Green Living Today

The United States of Recycling

Ten Reasons for Recycling

A New Year’s reminder – this may be old news but I think it worthwhile to remind ourselves once in a while why we do reuse, reduce, recycle.

According to estimates, every American produces an average of 7.5 pounds of trash on a daily basis.  Yikes!  That may not seem like much, but when you do that for a year, you have produced 2737.5 pounds of trash.  That’s over a ton!  Now, multiply that by the number of people in the US and you will quickly realize why we need to recycle our wastes.   With that being said, here are ten reasons to recycle now.

1. It Makes For Good Economy

Recycling makes good economics.  Many states profit from recycling revenues. This can run into billions of dollars.  These reveues  can then be poured into making the economy stronger.  Our country also exports its recycled products to other nations, creating more income because we recycled.  And today, many companies rely on recycled materials to produce new products.

2.  It Creates Jobs

The recycling industry is on a roll.  The industry requires manpower which means more jobs – even in these recessionary times.  In fact, the recycling industry earns over $236 billion annually and employs more than 1 million workers.

3.  It Reduces Waste

This is a no-brainer, as one of the main purposes for recycling is to lessen the wastes in our landfills.  And you are probably aware of the negative impact landfills have on the environment.  They create toxic leaks into the soil, which breeds a host of other problems for our society.

4.  It Is Eco-Friendly

Another no-brainer.  Recycling utilizes fewer natural resources and requires less energy, not to mention decreasing the burden on the landfills and other trash areas of the nation.

5.  It Saves Energy

Instead of using virgin materials that require greater energy expenditures to transform into their final forms, recycling old materials utilizes only about half of the energy.  For example, recycling aluminum saves 90 percent of the cost necessary to make aluminum from scratch.

6.  It Lessens the Burden on the Land

Here’s an example:  A glass company contacted local contractors to use their stockpiled mountains of glass.  What did they use it for?  They used it as a substitute for sand and gravel in building roads and highways.  Imagine the space that stockpile would take in the landfills.

7.  It Mitigates Global Warming

Each material that we recycle means fewer greenhouse gases being emitted into the air. This can mitigate the effects of global warming.

8.  It Reduces Water Pollution and Use

There are many ways this is possible.  Transforming recycled materials into new products often requires less water.  Toxic leaks from landfills are reduced with less trash in them.  We all end up with healthier, cleaner, clearer water.

9.  It Protects Wildlife

Because there is less need to harvest the forests of its riches – trees, that is – the habitats of many wild animals are spared.  Because of this, we are protecting the wildlife.

10. It Creates New Demand for Recycled Products

Thanks to the ripple effect, the process of making and buying recycled products creates a new demand for them.  And so the cycle of recycling starts again and again, all for the benefit of society and the environment.

So remember, every little paper, tin can, plastic bottle and other things that you recycle is for the benefit of not just you and your immediate surroundings, but also the national economy and international community as well.

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