Did you know that 75% of all waste is recyclable, but Americans only recycle 30% of it? In 2009 alone, the citizens of America alone produced enough trash to circle the earth 24 times (Do Something). Even though plastic is one of the easiest things to recycle and one of the most useful once recycled, only 7% of all plastics are actually recycled (Ecocycle). On a daily basis, each American throws away an average of 4.5 pounds of trash (EPA). This number includes the 650 lbs. of paper that each American uses on average per year (MIT). Americans, as a whole, also throw away 25,000,000 plastic bottles every hour (Do Something). This un-recycled trash does not only clutter the land on earth, but it also affects the waters. The trash that pollutes the oceans destroys coral reefs and kills animals. Fish sometimes mistake the small pieces of trash for food, and they can choke from it. Also, seals are entangled and killed by this trash. Marine animals are dying, beaches are being polluted, and the health of sea-life-eaters can be at risk, all because people throw their trash in the ocean instead of recycling it. Since 60-80% of marine litter is plastic, and most plastic isn’t biodegradable, the majority of the trash that is dumped in the oceans will stay there and continue to affect these factors for decades (NRDC). If people would recycle more, these problems could easily be fixed. There are many benefits of recycling.
When looking at the industrialized world, the United States produces more solid waste than any other country. As previously stated, Americans generate an average of 4.5 pounds of waste every day. Canada, which is the second highest waste-producing country, only produces 3.75 pounds of trash per person a day. Many other cou...
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... label tells that the item is completely made from recycled materials collected from consumers or business through a recycling program. The last phrase, “recyclable product,” is straight-forward, referring to the fact that the product can be recycled. Unlike the other labels, this label does not infer that any recycled materials had been used in the making of the product (EPA).
Another form of recycling is “reusing.” Since the founding of America and even before, it has been encouraged to not waste items for different reasons. For example, in colonial times, the catchphrase was “Waste not, want not.” Then, during the Great Depression, the motto was “Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without.” Today, people are encouraged to “reduce, reuse, and recycle.” Although in the past people had a different motive for reusing items, the same idea still exists today.
The words ‘Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’ are what a person chants if someone mentions the word recycling. Nicks J defines recycling as ‘[T]he processing of waste materials in order to make them reusable” (11). Individuals who recycle are not just throwing papers in green bins, or cans in blue; in fact, they are helping the environment more than they can imagine. People who want to preserve and protect their planet take the initiative to recycle waste materials. Rather than throwing away old plastic or glass bottles, aluminum cans, and certain types of paper, one can simply recycle them, and they will go through a cleaning and the remanufacturing process to be remade into a new usable item.
Every year, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enters our environment, severely polluting oceans, beaches, forests, and even the towns and cities we live in. In the ocean alone, it is believed that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic pollutes the waters (“Plastic Statistics”, Ocean Crusaders).The majority of plastic pollution can be traced back to single-use items, such as grocery bags, bottles, and plastic packaging. According to United Nations Environment, “At the rate we are dumping items such as plastic bottles, bags and cups after a single use, by 2050 oceans will carry more plastic than fish…” (“UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic”, UN Environment). This pollution is a major problem and endangers not only the environment, but human
The ocean is an abundant source of life. It is home to thousand of different creatures, provides a great source of food, and provides the earth with about one half of the oxygen needed to sustain life. (National Geographic) Pollution especially plastic, is a catastrophic problem. Ironically plastic, which is a material designed to last forever is generally used for things we tend to throw away. Every year about one hundred to two hundred billion pounds of plastic are manufactured. Only 31% of that plastic is actually recycled. Biomass packaging estimates 10% of that plastic ends up in the ocean annually. About 20% of it coming from ships and other platforms, and the other 80% coming from land derived sources, such as international garbage dumping, winds or tides either way it finds its way to the ocean.(Biomass Packaging Co., et al)
Recycling has been something that has always been in human society. Even before the modern era humans still used and reused natural resources to survive and develop as a society. Here in the US, recycling didn 't really make its impact until the 1940s, during the second world war and has only started to advance even further within the last 15 years as more efforts for environmental preservation are being made. From schools, and major companies down to individual homes, recycling programs can be found in most countries that are developed. As technology continues to grow many advancements have been made in renewable resources like solar or electrical power. Recycling though being around much longer has only recently made strides like collecting
Recycling is the practice of reusing old products to create knew ones in order to essentially “re use” them. In theory, this process is supposed to work perfectly, but because of other factors it doesn’t. The whole idea of recycling is supposed to lead, eventually, to a world where everything will be recycled and used over and over again; thus, no more mining, cutting down tress, and other jobs that require people to do some sort of labor in order to create a certain type of object. The process of recycling would in due time, end these types of labor. Recycling is not entirely a good thing because not everyone does, it requires unnecessary funds, and it takes away many jobs.
People want to feel good about themselves by expressing a devotion to their environmental responsibility. The inherent motto of the program is “Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle”, which makes complete sense. Reducing the amount of waste that gets created is the base layer of recycling, because if there is less waste, there will be less material to manage. Reuse what you can, instead of throwing it away and purchasing more, or use it for a different purpose, and recycle items that can get broken down to create new
Cluttered trash filled parks, waste filled rivers, and town sized landfills and that is what awaits the people of earth if nothing is done to aid in the efforts to keep the world clean and recycling is one best and most beneficial ways to do just that. The truth is a frightening thing however it is true if we don’t act to improve our habits soon it might just be a reality, recycling should be mandatory for all households in order to prevent this trash filled grim future.
