Addendum
Being the sensible person that I am, I would never want to put a slanted take on any view in life. If there’s one thing I could be proud of, its how people I know admit that even if I say something they wouldn’t want to hear, it’s always something that’s gets them thinking - not because its interesting, not because its right or wrong, but usually because it’s real and true.
Thanks to a commenter below I have decided to do the sensible (and hopefully right) thing and admit that with this post - I went a bit overboard.
I’ve taken the time to revise some things I’ve said by striking them out and replacing them with more netural commentary.
I can’t stress enough how I’m dead serious about the title; it’s not some clever way to catch your attention.
I really invite everyone to take the time to watch the video below - I guarantee it’ll be one of the more informative stimulating half-hour shows you’ll ever get to watch.
And if you agree with the message see this video helping people do some critical thinking, then by all means spread this video. Here’s the embed code for it.
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post updated on July 7, 2008 @ 11:10AM
For those of you don’t know Penn and Teller, they are famous Las Vegas entertainers - magicians to be precise.
What makes them extremely popular is that their “shows” are notoriously known to have the intention of breaking the “magicians code” (to reveal the secrets behind their illusions)
In any case, it seems that despite being illusionists, these two by nature like to expose the hard cold facts/truths about anything - which is why they are known, loved, and respected the way they are.
Commentary
If you’re too lazy to watch the video (shame on you!), these are basically the things to take home.
- With the exception of aluminum containers - recycling is an utter waste of taxpayers money.
- Landfills do just as good of a job (if not better) and cost considerably less.
- You aren’t saving the environment at all by recycling - there are even times that you may even be harming it by recycling.
1st world countries can probably afford to look at things in this perspective. 3rd world nations such as us, aren’t so lucky.
An example would be that proper landfills are strictly managed, regulated, and quarantined (water flow, gas emmisions etc. etc.) from any inhabitable area near it. This is not the case with nations like the Philippines.
The issue isn’t the waste per se being dumped in places like Smokey Mountain, but because they lack the infrastructure of upholding heath standards. As a result it literally affects the people around it.
So in our case, recycling isn’t more efficient, and it surely is not cost effective, but it is the only safer alternative for us health-wise.
Also, contrary to the film, limited resources such as plastics should be recycled despite the overhead involved.
post updated on July 7, 2008 @ 11:10AM