Ethan Oswald, Grade 8, Greenwich

Painstaking is the only way to describe the experience that I went through trying to find an answer to my question.  I searched with many different keyword searches and every time some recycling plant in Oregon came up as either the first or the second.   Unfortunately the information was unavailable.  It has become quite apparent that if there is the information available it has to be more easily accessible to the people seeking information.

Left with very limited options, I decided to email the head of recycling in Washington County, Mr. William Grimmke. Upon receiving his response, I had my first valid source of information on recycling plants in upstate New York.  Mr. Grimmke informed us that all of our school’s recycled paper is shipped to Fort Edward and that surprisingly virgin paper is 5% less expensive than recycled paper, but in another recycling plant it is 10%.  According to the statistics we have been given and with the approximate average amount of paper used in Greenwich Central School (GCS) being 1.4 thousand pounds of paper buying virgin paper ($45 a case) instead of recycled ($50 a case) GCS will save $150 dollars a year buying virgin paper.

However, if we consider that we are loosing significant numbers of trees, electricity, and gallons of oil, the cost of non-recycled paper increases.  Although companies claim that recycled paper costs more than regular paper that is not always true according to Conservatree.com the prices of coated paper is the same if not lower than the price of virgin paper.

Recycling is much more of a problem now because people didn’t see it when we needed it the most, so now it is not only or right but our duty to preserve our land for generations to come. 

The irony of the situation is that we are going through an oil crisis and yet we are willingly throwing away our oil on things that we don’t need like non-recycled paper.  Without our natural elements we will not only be suffering from the environmentalist stand point but also economically.

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