The Osbourne Family Reveals They Do Not Recycle. At Live Earth.

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by Michael dEstries July 10, 2007
Categories: Music.

snipshot_e4g4kqpej2f.jpgTalk about the wrong place to slip up. Apparently, while back stage at Live Earth London, Jack Osbourne let slip that his family does not recycle. From the article,

“He made the untimely comment while in conversation with host Jonathan Ross at the eco-campaigning event. He declared: “We may get stoned for this, but we don’t actually recycle. I read somewhere it isn’t beneficial.” Staring at a shocked looking Ross, the star quickly added: “I bought a hybrid car though, so I think it makes up for it.”

Whoops! Brilliant admission on the part of Jack — but is it all that surprising? There are actually a large number of people (my Uncle included) who are flat against recycling; believing that the practice actually wastes energy and is not good for the environment. Those who follow this belief say that the of the 3Rs — reduce, reuse, recycle — the last one should be used as a method of last resort. Here’s a snippet from an interesting article on the subject,

“Recycling is a last resort for responsible consumerism. A better thing you can do is eliminate your contribution to the solid waste stream by reducing wasteful excesses and by reusing durable alternatives.”

The above is true, but to avoid recycling altogether seems like a very foolish and ill-advised practice. Why not divert as much trash as we can? Not to mention that almost 30% of our waste is organic and can be reused almost immediately for plants and other projects. What are your thoughts on the subject? Do you know people that do not recycle based on the above?


Categories: Music.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

View all posts by Michael dEstries →
  • http://o-my-goodness.livejournal.com lornadoone

    I did recently have some friends who took great delight in telling me that Penn and Teller had “proven” that recycling was worse for the environment than sending trash to the landfill. I have not seen the episode of Bullshit! (their show’s title, not my opinion of it); but I have read some comments both supporting and opposing their findings.

  • Gina

    It’s common sense. Recycling takes less energy.

    Think about where we get the material for our products, metals, oil, paper, glass. Now think about all the energy it goes to get the raw material, then process it, then turn it into something. You have to wait 20 years to grow trees, or you have to dig hundreds of feet underground to mine, running heavy machinery and equipment, degrading the landscape, and moving material thousands and thousands of miles. Then, after all that, processing it.

    Now, think about recycling. Drive trucks around to pick it up and haul it to a recycling sorting plant. Sort, the ship to a processor.

    Also consider the non-renewable resources used.

    Additional energy savings associated with recycling accrue in the manufacturing process itself, since the materials have already undergone processing. Recycling in Pennsylvania in 2004 saved over 66 trillion BTUs of energy, enough to power 643,000 houses.

    Recycling paper cuts energy usage in half. Every pound of steel recycled saves 5,450 BTUs of energy, enough to light a 60-watt bulb for over 26 hours. Recycling a ton of glass saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil. Recycling used aluminum cans requires only about five percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite. Recycling just one can saves enough electricity to light a 100-watt bulb for 3½ hours.

  • http://www.cocktailorganico.com RemyC

    If recycling was such a waste of energy and resources, why is China buying back all our waste and shipping it back to their mainland to sort all out… See the amazing documentary: Manufactured Landscapes… What do you expect from the progeny of a man who was once my childhood hero singing War Pigs, then sold out to the big rock machine his wife’s father belonged to… who took out his claws and his fangs, turned him into a parody of his old former self… that’s why Ozzy’s music sucks now, because he’s lost touch with his heart and the people who loved him for being a visionary soul… Ozzy could still be real… but his kids are snobs, spoiled brats… with no connection to the Sweat Leaf their father once sung about… Teen dreams die hard… We will always remember Black Sabbath for what it was… seeing them now, like animals at the zoo, made into bubble heads by Katherine Brooks… no thanks, shoo… away demon… come back when you have the revolution back in you… traitor!

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