in Phoenix
So we all made it back home safely after the fires, and except for a lot of sweeping and washing of the patio that needed done last Sunday morning, all was well. Now I’m in a hotel room in Tempe, AZ, at the end of a long day at which I presented my first results of my new area of research on plastic use and recycling. Conclusion: Recycling works, depending on what it is you’re trying to accomplish.
To clarify, if you want to improve the efficiency of material cycles, recycle your plastic. If your goal is to reduce your environmental impact, then recycling doesn’t help. You probably save 20% of the life-cycle energy consumption required to make the bottle. It’s better than throwing the bottle in the trash, but that’s like saying punching someone in the face is better than shooting them in the thigh. Your best bet is not to use disposable products in the first place.
Anyway, now that I’ve given my talk, I saw nothing wrong with getting hammered with bourbon at a local dive bar with my hotel-roommate, a fellow from Yale who has learned some very interesting things about LED lighting. Tomorrow the IEEE International Symposium on Sustainable Systems and Technology (ISSST) kicks off, but not until 1 PM. I plan to make full use of the intervening time sleeping.