The Effects of Recycling

The effects of Recycling

The effects of Recycling
How many times were we asked when kids to take out the trash? With so many changes taking place with our environment, we may be asking our kids one day not only to take out the trash but, did you separate it? In one year’s time Americans generates 210 million metric tons of garbage. To put that estimate into perspective, that weight is the same as 4,837 Titanic’s. Unless America takes more of an initiative to recycle, there won’t be much of an America left tomorrow. We all need to do our part to help save the environment and recycle more. Everyone knows how important it is to recycle in this day in age. The time has come that recycling is not just an option, but a necessity. People believe that recycling is a hassle; however it is very easy and necessary. Recycling can also be a benefit to offset the taxes on aluminum and plastic bottles. It has become unavoidable because of the closure of many landfills and the damage they cause to our environment. According to the EPA, in 1960 each person in the US only generated 2.68 pounds of waste. In 1970, the figure was 3.25. However, Americans’ recycling has improved since 2000 when the average American generated 4.65 lbs. of waste per day, and only 29% was recycled. Also in 1980, 89% of Americans’ waste went to a landfill, while only 54% met that fate in 2008. Landfills have decreased in number from 20,000 in 1978 to 3.091 active landfills reported today.
“..82% of surveyed landfill cells had leaks while 41% had a leak area of more than one square feet,” according to Leak Location Services, Inc. (LLS) website (March 15, 2000). When waste is decomposed in landfills, it releases methane, which can kill vegetation and spread diseases such as hepatitis. To manage the growing volume of solid waste it is crucial we turn to alternative methods such as recycling, such as aluminum cans or plastic bottles which can be recycled curbside in most cities, or turned in to a recycling center for profit. Each recycling center varies on the money that is exchanged for recycled goods. Unlike many recyclables – such as plastic bottles and cardboard boxes, which is rarely reused to create the same product – aluminum can be repeatedly recycled to create new aluminum cans. The amount of energy saved from aluminum can recycling in 2010 is equal to the energy equivalent of 17 million barrels of crude oil, or nearly two days of all U.S imports.
Plastic bottles are everywhere around us from our house, car, and to our workplace. Recycling a single plastic bottle can conserve enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for up to six hours of use. According to the EPA, the amount of plastics generation in municipal solid waste has increased from less than one percent in 1960 to 12.1 percent in 2007. The problem with pollution is the fact that people don’t really understand the impact it has on our environment. People think that just one piece of trash thrown on the ground here or there will not hurt the environment, but that can’t be any further from the truth. We all need to pitch in to do our part in recycling not only at home, but in the workplace as well. Anheuser Busch is one of the biggest recyclers around. We have a recycle can for plastic and aluminum cans where every trash can is located. Recycling can help aid in the worlds mountain of trash.
As a community if we send less trash to the landfill, the closing of another landfill will not be such a big problem. The more landfills that are filled up and closed, the more health risks that it will impose on our environment and health risk to people. In an article by CNN, “ it is estimated that the U.S alone could have around 10,000 abandoned lanfills which are a potential hazard to those that live nearby”(Oliver Racheal, 2007) It has become so important that the right trash is placed in the right receptacle so everything that can possibly be recycled makes it to the right place. All landfills will eventually fail and leak leachate into ground and surface water. The bottom line is that the less that gets sent to a landfill and recycled, the less contamination our future planet will suffer through.
We all can also contribute by buying products that are either recycled or that will not hurt the environment if thrown away. Recycled goods are usually not more expensive than non-recycled goods. Some company’s such as Patagonia are producing sportswear that are made up of 25% of recycled plastic soda bottles. We all can also contribute by methods such as backyard composting. Composting can be a valuable tool in the aid of recycling 25% of material being dumped from our homes every week. By composting you can improve your soil for more productive vegetables and a healthier garden while reducing waste that might be added to the number of growing landfills. Table scraps are also a valuable tool for compost material. We also must do our part by making sure the right recyclables are not cross contaminated with other recyclables that are different material. This adds up to higher cost as well as time in the waste disposal process.

We all need to do our part as a society to help reduce the amount of waste we produce by doing a better job at recycling so our kids will have a better and more sustainable environment to live in. By reducing, reusing, and recycling, individual people can make a large impact on the health of the environment through effective waste management