Why Recycling is Important

Recycling. Why is it so important? Why should I have to recycle? What can I recycle? I remember when I thought these questions to myself.  I used to think recycling was not a big deal, and did not matter. I even use to throw away bottles in a regular trashcan if there was not a recycling bin near by. This whole thought process of mine all started to change while I was in high school. At the high school there would be recycling bins in the classrooms. You would think you could put anything recyclable in there, but if you threw anything in there besides paper even a perfectly recyclable bottle the janitors would throw out everything because they would not separate them.  This really irritated me, “Why would they throw away perfectly good resources?” I eventually figured out it was not all the janitors fault; it was the students as well. Students were not correctly recycling or correctly disposing of their trash. When knowing my school did not recycle to their full potential I decided I must recycle all that I can on my own. 

Knowing most people at my high school did not recycle it made me wonder how much people actually did. I found about 40-50% of Americans recycle all the time according to research from the Natural Marketing Institute.  While sitting at the Smaug in Kryzsko Commons at Winona State University on November 2, 2010 I observed two recycling bins one for paper and another for plastic and aluminum. I also observed a trashcan that was nearby. I watch them from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM, which is lunchtime for most college students. While observing I noticed that 19 people put their recyclables in the trashcan, and only eight people recycled correctly. I also noticed mostly plastic products, and paper was thrown in the trashcans. I interviewed a freshman here at WSU on if she thought recycling is important? Ana stated, “Yes, because it decreases the crowdedness in the landfills. Also it does not take very much effort.” I found this to be very interesting especially with her next response. I asked Ana, if she thought recycling was so important, why did she put the recyclable in the trash? She answered, “I was being lazy and the garbage can was closer to me.”

From most people being to “lazy” it causes a harmful build up of trash. It is said that the average American creates 1,600 pounds of garbage a year. Thus we must recycle to create more room in landfills because not everything is biodegradable. There are so many things that are recyclable, and I bet most people did not know some of these things were. Recyclables are separated into six categories. Recyclables include electronics, and hazardous items such as paint. There also is plastic, paper, household items such as furniture, and garden items such as fertilizers or mulch. Next there are automotive items such as tires or car batteries. Finally recyclables consist of metal, glass and construction items such as brick, carpet or wood.

Even though we are able to recycle so much now, in the past we lost so many valuable resources, and we still are today because not enough people are recycling. Earths precious resources are getting used up fast with the type of environment we live in today. According to enotes.com when recycling one ton of paper it saves 7,000 gallons of water, 3.3 cubic yards of landfill space, 126 gallons of oil, 17 trees, and 4,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity, which is enough to power the average home for six months. This is why it is so necessary that we recycle to save all of these natural resources that we are losing. There are also many other reasons why we must recycle. According to professorshouse.com these reasons include to cut back on global warming, makes us more energy efficient, keeps our landfills from overflowing, improves our groundwater, reduces air pollution, it creates jobs, it ads property value, and it is good business. For example air pollution is reduced when we recycle because the amount of air pollutants is decreased from not having to incinerate as much. Just from recycling glass, paper, batteries, engine oil, and aluminum cans it will decrease the amount of pollutants emitted into the air up to 70% according to the European Environment Agency.

In order to save our resources we must “Reduce, reuse, and recycle” which a current motto used today. In today’s generation there are tons of things people are able to do in order to “Reduce, reuse, and recycle.” To reduce do not buy heavily packaged goods, stop unwanted deliveries such as junk mail, grow your own vegetables, and make your own lunch to take to school or work. To reuse rent or borrow items, donate old unwanted items, buy things in refillable containers, look for long lasting appliances, buy rechargeable items, and reuse shopping bags. To recycle choose products in packaging that can be recycled, buy products made from recycled materials, and find out where your nearest recycling facilities are.

Even though recycling is widely accepted as the “Right thing to do” (Harding) people are still not recycling. After researching I have came to find people are not recycling for four main reasons. The number one reason is because it is an inconvenience. This is because in the rural and other regions in the country there is no garbage pick up, which means people taking time out of their day to find a recycling center. The next reason is because of the lack of space. Some people do not have the extra space in their home for a recycling bin. Another reason is because of misinformation. Many people are not seeing how not recycling is affecting their daily life because they do not live near a landfill (Harding). The final reason for not recycling is it is too confusing. For example there are about thirteen different types of plastics to recycle and people do not have the time to educate his or her self about it.

There are many things we can do today to help recycle, but with only about half of Americans recycling could you imagine what the world would look like if we did not recycle at all? If we do not continue to recycle we will run out of space to hid our trash, there will be more pollution, “islands” of trash in the ocean will continue to grow, natural habitats for wildlife will be destroyed, we would also be losing 850 million trees annually. This is why we must recycle all that we can now. Our future children should not have to grow up in a world that is harmful to them because of the mess we made from not recycling.

Works Cited

“Did You Know That You Can Reduce Air Pollution By Recycling Your Waste?” eea.europa.eu. European Environment Agency. n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.

Hanson, Anastasia. Personal Interview. 2 Nov. 2010.

Harding, Dan. “5 Reasons Why People DON’T Recycle.” Calfinder.com.CalFinder. 14 Jan. 2009. Web. 17 Nov. 2010.

“Up to Half of American’s Recycle ‘All the Time.’” Evironmentalleader.com. Environmental Leader. 23 Mar. 2008. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.

“What Can You Do?” Recycle-more.co.uk. N.p. n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.

“What Natural Resources Are Saved by Recycling One Ton of Paper?” eNotes.com. eNotes. n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.

“What Will Happen If You Do Not Recycle?” Myzerowaste.com. My Zero Waste. 4 Mar. 2010. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.

“Why Everyone Should Recycle.” Professorshouse.com. N.p. n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2010.