What are the Benefits of Recycling?

Recycling is the process of turning one products useful parts into a new product; this is done to conserve on the consumption of resources, energy and space used in landfills.

Recycling 1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill, but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle.

For every 1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.

Approximately 60% of our rubbish thrown away today could be recycled. A survey was done and 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would recycle more if it was easier.

Today the most common products in cities recycling programs are paper products, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum. 

Benefits of Recycling:
From EPA website: http://www.epa.gov/waste/conserve/rrr/recycle.htm
Recycling turns materials that would otherwise become waste into valuable resources. Collecting used bottles, cans, and newspapers and taking them to the curb or to a collection facility is just the first in a series of steps that generates a host of financial, environmental, and social returns. Some of these benefits accrue locally as well as globally.

• Recycling protects and expands U.S. manufacturing jobs and increases U.S. competitiveness.
• Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.
• Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
• Recycling saves energy.
• Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
• Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
• Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.

Plastic:
Help protect our oceans. Reducing the use of plastic in our lives is an important to reducing our environmental impact. Plastic has had a devastating effect on our oceans, sea bird population, and ocean life. For information on plastic that ends up in the Garbage Great Patch, please visit www.greatgarbagepatch.org.

Tips for the home:

• Use old garbage cans with wheels for gardening.  If the lid has been ruined just drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage.  Use the wheeled containers to hold clippings and weeds.  It's easier that carrying a bucket and will extend the usefulness of the garbage can.
• Bowling balls: It is estimated there may be 100,000,000 bowling balls buried in the earth somewhere. Don't throw those balls out.  Glue glass, sequins, mosaic tiles or other interesting materials to the ball and put them in your garden.  Bowling balls can also be painted to look like bugs or people and placed in gardens.
• Plastic tubs.  It's difficult to get out of the grocery store with buying something in a plastic tub (butter, ice cream, etc).  You may be able to donate these cleaned, used tubs with lids to teachers for projects, non-profits feeding the homeless (for "food to go"), daycare centers, etc.  While it may be convenient to buy products in plastic tubs you may want to consider buying stick butter or products packaged in cartons.
• Plastic bags: Invest a few dollars in market bags to hold your purchases. According to a National Geographic article in September of 2003 : "from data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 on U.S. plastic bag, sack, and wrap consumption, somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, millions end up in the litter stream outside of landfills—estimates range from less than one to three percent of the bags."