am not saving any money by doing this, because whatever I do save, and money I get from cans, and bottles, I pay it back plus 50 times for having to buy so much other stuff to also stay clean!

For example my last purchase of 50 trash bags was almost $10 with tax! They're the cheap ones, too!

I am thinking this is some kind of Government trick to get Americans to spend more, like buying Electric Cars, so instead of paying $250 a month for gas, you end up spending $3000 a month for the electricity you use to charge up the battery for the car!

What do you think?

Answer 1

it may cost a little more, but in the long run you helping to conserve water and energy and reduce waste. i you want to cut down on th cost, dont but extras that are advertised as "green " but that you  don tactually need. just concentrate on reusing bags and taking short showers and other small things like that.

Answer 2

have you never seen then Bullsh!t episode about recycling?

you should look it up, it will answer all you just asked.

but yeah, it costs everyone more money to recycle then to just toss it all in the same trash.

Answer 3

Recycling isn't really about trying to save or spend money.. it's about helping the environment, although we trash it anyways.

Answer 4

it might cost you money thinkin about it beacsue most things that come in recycleable packaging relli you that fact for their marketing.

im givin this a star cos isnt it interesting how the government urges us to do this yet they wont try to take cars off the road to reduce c02 or anything ....

maybe we are being scared into paying tax on our products !

Answer 5

sounds like you are doing a good thing anyway, by recycling so much. it really is worth it. you said your hands get filthy seperating the recycles from rubbish. i don't know about the u.s but in the u.k we have 2 seperate bins for rubbish and recycling so i put them in seperate bins (2) in my kitchen to save that hassle. also we are supposed to rinse out or wash the recycling before we put it in there, because recycling plants are much different to normal rubbish tips. don't know what to say about the trash bags that does seem a bit scandalous. and yeah loads of companies are raking in the cash and taking advantage of the whole eco buzz thats going on, but some really are just trying to do their bit.

Answer 6

It all depends.

The "simple" things like re-using a grocery bag are a no-brainer.  It doesn't hurt you at all, it saves landfill space, and we end up using a bit less oil.

Re-use of grass as mulch is good too.

"Recycled" goods are a bit more confusing though.

Aluminum is very-cost efficient to recycle.

Paper is moderately cost-effective for recycling.

Plastic is very difficult to recycle, but with the increasing price of petroleum, it will be getting more cost-effective in the future.

Now somewhere in the *true* equation, you factor in the cost of having a polluted environment with huge landfills, but I can't define what that is at all...

On the side note of electric cars, you are looking in the wrong place for the costs.  The internal combustion engine in automobiles is very inefficient (maybe 10% at best), and oil is relatively expensive.  Meanwhile, power plants generally have at least a 30% energy yield from their power source, while due to high voltage power lines, we can transfer it across the country at 99% efficiency.  Even with an oil power plant, the electricity cost would be lower than gas costs.  If you use coal or wind power, electricity is very cheap (and we have enough coal to last for at least 300 years, and enough wind to last billions).  Electricity costs are effectively nothing compared to oil.  HOWEVER: the price of designing, creating, and replacing the batteries themselves might end up increasing the costs...

Answer 7

aluminum cans for one is cheaper to recycle than to get raw ore out of the ground.  

I am not sure why you are having difficulty sorting your recycle from your non.  wash your hands and use a cotton dish towel to dry your hands.  My family of 4 has so little trash we usually don't fill one bag of trash and end up with an over flowing recycle bin.  paper gets put into its own bin and plastics in another.  I luck out because waste management does the recycleing sorting for me.  if its plastic it goes in the recycleing, if its metal, in the recycling if its paper, in the recycleing  wastemanagment then takes it all and sorts through it for me.  

Rinse your recycling off so that you don't have spills and bugs, there is even a new in home compost machine that you can put under your sink... it cost 300 bucks but its another way to go green if you like.  (smell is filtered by charcole filter.)

http://www.naturemill.com/

You can also get a windmill from pac wind to help with your energy needs.  

http://www.pacwind.net/

in the end recycling doesn't save you money persay.  you can collect your alluminum cans and get cash for it but you have to have so much aluminum that its not worth it for a family of 4 to do it.  it is about not stripping the planet of resources when we don't need to.  You are going to be charged by the city for recycling program even if you don't use it so use it.