Recycling is a huge fad now and in some ways I suppose that is good. Certainly it's not all superlative though.

Recycling of some items works extremely well. It's better for the environment, saves money, and results in products that people want to buy. Aluminum and Yard Waste come to mind as items that can be easily, and effectively recycled.

Other items though can end up costing more to recycle, using more resources than creating new, and indeed can have a greater negative impact on the environment than just disposing of the items. More information about inefficiently recyclable products can be found on the web.

It seems though that lots and lots of folks seek to recycle everything. They just assume that it's better to do so, and get good feelings about somehow doing their share for environmental protection. Certainly there's nothing wrong with doing so, but it remains a fundamental truth that some forms of recycling have tremendously greater positive impact than others.

Today was one of my annual recycling days. Not separating garbage into little bins, and certainly not hauling things to a recycling center. No, today was meaningful recycling day.

I, and this year a neighbor joined me, set up a yard sale of perfectly good things that we just don't need anymore. A yard sale with a twist though in that everything is free. I do this once a year and it benefits me by making room for new things in my little house, and it benefits those who end up with the stuff. Perhaps someone will be a bit warmer this winter, have a much-enjoyed convenience, or even an interesting book to read. As some of the people who live in my area are extremely poor the items never last long.

Perhaps best today was a beautiful vintage embroidered leather motorcycle jacket that went to a fourteen year old kid up the street. He will have something truly unique and spectacular to wear to school this winter, the envy of his class perhaps. That is in my view meaningful recycling, much more so than separating ones paper and plastic.