15
" Refusing things - and, specifically, disposable things - should not be confused with sacrifice, she says. Once upon a time, it used to require a sacrifice to buy something. You saved up, you gave up things you might want just so you could put enough money aside to purchase something big or long-lasting or vital. Now, she says, people tend to think the sacrifice is not buying. That's one reason we are swimming in waste, Bea says. In her view, not buying is never a sacrifice, It's a way of saving up for something really important, or saving time, or saving the planet. Or all three. "
― Edward Humes , Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash
16
" Recycling trash, on the other hand, has a lower environmental impact and pound for pound, can save more energy than burning the same trash produces. Recycling aluminum cans, for instance, saves a whopping 96 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite ore. Recycling glass jars and bottles saves 21 percent of the energy needed to make new glass, recycling newsprint saves 45 percent, and recycling plastic beverage bottles saves 76 percent (other plastic types differ in the percentages, but the energy savings are there, too). "
― Edward Humes , Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash
