Why should you care?
“The average person generates over 4 pounds of trash every day and about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). We have the opportunity as individuals to make a difference by recycling everyday. Whether its recycling paper, a soda can or even reusing a common plastic water bottle. Many household items can be recycled and people are failing to do so. Most all-common bathroom containers can be recycled. Shampoo and conditioner bottles are a perfect example of this, even the toilet paper roll has many uses. Have you ever taken a second and though about how much garbage you or your family produces each week? We’ve all heard the concept reduce reuse and recycle but I’d like to bring it to your attention once again.
Recycle
I became more aware of recycling because of the amount of trash my family produces each week. For our family filling the trashcan is easy but when you think of filling your garbage can every week for one whole year you end up producing 52 cans of garbage that ends up in our landfill and just keeps adding as the years continue. The 52 cans of garbage is just one house. When you think of all the houses in your neighborhood and then in your state it adds up to a lot of garbage! “Americans make more than 200 million tons of garbage each year, enough to fill Busch Stadium; home of the St. Louis Cardinals in Missouri from top to bottom twice a day” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). That’s a tremendous amount of garbage that goes into our landfills. Glass and aluminum recycling is tremendous help and are huge energy savers. Better yet you can get cash for recycled soda cans. If your family drinks soda already why not get paid to put those cans back where they belong! "Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to listen to a full album on your iPod and recycling 100 cans could light your bedroom for two whole weeks” (Carnegie Mellon University, 2015) one small soda can makes a difference and they definitely add up!
Reduce
Now obviously there are things that we have to throw away that aren’t necessarily recyclables so what should we do with those items? Paper towels are a great example because they aren’t recyclable but many Americans use them daily. Some advice to you for would be to reduce the amount of paper towels that you use or use a rag or something that can be reused and washed.
Reuse
There are so many items that can be reused, some even for the same purpose. Plastic water bottles weren’t made so you could drink the water that’s in them then throw the bottle away, but sadly that’s mostly what’s happening. “Making bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year and that’s not even including the oil used for transportation (Keeping America Beautiful, 2015). Other items can be reused for a completely different purpose. For example I use an old tic-tac container to hold bobby pins. If you’ve ever heard of a single serving coffee machine called a Keurig then you know it’s both delicious and very convenient. However those delicious single serving coffee containers have added more trash to our landfills then the average coffee filter. I came across an article that talked about how it is recommended that the Keurig single serving containers should and can be used twice and will still taste just as delicious and will be both money saving and energy efficient.
That’s a wrap
We have the ability to change this and it all starts with you and your family. The EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it” (Indiana University, 2015). There is so much each individual can do to make a difference when it comes to recycling, the smallest improvement can help in the biggest ways. So next time you come across something that can be recycled I hope we all make the extra effort to recycle it.
Work Cited
1. Carnegie Mellon University. "CEE Green Team." Web Accessed April 25, 2015.
2. Indiana University. "Waste & Recycling." Web Accessed April 25, 2015.
3. Keep America Beautiful. "Recycling Facts & Statistics." Web Accessed April 25, 2015
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "10 FAST FACTS ON RECYCLING." Web.
Accessed April 25, 2015.
“The average person generates over 4 pounds of trash every day and about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). We have the opportunity as individuals to make a difference by recycling everyday. Whether its recycling paper, a soda can or even reusing a common plastic water bottle. Many household items can be recycled and people are failing to do so. Most all-common bathroom containers can be recycled. Shampoo and conditioner bottles are a perfect example of this, even the toilet paper roll has many uses. Have you ever taken a second and though about how much garbage you or your family produces each week? We’ve all heard the concept reduce reuse and recycle but I’d like to bring it to your attention once again.
Recycle
I became more aware of recycling because of the amount of trash my family produces each week. For our family filling the trashcan is easy but when you think of filling your garbage can every week for one whole year you end up producing 52 cans of garbage that ends up in our landfill and just keeps adding as the years continue. The 52 cans of garbage is just one house. When you think of all the houses in your neighborhood and then in your state it adds up to a lot of garbage! “Americans make more than 200 million tons of garbage each year, enough to fill Busch Stadium; home of the St. Louis Cardinals in Missouri from top to bottom twice a day” (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2015). That’s a tremendous amount of garbage that goes into our landfills. Glass and aluminum recycling is tremendous help and are huge energy savers. Better yet you can get cash for recycled soda cans. If your family drinks soda already why not get paid to put those cans back where they belong! "Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to listen to a full album on your iPod and recycling 100 cans could light your bedroom for two whole weeks” (Carnegie Mellon University, 2015) one small soda can makes a difference and they definitely add up!
Reduce
Now obviously there are things that we have to throw away that aren’t necessarily recyclables so what should we do with those items? Paper towels are a great example because they aren’t recyclable but many Americans use them daily. Some advice to you for would be to reduce the amount of paper towels that you use or use a rag or something that can be reused and washed.
Reuse
There are so many items that can be reused, some even for the same purpose. Plastic water bottles weren’t made so you could drink the water that’s in them then throw the bottle away, but sadly that’s mostly what’s happening. “Making bottles to meet America’s demand for bottled water uses more than 17 million barrels of oil annually, enough to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year and that’s not even including the oil used for transportation (Keeping America Beautiful, 2015). Other items can be reused for a completely different purpose. For example I use an old tic-tac container to hold bobby pins. If you’ve ever heard of a single serving coffee machine called a Keurig then you know it’s both delicious and very convenient. However those delicious single serving coffee containers have added more trash to our landfills then the average coffee filter. I came across an article that talked about how it is recommended that the Keurig single serving containers should and can be used twice and will still taste just as delicious and will be both money saving and energy efficient.
That’s a wrap
We have the ability to change this and it all starts with you and your family. The EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it” (Indiana University, 2015). There is so much each individual can do to make a difference when it comes to recycling, the smallest improvement can help in the biggest ways. So next time you come across something that can be recycled I hope we all make the extra effort to recycle it.
Work Cited
1. Carnegie Mellon University. "CEE Green Team." Web Accessed April 25, 2015.
2. Indiana University. "Waste & Recycling." Web Accessed April 25, 2015.
3. Keep America Beautiful. "Recycling Facts & Statistics." Web Accessed April 25, 2015
4. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "10 FAST FACTS ON RECYCLING." Web.
Accessed April 25, 2015.