Quote:
Originally Posted by Tirian
Bicycles:
I enjoy saving them from headed to the dump, doing the simple fixes which are usually all that is required, and giving them to folks who can use them.
Some I chop apart, and weld into weird wacky and custom bikes.
|
That is very cool, I'd love to do that, but I need a shop before I start collecting anything else.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ASU2003
And recycling isn't as bad as the OP makes it out to be... Aluminum is much better to recycle than mining and refining new aluminum, newspapers here get loaded up on a truck and sent to the insulation making factory, and glass gets ground up and used in roads/asphalt mixes.
I kind of wish that there was a re-use center, something like Craigslist, but where people could drop off things they don't need, and other people can pick up things they could use. Scrap pieces of wood, sheet metal, bolts, tools, pallets, boxes, bikes, car parts, etc...
|
I haven't researched Aluminum. Being a metal and used in very few consumer products other than soda cans, so I'll take your point as true on that. Just a very small segment of the 'household trash' roster.
Newspaper is the the most reusable paper by far, but it's also the a very small part of paper recycling. Anything glossy is far worse to deal with.
Glass is the one recyclable product that's worth the time and effort, that I've found in my research. It's the only product (with the possible exception of Aluminum) that takes the same of less energy to recycle as to produce from raw materials. And reproduces the same quality after recycling.
I'm not sure about in your area, but here in the Great NorthWet, the Enviro-Monkeys are all about re-use. We have several re-use centers in my area (county > 70K) ReStore being the most popular. But also several small entrepreneurs that recondition just about everything and resell them. We also have a Craigslist-esque site called Freecycle. Where individuals can post items for free, for others to pick up and use as needed.
..