On Sun, 01 Mar 2015 15:35:57 -0500, Ed Pawlowski > wrote:

>On 3/1/2015 2:58 PM, Cheryl wrote:
>> On 2/27/2015 10:32 AM, wrote:
>>
>>> I honestly try to buy the less packaged articles and here, all our
>>> plastic is recyclable. It is costly on the property taxes, but well
>>> worth it. Best of all is tire recycling. I also do a lot of
>>> reusing, which is even better behaviour.
>>
>> I believe in reusing, too. Just yesterday I got rid of ton of cardboard
>> boxes that a neighbor helped me flatten just by posting on Freecycle. I
>> do a lot of online shopping especially for cat food and litter and those
>> boxes are very sturdy. One person came and took what they wanted, and
>> the second came and took the rest, plus the packing material. They were
>> ready to be recycled, but if others can use them, all the better.
>>
>
>Best to reuse than to recycle.
>
>Recycling is still costly, but getting better. The idea is still in
>its infancy in the everyday world and it will get better. We can't just
>dig holes in the ground and toss stuff into them. A couple of centuries
>ago, people used to toss stuff out the kitchen window. In some old
>cities, they did archeological digs behind houses built in the 1700's.
>All sorts of household items were found.
>
>The packaging industry is getting smarter too, but will take a long time
>to evolve to 100% reusable or recyclable materials. Edible coffee cups
>are on the way though.

Very few people will buy edible coffee cups. Most items are
compostible, some can be recyclable, few are reusable and then still
need to be compostable. Paper products compost easily, plastics are
the problem. I've been composting for some 70 years, since I was a
child... my grand parents taught me about composting. Metals
(steel/aluminum) are the most reusable, glass doesn't harm the
environment, it's esentually sand... but plastics are the biggest
offender and not much can be done about it, most of the polution from
plastics is in their production. The best people can do is to use
less plastics. Most clothing today is plastic (synthetics), I buy
only cottons/linens.