Undoctrination.org

*(when not bastardized)

Surprise, surprise…We are slowly coming to face the fact that many trendy “green” things actually harm the environment instead of helping it.

Unfortunately, some of us are not learning this lesson, and new “green” activities are being pushed that are lacking in forethought, not to mention just as harmful to the planet than the thing replaced.

One perfect example of this is the new composting fetish:

Here’s a fun fact: It is actually better for the environment to throw away garbage, than to compost it. That is, if you’re worried about greenhouse gases instead of just wanting good, free fertilizer. If it’s the fertilizer you seek, then compost away.

See, composting results in the release of “Greenhouse Gases.” Yes indeedy – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide are the second through fourth most significant greenhouse gases, after water vapor. And, the materials in a compost heap contain nitrogen and carbon, locked away from the atmosphere.

The act of composting specifically converts nitrogen into nitrous oxide, and carbon into huge amounts of methane and carbon dioxide. No actual environmental scientist will deny this. It’s just a fact of chemistry. Pro-composting, environmentalist organizations even confirm this.

Just to be clear on this:

• Water vapor is the main source of the natural greenhouse effect, causing about 50% of all heat retention, depending on local humidity. All scientists agree that nothing humans can do changes the overall amount of water vapor in our atmosphere.
• Carbon Dioxide, CO2, is the next greatest source, producing about 20% of warming.
• Methane, CH4, is 30 times more powerful, but there’s less in the atmosphere, so it contributes about 6%.
• Nitrous Oxide, N2O, is THREE HUNDRED TIMES more powerful, but even rarer, producing about 2% of natural warming. The biggest impact we could have, if any, would be to produce more of this more powerful, less common gas.

Composting produces extremely high measurements of nitrous oxide, as well as large amounts of methane, and even under the best conditions, more CO2 than almost anything else in your entire household.

Here’s another fun fact: Landfills reduce Greenhouse Gases. So if you were to throw those “compost materials” away, they would probably end up in a landfill. Recently, environmental scientists have bothered to actually check, and have realized that in fact, materials in landfills do not decompose the way they normally would, because of the way they’re compacted together. The International Encyclopedia of Environmental Laws asks why one should even bother substituting paper for plastic, or “biodegradable” corn bags, because neither will rot in a landfill.

Again, those are environmentalists saying these things.

Experts claim you can find readable newsprint that has been in landfills for over thirty years. That means the carbon in newspaper (which comprises 19% of all landfill space) can be retained in the landfill for decades…or released into the atmosphere by composting.

So, according to environmental scientists, trash in landfills is removed from the carbon/nitrogen cycle, staying out of the atmosphere. A landfill is in fact, a tremendous REDUCTION in our “carbon footprint”.

In fact, next time you’re thinking about “recycling” paper, remember that this requires more energy, fossil fuel, and chemicals than making new paper…and that if you just throw the paper away, you’re removing its carbon from the atmosphere for the long-term.

And, Greenies – Just when you didn’t think I could crap in your Wheaties anymore – Some governments are using taxpayer dollars to force the production of “worm composting”.  ANOTHER fun fact: Nitrous oxide is an inevitable by-product of worm composting. Remember, this is the stuff that’s about 300 times more powerful a greenhouse gas than CO2.

Meanwhile, not only do landfills produce mainly methane, instead of nitrous oxide, but nearly half of the methane they produce can be captured for use as green energy. Methane engines simply produce water vapor as a waste product.

The whole “composting” craze, from expensive plastic countertop bins to government-mandated worm farms, is just another example of people not caring what is actually GOOD for the environment, instead, pushing any ill-thought-out plan down our throats.

Oh yeah – follow the money on any – and I mean ANY – new brilliant “green” initiative, too. Somewhere, somebody dreamed up a scheme that could be sold to the well-meaning, but clueless greenie comrades, lining their own pockets in the process. In fact, I’d bet most of those who have offered up feel-good green initiatives have a bigger carbon footprint than any hundred of us – combined, making them big ol’ hypocrites as a bonus. EXAMPLE: Al Gore owns and operates on a regular basis: huge fuel guzzling homes, jets, and SUVs, but he’s a majority owner in a “carbon credit” company. I’m still waiting for someone to explain this “carbon credit” concept to me in a way that doesn’t make me fall down laughing due to the ridiculousness of the notion. Let’s see … I can use as much coal (or fossil fuel generated energy)as I need to – all I have to do is “buy” some credits (from Gore’s company, who “bought” them from businesses that didn’t need them) which – among other things (still to be determined) pays for someone to allegedly plant some trees to offset my neglectful anti-environmental attitude? Although this concept might make a great board game, I still can’t wrap my brain around “carbon credits” as a viable solution to reduction of the “eeevil” carbon footprints – if YOU don’t use the “carbon credits,” but someone else does (after they paid ap remium for the privledge)  – aren’t they still being …  Sorry, I had to pick myself up off the floor and get control of my laughter …

And, if I remember my science classes – CARBON is like, the essence of life itself. Plants EXPELL OXYGEN and ABSORB CARBON DIOXIDE. Kind of a necessary cycle for us oxygen breathers … What if we get so good at this that we reduce carbon to a non-life sustaining level? We’re all screwed – in a way that would make a great Douglas Adams novel, if Douglas Adams were still alive.

Hey – I put my recycle bin out every week or so – full of cans and bottles, mostly. But I don’t think I’m saving the world from imminent ruin as I do it. For me it’s just another way to get rid of stuff. Stuff that would overfill my garbage bin every week. What the city does with it once they take it from the curb is of no concern to me.

If you must compost, because you love the pungent way it makes your yard smell as the vegetation rots in the sun, and if you really feel the need to recycle, then recycle and compost away. Just don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re “ENVIRO-MAN” in the process. What you’re doing is probably a lot worse for the environment than not doing it. But you’ll be a hit at the next liberal tree huggers cocktail party you get invited to … (which will burn a lot of energy and release a huge amount of carbon … if you take into consideration the energy required to produce the liquor and food consumed, and to light, heat or cool the venue … not to mention the fuel consumed by the attendees to arrive and depart said cocktail party … and the energy consumed to produce the clothing you’ll wear) … and so it goes.