The Recycling Question

After settling on the basic idea of producing no waste for 40 days, we started filling in the details, trying to answer all the "Yeah, but what about .....?" questions. One of the most frequent questions I've gotten is about recycling. Will it be allowed in the Trash Project? Jesse and I had a fair number of debates over this before settling on a compromise.

Now I'm no recycling expert (we can save the real recycling debate for later) but it seems that recycling isn't all it's cracked up to be. I have serious doubts about whether or not recycling pays off, both in terms of energy used and in reducing the extraction of virgin materials. Don't get me wrong, I think recycling is important and in my daily life I make every effort to recycle, but for the Trash Project things are a little different. At a basic level this project is about pursuing the goal of producing zero waste for 40 days. To do that, and really make sure nothing makes it to the landfill, we have to take a serious look at recycling.

The compromise:
Aaron - No recycling: Any recyclable trash that I produce and can't or won't reuse will be saved for the duration of the project. At the end, I'll weigh it before it goes in the recycling bin.
Jesse - Recycling: Because of her cooperative living situation, Jesse can't save her recycling. She'll make the same efforts to eliminate waste from her life, but she will recycle.

The two perspectives:
By allowing recycling, Jesse's experience may provide a more realistic view into reducing one's personal waste. For me, I am curious about what percentage of my waste after 40 days is recyclable. By trying to eliminate even recyclable products from my life I think I'll produce less waste overall. Why you ask? Many recyclable products come with non-recyclable parts that must be thrown away (lids, hygienic seals, etc.). We'll find out if I'm right on March 22nd when we both weigh-in.