Ask Umbra Breaks Down Options for Glass Recycling

Q. Dear Umbra,

Okay, I’m walking on the beach (a beach where few people walk, and no kids), and I see a large brown beer bottle that drifted in on the tide. If I leave the bottle where it is, the next incoming tide will smash it to bits on the rocks, and the bottle will eventually disintegrate and become a part of the beach. But the beach will be less scenic for a while. If I take it home and put it in my recycle bin, a certain amount of excess energy will be used to make new bottles from the old. The recycling truck will burn gas or diesel; the recycling plant will burn energy. Yet I’ve been schooled to recycle. Should I leave the bottle on the beach or bring it home?

S.F.B.

Lynnwood, Wash.