[Eco] Andy's recycling article

[ginohn]

I missed this little discussion in a talk page on wikipedia <http:// 
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Paper_recycling>:

> In one episode of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! the hosts show that it  
> is actually better for the environment to take down (and plant) new  
> trees instead of recycling paper. The latter supposedly pollutes a  
> lot and there aren't really any energy savings going on.
> Could someone please look into these claims and add some  
> counterpoints to the current article?
>> Firstly, it must be noted that the particular show mentioned is an  
>> entertainment show, factually speaking, it has on many occasions  
>> been derided by a number of scientists for distorting their  
>> scientific research and for making extremely dubious and often  
>> totally unproven claims.
>>
>> Wheras there has been much discussion on this topic, basically all  
>> serious published research shows that recycled paper is a lot  
>> better for the enviroment. Put simply, the amount of energy that  
>> is required to chop the trees down, then transport them, then  
>> woodchip them and then turn them into pulp makes recycled paper a  
>> lot more energy efficient and enviromentally friendly. Also, new  
>> paper requires the use of extremely polluting chemicals like  
>> chlorine which are only required in either small amounts, or often  
>> not at all, in paper recycling bleeching.
>>
>> Also, continually planted forests contribute to soil erosion and  
>> degradation as the nutrients are continually removed with the  
>> trees. This means that 'farmed' forests often require the use of  
>> large quantities of artificial fertilizers, the production,  
>> transportation and regular application of these is extremely  
>> energy intensive and enviromentally damaging.
>> Selective use of statistics is often used in such TV shows and in  
>> such books to try to claim both paper and other recycling methods  
>> are supposably less energy efficient than using raw materials, but  
>> no scientifically condoned research has ever shown any of the  
>> common recycling processes (i.e. aluminium, glass, paper, plastics  
>> & steel) to be less enviromentally friendly or energy inefficient  
>> than raw material creation and disposal over the long term. On the  
>> contrary, basically all research studies show massive enviromental  
>> and energy savings by recycling materials such as paper.

:-j