Water, wood and other materials derived from plant and animal sources are renewable only if they are not consumed faster than they can replace themselves. Mineral ores exist in finite amounts and, like fossil fuels, are renewable only on the scale of millions of years. When current reserves are used up, there will be no more.
Recycling is essential.
It enables us to reuse valuable, diminishing resources and reduce destructive impacts from mining, smelting, dying, packaging and transporting goods. Each of these steps harms the land, air, and water and uses great quantities of energy and raw materials, most of which end up in landfills. A sustainable community accepts responsibility for the waste it generates. For example, in Germany, Volkswagen will take your old car, dismantle it, and recycle the metal. Since our current landfill at Hawk's Prairie will be full by 2010, we need to make substantial reductions in our consumptive patterns to avoid exporting our waste into someone else's backyard or resorting to risky solutions like incineration.