Recycling is a hoax says Californians Against Waste

Published on October 22, 2005 By Rajiv Badlani In Business

"Recycling" and future "bioplastics" they say “distract people from keeping plastic out of their lives”.

"Disposal" of plastics is a joke, they say, because we are never rid of the stuff. All the plastic that's ever been produced is still with us today... unless, of course, it has been incinerated which spews a plethora of toxic substances into the air. Paul Goettlich is the director of Mindfully.org, a nonprofit dedicated to exposing the effects and costs of technology on our bodies and society. The plastics section on Mindfully.org is the most extensive holistic set of documents and scientific data that exists on plastics. "There are no safe plastics," Goettlich says. "The tendency of environmental organizations is to proclaim what the worst or the best plastics are, so we can go on using them. It is ill conceived and does not address the relevant issues. All plastics migrate toxins into whatever they contact at all times. It does not matter if it is water- or oil-based; hot or cold; solid or liquid," says Goettlich. "The concept of "biodegradable plastic" is at best a ploy by industry meant to divert our focus away from the real problem: single-use containers and packaging. Time to recognize that use-once-and-throw-away is not a sustainable way of life. Reusable bags are a sensible, attractive and affordable answer. See how little they cost at www.badlani.com/bags/ What's your opinion? Is a switch to reusable bags desirable? Or is it impractical in any way?

Comments

ParaTed2k

on Oct 22, 2005

Re-usable is usually preferable to single use, but science is proving that recycling is often more harmful to the environment (and more expensive) than original source use. But to anyone who goes out to advocate re-use packaging and product. You will get a lot of resistance because disposable is so much more convenient... and we know how important convenience is to our culture. ;~D

Anonymous Coward

on Oct 23, 2005

The wisdom of George Carlin:

If plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: the earth plus plastic. The earth doesn't share our prejudice towards plastic. Plastic came out of the earth. The earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn't know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, 'Why are we here?' Plastic...***hole.

Anonymous Coward

on Oct 23, 2005

Zoomba

on Oct 23, 2005

After looking at the article a bit... and the other one by Rajiv on the front page... I get the feeling this is spam since they both link back to store-fronts on his/her web page.

lobsterhunter

on Oct 23, 2005

Well, if the earth loves plastic because it came from it, Crack must explain our existence, too.

Trinitie

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