In deciding whether to be green, should I consider costs and benefits or just benefits?
May 7th, 2010 | 
Author: For example, it’s a foregone conclustion that most recycling incurs a lot more cost than it provides a benefit. And if the U.S. were to follow the Kyoto accord, it would spend untold billions to make a statistically insignificant change in global temperature. Should I consider costs when deciding whether to be green, or does politicial correctness and green hysteria require me to consider only the benefits?
Posted in Green Q&A | 
Tags: benefit, correctness, global temperature, hysteria, insignificant change, kyoto accord, Recycling, untold billions
cost should definitely be a factor. green hysteria seems to be just the latest fad. if you are committed enough to the cause you should thoroughly research a controversial topic such as going green and the impact we have on the earth before making any changes. see what you can do to help, see whats economical and reasonable for you to do, and try and do it. every little bit helps, but just going off and doing what you hear is good for the earth can lead you to do silly things that really do more harm than good. if you dont consider the benefits and whats more important (such as wasting water for a 10 minute shower or smelling like a bum) you will end up making poor decisions.
There are no costs when it comes to saving and protecting the environment.
Personally, I think if you don’t consider the costs, you are more likely, in the long run, to be upset/disappointed in your final achievements. I would personally suggest trying to lower your carbon footprint in ways that don’t cost a lot of money.
For example;
-drive less or use tips to get better gas millage
-reuse or get reusable bags for the market
-try farmers markets for veggies and even meat
-use recycled products or recycle them yourself
These are really cheap ideas the you can even save money on. It would also give you extra money to try things like organic produce, getting energy efficient light bulbs and even deciding where to go "greener".
I think there is really a happy medium that politics hasn’t found yet. Hopefully, you can. I added a few websites with tips that I like as well.
Yes you should consider the costs, but I disagree with your statement. I think the only product that incurs more cost than benefit when recycled is plastics. As we build an infastructure and retool things like paper mills we will reduce the transportation costs associated with recycling. We here so much about recycling, but if you do live a "green" lifestyle you will have less need for it.
I’m a child of the 70′s and have done many things like recycling all of my life. This past year I decided to make a real effort to live a more sustainable life. Surprisingly, I recycle less. I have found that eating less processed and packaged food dramatically reduces the amount of items that need to be recycled.
I don’t think I’m giving up any modern conveniences, but I’m gaining so much from the changes I’m making in my life. I started to make changes because of the impact my houshold has on the world and have found my family is benefiting more than I could have imagined. As I learn more about the state of our food supply and the lack of regulation for things like cleaning and beauty products I was surprised that our government wasn’t doing more to ensure our safety. I’ve never been a conspiracy nut, but if I can find a product that does what it’s intended to do and doesn’t have suspected carcinogenes or hormone mimicing chemicals, I say why risk it.
When thinking of the cost to my family, I’ve made a few longterm investments, but most of the changes I’ve made are saving us money every month. When thinking of the cost to the economy I see an even bigger impact, we shipped so many of our jobs overseas where they could be performed by low wage employees in countries with little environmental regulation and we are paying a huge cost now. We have both toys and food contaminated by poor quality control, and increased pollution because of the toxic manufacturing plants in Asia. Now our nation is in a recession with little hope in sight because 2/3 of our economy is based on retail, not manufacturing.
We have a great opportunity to bring jobs back to the US and have them be safer for the employees and the surrounding environment.
of course you have to consider both. if your community is offering a recycling program then the community is seeing more positives than negatives. even taking small steps toward being a greener citizen will help. check out this article for five easy ways anyone can go green: http://www.ehow.com/how_4552010_green-five-super-easy-steps.html