Wednesday
08Jul2009
Think Globally, Act Irrationally
Wed, July 8, 2009 at 18:42
Or, Bowing To The Green Gods?
A continuation of my series, Recycling Isn't Green.
Over the course of the last couple of years, RecycleBill has probably read Think Globally, Act Irrationally: Recycling by Michael Munger a couple dozen times and every time I read it I become confused not by what Professor Munger has to say but by the tone I think I hear.
Yes, I find myself torn.
You see, while I work in the private sector recycling industry, recycling is for me, a way of life and not just a way to earn a living. But the economics of what the professor writes are for me, all too apparent. The problems Mr Munger points out are problems private sector recyclers face on a daily if not hourly basis.
For example: if a scrap peddler comes in with a thousand pounds of mixed metal and trash I'm forced to choose one of the following options:
A. Tell him to turn around and take his crap somewhere else.
B. Offer the peddler less than the going rate for the scrap metals and pay my employees to separate the garbage from the metal.
C. Ignore the garbage and pay him the going rate for the metals.
As you can see, none of these choices are good.
My decisions sometimes confuse those who work for me as they want the rules to always remain the same. And while I wish the rules were always the same the economics of doing business force me to to sometimes bend or even break the very rules I set. You see, I must constantly think long term and I have to live with my decisions even when I make the wrong decisions. I also have to live with my boss. Thankfully, the boss is well aware of what I'm up against.
Finally the tone changes and I come to understand that Professor Munger isn't that far off the mark. Municipal recycling programs are a dangerous and potentially wasteful way to green our world. And while Munger's article was penned 2 years ago therecession depression that has been with us since has proven the dangers of municipal recycling programs.
Waste is wrong but so is recycling for the sake of recycling. As a liberal, a gardener, an urban farmer, a lifelong recycler and green advocate, a believer in green living and a hardcore Deist I fear this new Green Religion has the potential to become every bit as dangerous as every other religion. And that, my friends, is pretty damned dangerous.
A continuation of my series, Recycling Isn't Green.
Over the course of the last couple of years, RecycleBill has probably read Think Globally, Act Irrationally: Recycling by Michael Munger a couple dozen times and every time I read it I become confused not by what Professor Munger has to say but by the tone I think I hear.
Yes, I find myself torn.
You see, while I work in the private sector recycling industry, recycling is for me, a way of life and not just a way to earn a living. But the economics of what the professor writes are for me, all too apparent. The problems Mr Munger points out are problems private sector recyclers face on a daily if not hourly basis.
For example: if a scrap peddler comes in with a thousand pounds of mixed metal and trash I'm forced to choose one of the following options:
A. Tell him to turn around and take his crap somewhere else.
B. Offer the peddler less than the going rate for the scrap metals and pay my employees to separate the garbage from the metal.
C. Ignore the garbage and pay him the going rate for the metals.
As you can see, none of these choices are good.
My decisions sometimes confuse those who work for me as they want the rules to always remain the same. And while I wish the rules were always the same the economics of doing business force me to to sometimes bend or even break the very rules I set. You see, I must constantly think long term and I have to live with my decisions even when I make the wrong decisions. I also have to live with my boss. Thankfully, the boss is well aware of what I'm up against.
Finally the tone changes and I come to understand that Professor Munger isn't that far off the mark. Municipal recycling programs are a dangerous and potentially wasteful way to green our world. And while Munger's article was penned 2 years ago the
Waste is wrong but so is recycling for the sake of recycling. As a liberal, a gardener, an urban farmer, a lifelong recycler and green advocate, a believer in green living and a hardcore Deist I fear this new Green Religion has the potential to become every bit as dangerous as every other religion. And that, my friends, is pretty damned dangerous.
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