Which is more Eco friendly, burning our paper trash or sending it to the dump in trash bags?

Question

I've got the "Go Green Bug," and wonder if glossy paper and light card board packaging can be burned, instead of sending it to the dump? Here we can recycle many products but not paper with a glossy print or finish. A lot of my junk mail and news paper ads are printed with a glossy finish.

I also have alot of light card board packaging which I'm unsure how to recycle. My town does not offer any kind of card board recycling. Can I burn these items?

I live in the country and have my own burn pit, where we have mini bon-fires. So which is best, burn or dump? I know it's picking the lesser of two evils here, so only serous replies Please.

Answer 1

burning certain things can release nasty toxins so becareful i would send back all the junk mail you get to the people who sent it you, let them deal with it.

Answer 2

Sending it to the Glaciers so it can NOT MELT just the same way.

The Day After Tomorrow is a movie, not reality.

Answer 3

this is choosing one of two evils:

-burning paper creates green house gas.

-dumping paper creates dumps filled with materials that do not deteriorate, actually this paper is almost fossilized.

I think dumping paper is better.

Answer 4

Contact whoever collects your recycling and ask why they don't do glossy paper and cardboard! Ask when they will do. Get your neighbours to do the same. They really should be doing it nowadays.

Do you have a compost heap / bin in your garden? You can mix in a certain amount of broken up cardboard into that.

Answer 5

To answer your question, burning it would be the environmentally best solution. In a landfill things get so compacted it literally doesn't get the mixture of air and natural bacteria it needs to decompose things. Burning it creates carbon dioxide. With out carbon dioxide green plants can't produce oxygen. The fact you live in the country makes it all the better since your burning is more than offset by the greenery around you.

If we could reduce carbon dioxide levels to zero all plant life would DIE. You never hear the extreme enviromentalists mention this....

Answer 6

I agree with the first answer

Answer 7

put it in your recycling bin so that the trash people can pick it up. they sort through what is and isn't recyclable. they have the machines necessary to recycle materials.

Answer 8

do you not get a blue bin with your wheely bin? both those options are a non starter if you are serious about recycling, i can put tetra packs,(milk cartons) into mine and they have a glossy finish, if your serious about this try get some of your friend to send letters to council asking why there is no facility most places have them now.

Answer 9

Do you have an open fireplace/wood burning stove?  My grandparents collect their paper waste and use it for kindling (starting fires) when they need to keep warm.  I'm sure just burning it for no other reason other than not putting it in the bin is very unenvironmentally friendly so burn it for a purpose or  recycle it.

Answer 10

Burning it is not really green.  Glossy paper should be thrown in the trash...better yet, take it one step further and only buy products that can be recycled.  Cardboard packaging can be put out in recycle.  You put it in with the paper stuff.

Also....don't use plastic bags for your groceries.  Buy yourself a cotton bag to carry with you to the store so you can use it over and over again.

Answer 11

Paper is bio degradable and can there fore be composted

to send to the dump means it rots there.

Organic waste mixed with trash is responsible for 70% of landfill contamination ,and you would be  party to that .

To burn it is the worst as it adds to AIR POLLUTION.

So burn or dump are not your best two options

there are three more  options,

composting

and mulching.

the fifth option is to recycle.

Paper is great to use as mulch on areas with difficult grass (,Like kykuyo?) or weeds ,that you want to use for plots

Use it as mulch .and it turns out the light for the weeds and kills them .when it rots it adds to the top soil.

I once made a garden on gravel and grass that went more than a meter under the ground (impossible to remove)



I just put a thick layer of paper and cardboard,with compost ,soil and manure on top and planted pumpkins ,which grew beautifully with out any weeds or grass.

Answer 12

i'm having one of those things, ahh yes, an idea.  what you can't burn, you should just eat.  i mean, when you're cereal is all gone, just eat the cereal box the next morning for breakfast.  mmmm . . . cardboard.  now i'm hungry.