New Recycle Symbol

Correcting the implied perpetuality of the traditional recycle symbol:

According to the laws of thermodynamics, the energy and matter put into an open system cannot yield equal amounts of energy and matter since a large quantity of it is lost through heat transfer to its surrounding or containing systems. The amount of energy and matter needed to create one aluminum can in the open system of a recycling plant is not equal to the energy and matter held in one aluminum can - additional effort is required to account for the loss of energy into the containing system of the universe through friction and various inefficiencies of the recycling plant.

Thus, with the entire symbol representing the open system of recycling, the new symbol represents the loss of energy into the containing system.

Waste, it seems, is inevitable on our human scale.

( edit / delete )  Mon, Jun 11, 2007  Permanent link