I Have Had This Same Conversation
I swear I have had this identical conversation with my relatives that TJIC has with his. In particular, he gets at the issue of the hidden labor tax:
TJIC: OK, what's the cost of trash separation?
X: Trash separation?
TJIC: Yes, trash separation. You don't "recycle", per
se, your step is just putting in extra labor to separate your garbage
into two piles -X: It's free.
TJIC: It's free? Would you say that it takes 30 seconds a day extra to separate trash?
X: No.
Y: More like 60 seconds.
TJIC: OK, 60 seconds per day is 6 hours per year. At $50 / hour, that's $300 of labor -
X: But that's nonsense, because we weren't going to get paid for that labor anyway.
TJIC: Yes, but you could have done something enjoyable with that time.
I wrote more about this here, where I also linked to a great Bullshit! episode on recycling.
Ray G:
I mistakenly put one stinking palm frond in my recycle can one time, and I came home to a large, 3 page notice from the city of Glendale, warning me of my infraction, and telling me that inspectors had already been by my home to inspect my cans.
A stinking palm frond, and I've got the city bots out walking my property, looking into my trash cans.
Wasn't a big fan of the whole recycle thing anyway, you think I'm using that stupid can now?!
January 2, 2007, 9:13 pm