Sorting Waste is a Waste of Time

The debate about our waste turns our old ideas about the right direction for society upside down. Traditionally, we've measured material progress by finding more efficient ways to produce the goods and services we need, on the principal that time is money. The three Rs – reduce, reuse, recycle – suggest we should be more concerned about saving resources than saving time. And if that means doing things in a manner which is less productive – and ultimately may mean we are poorer as a result – the moral imperative of “saving the planet” says we should do just that.
In other words, for all the fluffy talk about a caring, sharing, green future, environmentalists are ultimately more concerned about stuff than people. (MORE ON TIMES)