Recycling still has a long way to grow

Going “Green,” the new way to say that the ecology of this planet is important, is having an impact, especially in the corporate world.  However, the old phrase of reduce, reuse and recycle still needs a long way to grow.

As long as the processes used to “go green” are somehow tied to a savings economically now or in the future, the odds are that something will get done.   Like money in the stock market, the value of aluminum cans affects the amount of cans recycled.  If the value of collecting and processing aluminum cans goes down, and it takes twice as many cans to make the same bucks as before, not as many cans will be collected. Copper has the gold standard in recycling now, and thieves are even taking copper elements from transformers at train crossings to get the precious metals to buyers who deal in cash.  The catalytic converters on cars are often targets of thieves, too.

Businesses are emphasizing “Going green” when buildings can be constructed to save even small amounts of money to reduce overall operating costs for heating and energy.  The government has several programs to stimulate this trend, which, again, reduces the bottom line for businesses.   Energy credits that apply to homeowners can be used in business, too.

It is important to teach the children in our homes and in our church that God made the world and we are its stewards.  If we do not take care of our world, we are making life for us difficult to say the least.  Schools can profit from collecting newspaper and cans.  Towns and cities need to have active recycling programs with separate bins for plastic, paper and glass instead of the everything-fits –all dumpsters.  Towns and cities need to have regular events where old outdated televisions, cameras, telephone and computer equipment can be collected and either be converted to scrap or otherwise repaired (the fourth R).

By observing  the amount of trash which is collected on a daily basis, it is clear that this is a disposable society in this country.  We have a small percentage of the people in this world, not even 260 million, but per capita, we consume more than our realistic share of the world’s resources to maintain our style of living.

At my house, we do our part in recycling our trash, and we use all the ways to help save energy.  We just had new windows installed in our house which will save us money in the future.  I could be doing more, and I believed we as a nation could be doing more to leave this world better than we are entering it, just as the Boy Scouts do when they leave a campground.

Peace be you with always,

Rev. Paul Abernathy

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” -2 Peter 1:2

Contact Paul Abernathy at paulabernathy@gmail.com.

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