Burning cardboard vs. recycling. Which is worse?

[Viva_La_Revolution]

As a recently laid-of employee of a recycling center, I’m embarrassed that I don’t know the answer to this simple question.

My 14 year old asked this question tonight, after he had gotten permission to burn the contents of the cardboard tub in the fireplace. Are the pollutants from burning it worse than the pollutants from recycling it?

Burning it contributes to smog, and recycling it uses up power (derived from oil or coal) and pollutes water (you need it to live).

So which is the most responsible choice?

I couldn't give him an answer.

[tech3149]

1. If you're reclaiming some of the energy

you're probably doing better burning it locally. The energy required to handle and move the material for recycling probably generate twice the level of pollutants for a given mass.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. that's what I'm thinking...

still researching....

[Dogmudgeon]

3. I think it's fair to assume ...

... that no matter what the "end-product" is, by the time the consumers have in their (our) hot little hands, between five and 100 calories of energy have gone into providing each calorie's worth of energetic potential it has.

You may not want to burn your brand new sofa, but it won't release one-tenth as much heat as it took to build and transport it.

That's a hidden energy cost that few people think of -- but when the cost of oil increases, it turns into inflation. Eventually, such economies will ruin us, unless we radically change the way we do things.

--p!

[lindisfarne]

4. Fireplaces are extremely UNFRIENDLY to the environment.

Also, do you know what is in the cardboard, on the cardboard, and in the inks on the cardboard? I'd be concerned about breathing in toxins.

[depakid]

5. At VBC 6 this week there have been discussions

about how laying down cardboard encourages mycorhyzae and attracts earthworms and the like.

Obviously, we can't use all our cardboard like that- yet if you have some space to cultivate, it's an interesting thing to think about. One woman claims that if you do this right, then you can get Morels alongside other things that you're growing in your gardens.

A nice win/win thing: http://www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/vbc/vbc6/workshops

Other than that, I don't really have an answer, either. I'm not exactly sure what happens to cardbord in terms of energy (EMERGY?) after it leaves the recycling centers.

An interesting question.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

6. here's the cycle

it gets picked up and dropped at the recycling center
it gets packed into huge bales of about 1500 lbs
these are loaded into a semi, and transported to the mill (which can be 50 miles away or loaded on a ship and sent to China - no shit)
at the mill, the bales are broken up, water and chemicals (to dissolve inks and glues) are added, eventually it breaks down the fibers which are then drained (the water is discarded, usually into the local rivers :mad: )
That pulp gets mixed with virgin pulp and made into new paper.

I think I just answered my own question. It's been awhile since I thought about all the steps.

Thanks for the link! I'll check it out. :)

[NNadir]

7. You should be very proud of a 14 year old son that asks the question.

It is a smart kid who asks a good question.