The moment everyone has been waiting for is finally here!! The first round match up between (1) Recycling and (8) Political Activism!! Without any further ado, let's get it started!
Recycling
First let's talk about Recycling. Recycling, as defined by my brain, is taking a post-consumer product and grinding it up or melting it down so it can be turned into something else that is usable. This is not to be confused with Reusing or Reducing, which will be coming up in a few days.
Impact on the Environment (13/15):
The two biggest advantages in terms of environmental impact are reduced landfill space needed and less use of raw materials. Overall, Recycling has saved countless millions of pounds of trash from ending up in landfills and (even worse) the oceans. I'd give it 12, but sticking it to the GPGP bumps the score up to 13.
Practicality (4/10):
Hmm... I have to say, when you think of all the hurdles it faces in terms of collection and sorting, Recycling doesn't seem as promising. First off, you have to get people to recycle, which is hard enough. Then you have to collect it, truck it to a sorting facility, sort it (a lot of times by hand), bale it, then ship it (usually to Asia) where it is then turned to goods or raw materials then shipped back to the other countries. Ugh, when you look at it that way, Recycling seems kind of like when you were a kid and you get a really cool toy for Christmas (or other religious holidays that celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ), but the packaging is so hard to open that it completely spoils all the fun you should be having.
Sustainability (9/10):
Once the system is in place, it's really not that bad. I mean, the trucks were going to pick up garbage anyway, why not pick up recycling instead? Ultimately, there probably will be better ways to manage waste, but over the past 20-30 years, we've come up with a pretty solid system that will be easy to sustain.
Awesomeness (9/10):
Any concept that could inspire me to own at least four t-shirts related to it has to be pretty darn awesome. While the process itself is nothing flashy like wind turbines are, Recycling as a concept has become the symbol of the Green Movement. No other concept is so iconic except for maybe the spiral light bulbs, but we'll get to that later.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Political Activism
Next we'll talk about Political Activism or PA for short to save keystrokes and therefore energy. PA can take on many forms, from calling or writing to your Congresspeople to mailing letters filled with anthrax to the Pentagon with a note claiming that Global Warming made you do it. (Please don't do that!)
Impact on the Environment (2/15):
There really isn't much to say about this one. Yes, sure public awareness is very important to getting measures passed that will increase funding for environmental programs, the amount of time and effort and energy that you will spend trying to get politicians to listen to your views will hardly make up for any bills and laws that can be created. And think of all the paper that's wasted on protest signs!
Practicality (-1/10):
Who do you think politicians will listen to? You or Big Oil Companies who are funneling millions of dollars into their re-election campaigns? Unless you have some scandal that you can blackmail them with (What?? Nancy Pelosi was behind the Balloon Boy incident all along?), you probably don't stand much of a chance.
Sustainability (0/10):
I don't think this category even applies... My bad...
Awesomeness (Either 0/10 or 10/10):
There are two ways of going about PA. You can be informed of the issues and make sure you vote with the environment in mind in order to shape the political landscape in a way that is beneficial to the environment. Or you can dress up in a seal costume, cover yourself in oil and bust into a fund raising dinner for Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. I'll let you decide which will get you 10 awesome points and which will get you 0.
User Input (0/5):
Get those comments in, everyone!
Alright, let's tally those scores!
Recycling: 35
Political Activism: 1 or 11
Well, there you have it, it looks like Recycling crushed Political Activism in this first round match. PA was kind of a joke entry. I did it to start off with something fun. I can promise that later matches will be closer. Like Saturday's match up between (4) Wetland Conservation and (5) LEED Certification. Get those comments in, it may be a close one!!
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