Do you hate seeing litter on the streets, or seeing and smelling heaps of garbage sitting, and rotting away? Humans recycling more will help to reduce this. We throw many things that can be recycled. Recycling glass, plastics, paper, and metals will reduce solid waste dumped into the ecosystem daily. “96 percent of U.S. plastic, and 50 percent of its paper, goes into landfills. Mexico, not exactly a bastion of environmental awareness, recycles more glass than the U.S.” (Alice Horrigan 1). That’s 96 percent of the millions of tons of plastic, which will outlive most of us in a landfill that we could recycle and keep it out of our landfill. Paper is made from trees, if we recycle it, we can decrease our rate of ugly deforestation and the destruction of animal habitats. When paper gets to the landfill, it is guaranteed to get wet. The wetness and decomposition of paper atracts mold spores, which produce an odor and are potentially bad for your health. Also k...
People need to think about the objects that they throw away, those items can affect the animals around the world. For example, when people throw away the plastic rings that go around pop cans, can kill animals by being stuck around their little necks. So, before people throw those plastic rings out, they need to make sure that they cut a slit into each ring so in case an animal does get stuck in one of them, then they can get out safely. Recycling does not just have to be about plastic, but when the plastic is recycled, Americans can use it for many different things. For example, the plastic can make park benches, plastic crates, and wire tubing. Many people do not understand where all of the recycled objects go, but the objects do not go anywhere they are just recycled to make other things, recycled objects also help reduce the price of the objects that they make. The best part about recycling is the fact that people can recycle almost anything and turn it into something completely different. For example, Keen’s Harvest makes bags, wallets, and totes from recycled airbags that come from automobiles. Another example is Looptworks uses cotton jersey, nylon, vinyl, and recycled polyester to make their upcycled leather iPad cases. Skateback is another company that uses recycled material to make iPhone backs; they use the discarded post-industrial skateboard materials. Vinylux
Have you ever wonder what can you do about the bottles and cans you find around you? People that doesn?t care about the world being clean is littering the place. It makes things very difficult to put up for. Recycling cans and bottles can help save the earth form waste and trash buildup and can make new things. I think that recycling should be mandatory and there should be recycling cans in various locations at school and everywhere else.
One huge aspect of recycling is that it gives the recycler the fulfillment of helping the environment. W. Kip Viscusi a professor at Vanderbilt University said, “The warm glow environmental benefit that a person receives from recycling will be greater for those who place a higher value on the environment .” Therefore, the benefit of helping our environment is the greatest benefit of all. Although it might seem as if plastic is thrown away than it can not harm the environment, however, that is incorrect. Plastic is not biodegradable, therefore, it will never be able to completely decompose into the earth. With plastic not being able to decompose it takes up a large amount of space while also being capable of traveling through the air. Sati Manrich, the author of Plastic Recycling said, “The mounting volume of plastic residues, coupled with their extremely low biodegradability, generated a serious problem regarding the amount of space they took up.” Therefore, when plastic is thrown away it will last for at least four-hundred and fifty years before degrading in the landfills; thus allowing all the plastic that was thrown away in the last four-hundred and fifty years to start a stockpile in the landfills or even travel somewhere else.(Manrich
Research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that species in the ocean consume a projected 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year in the Pacific Ocean (Nall, 2014). Pollution of recyclable materials in the oceans is one of the leading causes of why some marine species are nearing extinction. Many authors of articles and books analyzing this topic tend to agree that pollution of our oceans is a problem. The future of this problem is where their ideas tend to differ. The following four literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support my belief that pollution is getting worse in the ocean and more marine life ecosystems are being affected, but there are things that we as humans can do
The United States produces “about 8.25 billion tons of solid wastes each year” (Russell 1). People do not realize the impact they have on our planet and environment. When people throw anything in the trashcan, they are contributing to the destruction of our planet. The number landfills in the United States are decreasing, but the amount and volume of waste being thrown into the new landfills is increasing (Russell 4). Because of this escalating amount of garbage, Methane which contributes to global warming is an outcome of these landfills (Russell 7). As a result, our planet is suffering because of this epidemic. The garbage being put in the landfills could be recycled, but not enough businesses, ...
On the other hand, some people feel that recycling should not be mandatory. Some people feel as if recycling is not always cost effective. Sometimes, there may be a need for new factories to process reusable materials. This could even create more pollution because of the cleaning, storage and transportation that takes place. Also, some people feel that recycled products may not last for long. Recycled materials are not always a reliable quality. The materials are mostly made up of trashed waste, which is why the products are cheap and last for a shorter period of time. Another reason why some people think it is not necessary to recycle is because there are unsafe and unhygienic recycling sites. Places like landfills, where all sorts of waste is dumped contribute to the spread of different diseases and other dangers caused by harmful chemicals and waste. People also think that r...
Many people assume that the environment is not in danger. They believe that as technology advances, we do not need to worry about renewing natural resources, recycling, and finding new ways to produce energy. They state that one person in the world does not make a large difference. In reality, each individual's contribution greatly affects our environment. Our natural resources are slowly disappearing, and we must work together to save them and the Earth from ruin.