9 Reasons to Recycle
The truth is we all need to get into the habit of using less stuff. When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products thus reducing the need to consume more natural resources. If used materials are not recycled, new products are made by extracting raw materials through mining and forestry. Therefore, recycling helps conserve important raw materials and protects natural habitats for the future. By reducing your waste and recycling as much as you can, you’ll be helping to reduce the production of ash and help save natural resources.
Here are 9 important reasons to start recycling in the new year:
1. Recycling conserves natural resources.
The world's natural resources are finite, and some are in very short supply. At a basic level:
Recycling paper and wood saves trees and forests. Yes, you can plant new trees but you can't replace virgin rainforest or ancient woodlands once they're lost.
Recycling plastic equals less new plastic and fossil fuel hydrocarbons.
Recycling metal means there's less need for risky, expensive, and damaging mining of new metals.
Recycling glass reduces the need to use new raw materials like sand--it may be hard to believe, but supplies of sand are starting to get low around the world.
2. Recycling protects ecosystems and wildlife.
Recycling reduces the need to grow, harvest, or extract new raw materials which in turn lessens the harmful disruption and damage being done to the natural ecosystems--e.g. fewer forests cut down, rivers diverted, wild animals harmed or displaced, and less pollution of water, soil, and air.
3. Recycling protects people. As with the two points above, the world's increasing demand for new stuff has led to the poorest and most vulnerable--i.e. those living around forests or river systems--being displaced from their homes. Forest communities can find themselves evicted as a result of the search for cheap timber and rivers damned or polluted by manufacturing waste, which harms the local people. 4. Recycling saves energy. Recycling reduces the need for extracting (mining, quarrying, logging, and transportation), refining and processing raw materials which saved energy and that in turn, help tackle climate change. Sometimes it's a huge difference::
Producing new aluminum from old (including recycled cans and foil) uses 95% less energy than making it from scratch. For steel, it's about a 70% energy saving.
Making paper from pulped recycled paper uses 40% less energy than making it from virgin wood fibers.
The amount of energy saved from recycling one glass bottle could power an old 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours--and a new low-energy LED equivalent for a lot longer.
5. Recycling cuts climate-changing carbon emissions. Since recycling means less energy on sourcing and processing new materials, it produces lower carbon emissions and also keeps potentially methane-releasing waste out of landfills. Reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere is vital for stopping disastrous climate change. 6. Recycling reduces landfill waste. Landfills pollute soil and water by leaching noxious and toxic liquids over time. The landfill also releases greenhouse gases, like methane, into the atmosphere. They also take up valuable land space, not to mention they’re an eyesore in addition to an environmental problem.
7. Recycling reduces incineration. Incineration, burning our trash, is an extreme waste of valuable resources that could be reused or recycled. The incineration process also generates carbon emissions which contribute to climate change and air pollution problems. 8. Recycling is cheaper than waste collection and disposal. Various reports claim it is 5 times cheaper to dispose of recycled waste than general refuse. So the more you recycle, the more money you save and that can be translated to businesses and local public services. Recycling food waste and green waste is a great idea too, often generating lots of valuable compost that can be used to grow more food and other crops.
9. Recycling creates jobs. In 2016 the EPA released significant findings on the economic benefits of the recycling industry wherein they analyzed the numbers of jobs, wages, and tax revenues attributed to recycling. The study found that in a single year, recycling and reuse activities in the United States accounted for:
757,000 jobs
$36.6 billion in wages
$6.7 billion in tax revenues
How does one recycle you ask? There are several methods including curbside collection, drop-off centers, and deposit or refund programs. Just know every item you recycle, means you are part of the solution and are helping manufacturers provide common household items at an affordable cost:
Newspapers and paper towels
Aluminum, plastic, and glass soft drink containers
Steel cans
Plastic laundry detergent bottles
Recycled materials are also used in new ways such as recovered glass in asphalt to pave roads or recovered plastic in carpeting and park benches.
So by buying new products made from recycled materials you help close the recycling loop. There are thousands of products that contain recycled content, so next time you go shopping look for the following:
Products that can be easily recycled
Products that contain recycled content
Don’t forget there are ways to recycle at work as well:
Set up a company scheme
Switch to recycled paper
Reduce paper use and recycle waste paper
Use real mugs instead of plastic cups
Recycle cardboard
Computer recycling
Refill or recycle printer cartridges
Use rechargeable batteries and set up recycling points
Set up recycling stations
Run a waste audit
