Confessions of a recycling slacker

MARGARET WENTE PUBLISHED APRIL 20, 2018 UPDATED APRIL 20, 2018

There used to be a dump a few kilometers away from our place in the country. Every Saturday or two, my husband would take our garbage there and throw it down the hole. He put the stuff that was still usable in a special section where people could help themselves. The dump was a sociable gathering place of sorts. It was even an occasional trysting spot for desperate lovers. Then they closed the dump and bought a garbage truck. Everybody had to get green bins and blue boxes, plus several different kinds of garbage bags depending on the kind of trash. Our taxes went up. Our garbage sometimes got rejected. Suddenly we needed a degree in garbology to throw anything away. Now we take it back to our condo in the city, where we just dump it down the chute and say to hell with it. Nobody can reject it. Nobody can trace it back to us. This is smelly, but efficient Am I recycling wrong? No doubt. You probably are too. How can we help it? The rules are tricky, and theyre always changing. Some kinds of plastic go in the blue bin but others dont. Plastic food containers with black bottoms and clear tops? Tops, yes; bottoms, no. Or is it the other way around? Because of drastic changes in the market, the garbage sold to recyclers has to be purer than ever before. Recycling experts call this problem a purity tsunami, and theyre expecting us to solve it. Something as simple as a piece of paper with a coffee stain on it that piece of paper a year ago would have been recyclable, Jim MacKay, general manager of solid waste management for Toronto, told the CBC. Today thats actually garbage. Contamination in the trash is costing us millions. So please memorize the following instructions: No black coffee-cup lids. No paper splashed with coffee. No plastic frozen food bags. No coffee pods, even if theyre marked recyclable. No greasy pizza boxes. Even a splash of yogurt or a dab of peanut butter can mess up a whole load, so make sure to wash the container. Our job is to lovingly inspect, wash, rinse and sort each scrap of trash and consult with experts about what to do with it. But we cant. Even as you read this, the garbage police are prowling Torontos streets, snooping in our blue bins for forbidden substances. Violators are getting notes. Repeat offenders will get worse. In some places, the garbage police state has already arrived. A number of U.S. cities have introduced cameras and radio-frequency identification chips, along with human garbage snoopers, to monitor peoples trash. Seattle vowed to pin a bright red flag to offending bins. But people went ballistic. They didnt like other people rooting through their trash. Automated garbage monitoring raises very serious privacy concerns, warned the American Civil Liberties Association. Canadians are more comfortable with authority than Americans are. Still, even some of us are starting to push back. Why the heck is we doing this, anyway? Oh, right. Its to save the planet. Or is it mainly to remind ourselves how virtuous we are? The truth is that recycling is often a money-losing proposition. Take plastics. The economics of recycling plastics changed when oil prices fell. Now that new plastic is cheaper to make, recycled plastics arent as competitive anymore. Glass is a money-loser too. Glass bottles are a nightmare to recycle because they break. Glass shards are hard on equipment and contaminate other waste. So a lot of glass winds up in landfills anyway. Some U.S. municipalities have told residents to stop bothering and just throw their glass in the trash. In many cases, it would be cheaper and easier to just bury our junk in landfills the way we used to. Why ship it all the way to China when we can dig a hole right in our backyard? Contrary to popular mythology, were not running out of space especially not in Canada. Weve got more space than anyone will ever need. Or do what Sweden does, and incinerate it. Thats right. Environmentally conscientious Sweden burns half its household waste for energy. I know it is environmental heresy to say so. But there must be better ways to save the planet than wasting time washing empty yogurt tubs. Besides, we liked the dump. My husband says he misses it.

TASK

In this assignment, you will summarize and critique the article Confessions of a Recycling Slacker (on Moodle). The first page will be the Summary: use the article's title as your title at the top of your page, and don't forget to put your name there too! Also, include your word count below the Summary. The Critique will begin on the second page. The entire document should be roughly 4-5 1.5 spaced pages, including References. Use a standard, 12-pt font.

PART 1: SUMMARY

STEP 1: Read the material through to get a sense of

The overall structure; The main message; The key points

STEP 2: Read the material a second time

Highlight the controlling or main idea (often contained in the opening sentence or paragraph)

Highlight keywords and phrases and any supporting arguments

STEP 3: Write down the key ideas into a logical outline

Write down the controlling, or main, idea & supporting points

Follow the authors original organizational pattern

STEP 4: Use your outline as a guide to summarize the material

Start with the controlling, or main, idea

Combine ideas where possible

Use effective, but concise, sentences, joined by transition words and phrases

Use your own words!

A typical summary is between 5%-20% length of the original work. For this assignment, aim for approximately 150 words (and include your word-count)

Use effective transition words or phrases to connect ideas:

Addition: also, further, furthermore, in addition, as well

Time: afterward, earlier, later, soon, then, meanwhile, finally

Illustration: specifically, for example, for instance,

Reason: for this reason, for this purpose, to this end Location: here, there, nearby, to the left, to the right . . .

Result: apparently, accordingly, therefore, consequently, thus, hence, as a result, in particular,

Concession: anyway, at any rate, at least Contrast: however, nevertheless, still, on the contrary, on the other hand,

Emphasis: above all, in fact, of course,

Similarity: likewise, similarly, in the same way . . .

PART 2: CRITIQUE

Follow this summary with a critique of the article. Start with a blank Word document and use these headings: Introduction, Evaluation, Conclusion/ Summary, & References.

Introduction

Start your critique with sentences giving the following information:

Authors name

Book/article title and source

Authors main point

A concluding sentence that indicates what your evaluation of the work is positive, negative, or a mixed evaluation.

Evaluation

To critically review the piece, ask the following questions.

(Note: Not all questions will apply to all scenarios.)

What are the credentials/areas of expertise of the author? In other words, can the author be considered an authority on the subject?

Did the author use examples, opinions, and/or facts to support his or her argument?

Has the evidence provided been interpreted fairly?

Did the author build a logical argument?

Is the work biased? Was the content presented subjectively or objectively?

Does the authors use and interpretation of this evidence lead the reader to the same conclusion?

Is there other evidence that would support a counter-argument?

Was the author successful in making his/her point? Why or why not?

Using the questions above (and/or the questions in the Word and World document, on Moodle week 1) choose three to five points about the article to build your evaluation. Three points are recommended: try for quality rather than quantity. Each point should be contained within a paragraph that follows this structure: your point, evidence from the work, and an explanation of why the evidence supports your point.

Conclusion/Summary

Summarize the authors purpose and main points that are used to build his or her argument. (Note: Although an accurate summary is an important part of the critique, it should not be the focus and should be shorter than the critical evaluation.) Wrap up by including the following:

State whether the authors argument was successful or not.

Back up your decision by stating your reasons.

References

Write a references page, using the correct APA format. minimum of 3 sources on the References page, including the article itself. References go on a page of their own and should look like the one below (next page).