I recycle. My favorite thing to recycle is aluminum cans. This is because I get money for them.
When I am at work, at times I will drink a soft drink from an aluminum can. Sure, I can throw it in their recycling container, but then I wouldn’t get the money for it. Instead, I keep the cans and take them home once in a while. However, this has bothered me because I also know that adding the cans to my commute home adds weight to my vehicle and, therefore, decreases the mileage, the number of miles per gallon of gasoline. By how much? I haven’t done the calculation yet. But if the cost of transport is higher per can than the amount of money I will get for that can, it doesn’t make sense to take the can home, and I might as well recycle it at the office and, grrrrr, have someone else get the money for it.
This is a calculation I have yet to do….
(Am I the only one to think about things like this?)
In the interim, I have derived a simple solution to the dilemma. The solution is to only bring the cans home on days that I am a passenger in my car pool and my car is not being burdened by aluminum. Then the additional cost due the extra mileage is not encountered at all (by me).
Engineering Daze 
Oct 05, 2012 @ 09:57:20
I recycle but for the Earthly benefits and not for my own enrichment, unless you count the smugness that I embody by saying or typing “my own enrichment.” What I do think about is recycling in the winter. My recycling container is in the garage, which is much colder than the house. What harm am I causing to the Earth and its inhabitants by opening the door and throwing a can into the recycling container while letting out precious fossil fuel derived heat and letting in cold air from the garage. Would I be better to just throw it away? Or, is there a number of cans/recyclable trash that I should store inside until it reaches a critical mass and then open the door to the garage? Should I only empty into the recycling container when I’m going to the garage anyway? Will this add precious seconds of wastefulness? I think I need a spreadsheet!
Oct 05, 2012 @ 10:11:41
Excellent point about the winter. I also have had those questions, but didn’t include them yet. Those calculations would be harder to do, what with the measuring of the heat transferred out of the house and all. Maybe I need a series called “Is it worth it…” with the calculations of things that are real but people do not think about. It would be a great service to humanity. It’s on my list!