Radical Noesis - Thinking outside the box

Pen and Teller did an episode of their show, Bullshit, on recycling. They concluded (unsurprisingly) that recycling is... bullshit. Pen and Teller have also concluded, however, that environmental groups are ridiculous by interviewing the stupidest ones they can find and that bottled water is pointless by asking people to do taste-tests (probably somewhere where tap water is pretty clean). They're not really trustworthy, and they use some seriously bad science and alot of logical fallacies in their shows. They are pretty entertaining, though.

In 1996, John Tierney wrote an article in the NYT called "Recycling is Garbage" (John Tierney, New York Times Magazine, June 30, 1996). Tierney's argument is primarily economical (the economic cost of recycling outweighs the savings), but he does focus on some environmental issues, as well. Some of the article makes sense to me, and some of it is obviously hogwash. A good rebuttal can be found here: 10 Anti-Recycling Myths:

Myth #1: The recycling movement is a product of a false "crisis" in landfill space.
Myth #2: Landfills are innocuous.
Myth #3: Landfill space is cheap and abundant.
Myth #4: Recycling should pay for itself.
Myth #5: There are no markets for recycled materials.
Myth #6: Recycling doesn't "save trees".
Myth #7: The environmental harms of manufacturing and using products are incorporated into their prices.
Myth #8: Manufacturers are compelled by law to make costly changes in their packaging and products.
Myth #9: Recycling is nearing its maximum potential.
Myth #10: Recycling is a time-consuming burden on the American public.

It has alot more sources to back itself up than Tierney's article, so it seems more credible. Of course, both of these are from 1996, so the technologies could have changed alot since then. Does anyone have any more up-to-date resources?

I still recycle... I can't bring myself to just throw everything away. Until I get hard proof it's not helping or that it's even hurting, I'll keep doing it.

The absolute BEST method of reducing your waste, of course, is to buy less, use less, and reuse whatever you can. If you have the ability, compost! Then, recycle whatever you keep or reuse past that point. That way, you can feel good about your waste - or lack thereof.