Be honest, some of you are cynical about recycling. You think that whatever you put in that blue box just ends up in a landfill. Or perhaps you believe (for some baffling reason) that transporting and refining recyclables is more energy-intensive than the extraction of raw materials such as petroleum or ores. I even once heard one of you (who should know much better) say: "recycling is just a charade that makes us feel better about what we throw out".

You need to put your fears to rest and read this extensive article on the the effectiveness of recycling by The Economist. Much investigation and crunching of numbers shows that not only does recycling work, it significantly reduces the use of energy and, sometimes consequently, the emission of greenhouse gasses. Specific details are given about the recovery of paper products, plastics, metals, and even end-of-life technology.

So next time someone chuckles at me for plucking an empty toilet-paper tube out of the wastebasket so I can throw it in the recycling basket, don't laugh! I'm trying to make a difference...