Choosing to Recycle - Because It Pays

Beginning of article

Recycled material isn't just in Greenpeace backpacks anymore - it's in many of the everyday products we buy at the mall and supermarket. Plastics, metals and glass now routinely take a second - or even third - trip through our consumer society. These products often cost the same or less to produce than the same thing made from virgin sources. Corporate America is learning that recycling pays.

In some cases, such as in the recycled paper industry, recycling plants are more modern and efficient, consuming less water and polluting less, than their virgin-source counterparts. Paper recycling helps protect American forests. Although U.S. hardwood forests now are being replaced at a faster pace than they are being cut, much of this timber is not available for commercial use. Perhaps more important, the replacement forests are mono-culture tree plantations, not biologically diverse ecosystems - the lack of which can cause unforeseeable environmental problems. "Paper recycling cuts down on the amount of wood needed from virgin sources," says Richard Hoppe, vice president for conservation of The Wilderness Society. "There are …