Food for Thought

- In capitalism, everything becomes a commodity, something produced with a view to making a profit. Recycling material is no exception. The value of plastic bottles, aluminum, steel, glass, and paper has dropped more than 50% since last Fall. In addition, the low cost of oil makes new plastic cheaper than recycled plastic. Thus we get stockpiles which, if not sold, go into the landfill which recycling is supposed to avoid. And we rely on the brains of this system to save us from global environmental catastrophe!- For example, the recent visit of president Obama to Ottawa produced a decision to ‘look into’ carbon capture technology. This, according to a Toronto Star columnist, represents Obama coming around to Harper’s conservative approach to the environment, in this case, relying on new technology to keep our tar sands and America’s coal fields operating.
John Ayers