Individual and Community

Bullshit! (also known as Penn & Teller: Bullshit!) is an American, Emmy-nominated television series, running since 2003 on the premium cable channel Showtime. It is hosted by professional magicians/comedians Penn & Teller and inherits their characteristically blunt, aggressive presentation. The show aims to debunk an array of popular misconceptions, sometimes supernatural in nature. It criticizes proponents of such things, often citing ulterior or financial motives. The stated aim of the show is to apply critical thinking to misconceptions. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullshit!)

Episode Summary
Penn & Teller contend that American public has been misled about the need for recycling, and that recycling is not energy or cost effective. They point out that over $8billion US are spent on subsidizing recycling programs in the US. Aluminum is given as the only practical waste product that can be recycled (as they say “follow the homeless people; this will tell you what trash is worth saving ..”). Their primary argument seems to rest on market costs. If recycling costs less than the costs of creating from new, then recycling is desirable. If not, then recycling is undesirable.

Replies and Responses

One reply from one of those interviewed which makes claims of distortion and misrepresentation, but no substantial rebuttals:

• http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_bullshit

Over time, perhaps recycling consumes less energy as technology improves. For example, In contrast to Penn’s argument that only aluminum recycling is cost and energy effective, glass and paper now appear to join the list.

From wikipedia entry on recycling:

Comparing recycling with normal extraction
Aluminium

* Recycling 1 kg of aluminium saves up to 8 kg of bauxite, four kg of chemical products and 14 kW·h of electricity.[2][3]
* It takes 20 times more energy to make aluminum from bauxite ore than using recycled aluminum.[4]

Glass

* A 20% reduction in emissions from glass furnaces and up to 32% reduction in energy usage. [citation needed]
* For every 1000 kg of recycled glass used, approx 315 kg of carbon dioxide and 1,200 kg of raw materials are spared.[5]

Paper

* 1000 kg of paper from recycled material conserves about 7,000 US gal (26,000 L) of water, 17-31 trees and 4,000 kW·h of electricity.[6]
* Milling paper from recycled paper uses 20% less energy than it does to make paper from fresh paper trees grown on tree farms at the cost of more pollution caused by additional transportation and chemical cleaning treatment.

(from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycling)

What do you think of Penn & Teller and their position?

Big Tobacco Boosting Nicotine in Cigarettes: Study
01.18.07, 12:00 AM ET

THURSDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) — U.S. tobacco companies increased the level of addictive nicotine in their cigarettes by 11 percent from 1998 to 2005, and did so in a variety of ways, new research shows.

The tobacco companies accomplished the increase not only be intensifying the concentration of nicotine in the tobacco but also by modifying several design features of cigarettes to increase the number of puffs per cigarette taken by smokers, according to a Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study.

Analyzing major brand name cigarettes sold in Massachusetts, the researchers found that increases in smoke nicotine yield per cigarette averaged 1.6 percent each year over those seven years. Nicotine is the primary addictive ingredient in cigarettes.

Increases in smoke-nicotine yields occurred in each of the four major manufacturers and across all the major cigarette market categories, including light and ultralight.

Increases in smoke-nicotine yields occurred in each of the four major manufacturers and across all the major cigarette market categories, including light and ultralight.
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