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.
