Baily Williams
Mr. Nelson
Senior Social Studies
30 October 2014
Recycling
A human being will create over four pounds of trash and waste throughout an entire day, and about one and a half ton in an entire year. To put one and a half ton into perspective, that weighs as much as the average size pickup truck. The worst part part about all these facts is that over 75% of the trash humans produce is recyclable, and we only recycle just under 30% (11 par 1-2). The world as we know it is slowly dying because of human race. Global warming and recycling go hand-in-hand and tie in directly. Something as simple as throwing a piece of paper in a blue recycling bin will make a difference, or taking the time to pick up an old pop can and throwing it in a
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“The United States alone recycles over 150 million tons of scrap metal annually” in this statistic includes: 85 million tons of iron and steel , 2 million tons of stainless steel, 5.5 million tons of aluminum, 1.2 tons of lead, 1.8 million tons of copper and 420,000 tons of zinc (Minoqua par.1)
These metals along with many others are used to make everthing from wire to car parts to airplane parts (Minoqua par.
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One would think paying these workers would probably be more expensive than just using the bland trash can, but that’s wrong. The total process of recycling is much cheaper and less harmful to our environment than the process of garbage disposal. Recycling turns out to be much cheaper and much more cost effective (Recycling par. 1). Through recycling a community can save money directly through taxes, and this is done by reducing the size of landfill and disposal costs. When a community recycles, jobs are created. “Dumping 10,000 pounds of trash waste in a landfill would create on average six jobs, while recycling the same amount of trash would create 36 jobs ( Recycling par 7). Now you might be thinking wouldn’t 36 jobs versus six jobs be much more expensive? Well that’s where the recycling becomes the real cash valve. Products, whether they are plastic metal or plastic ect., and they are able to be recycled are reconditioned into a usable form. The products are then sent all around the world. “In 2008, the scrap metal industry [alone] generate $86 billion and supported 85,000 jobs (West par. 2). that fact is an example of where the money is being made. The exact answer to the question is the revenue from reconditioned waste. Another big idea that pops into the mind of many when thinking about recycling is Social Responsibility.
"Americans already recycle at a high rate, which is around 95% of lead-acid batteries and 70% of steel cans and newspapers." States, "No Recycling Laws for Gatesburg." There is never to high of a rate on how we conserve our resources. It's good to note we as a nation do well with lead-acid batteries and steel cans and newspapers, but what about all the environmentally unfriendly things that slide through our garbage into our landfill, especially the plastics.
First of all, in order to reduce the global warming, we need to reduce the pollution. There are many things an individual can do to reduce the impact on the environment. For example, instead of throwing bottles, we can recycle them. The plastic manufacturing process results in the creation of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, which is thought to contribute significantly to the global warming effect. Since the process for recycling plastic water bottles requires less energy and fossil fuels, it also results in fewer greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, recycling plastic water bottles also help to decrease the amount of pollution in the air and water sources. Moreover, recycling paper also helps reduce the global warming. For example, if we recycle paper, it helps preserve forests, because it
A recent study by Nature Climate Change shows this ongoing problem is caused by “224 million more pounds being thrown out than previously thought,” suggesting too much recyclable items are being thrown out: “For every 100 pounds of trash we throw away, 35 pounds is paper” and although about 80% of goods and materials can be recycled, only 32% are actually being reused (Powell, EPA, McKinney). As reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “In 2013, Americans generated about 254 million tons of trash, and recycled and composted [only] 87 million tons of this material” (EPA). This again shows that a good amount of materials that can be recycled are more often being thrown into the trash. The EPA estimates that “we recycled and composted 1.51 pounds of our individual waste generation of 4.40 pounds per person per day ” in 2012 (EPA). That’s less than 30% of individually generated trash being
Recycling provides 471,000 direct and indirect jobs for people in the U.S. This shows us that recycling keeps people employed and happy. As a rule, when there are many job options for people, the economy gets better. “Overall, the business of recycling represents nearly $106 billion in economic activity” (Wiener 1). This means that recycling helps the economy greatly and will make it stronger. As a final analysis, more recycling leads to more jobs and a stronger economy.
In 1987, a barge by the name of Mobro 4000 was struggling to find a place to dump 3,168 tons of trash. It traveled from Long Island, where the trash came from, down the entire East Coast until it reached Belize. The barge stopped at multiple ports along the way to dump the trash, but was turned away each time. Many people watched the story unfold on the news, and realized how little landfill space the country actually had. People frantically started lowering household waste through recycling what was possible to be recycled instead of throwing it in the trash. This brought us the environmental movement of the late 80’s. Some people say the reason the Mobro 4000 wasn’t able to dump over 3,000 tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) was because they didn’t have the appropriate papers filled out to give the barge permission to dump at a particular landfill site. But others are confident the story is true, and hold the argument that the world is limited on how much landfill space there is and abide that something needs to be done sooner than later. Whether someone thinks the story is true or not, it is undeniable that recycling would keep a barge from trying to dump that many tons of trash anytime in the near future. We don’t have to recycle every plastic bottle or piece of paper we come into contact with on a daily basis, but recycling even a few of these items a week can still have a positive outcome. On average, a typical middle
In today's world of waste, litter and greed people forget about the need to recycle. The damage that humans have caused on the earth in many different ways has caused huge negative impacts and it now turning around to harm us as well. All of the damage caused has made Mother Nature angry, has made her react to our waste less and careless behavior. She is causing earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis and many other natural disasters in response to all of the damage we have committed against her beautiful earth. It's a shame because she is trying to get through to us and trying to show us the importance of turning our actions around and treating her better, but some people just don't seem to get it. What everyone around the world needs to do is start changing the way they think about the world. While it is often believed that nothing bad will ever really happen as a result of carelessness and waste, it is now very clear that this is just not the case. The waste has caused damaged and destroyed rainforests, natural life, global warming, shortages in water,
People Need to Recycle In the United Sates, where the population is inflated every year. The amount of space for landfills decreases every day. The need for recycling should not be asked, it should just be done out of habit. Everyone in America needs to recycle, to help the lamdfill problem, help the environment, and help produce new products from recycled goods. In America there is about two-hundred and eight tons of residential and commercial trash generated a year, 4.3 pounds per person a day (Prichard 1A). This is an overwhelming amount of trashed produced yearly. When people recycle this number can be drastically cut. But many people do not practice and use
When products are made they require the use of machines to manufacture and vehicles to transport. Regardless of which product, it is extremely labor intensive and expensive to get the resources we need. Using recycled materials also moves jobs into the green economy. Washington State defines green jobs as those that “promote environmental protection and energy independence.” The Green Economy Scenario produces more than 2,347,000 total direct jobs which is over 1.1 million more jobs than in the Base Case, and nearly 1.5 million more jobs than in 2008 (Save On Energy). Recycling keeps materials out of landfills where they can contaminate groundwater systems and create greenhouse gases. It also decreases the amount of pollution filling the air and water and keeps harmful materials out of incinerators. Compared to using raw materials, using recycled materials reduces both energy consumption and air pollution by ninety-five percent
According to the Environmental Protection Agency recycling is “Collecting, reprocessing, marketing, and use of materials once considered trash” It is the process of recycling that enables the earth’s many important materials to be saved (Palmer 9) Some think that the recycling movement started in the early 1970’s. However the recycling has been going around for thousands of years . before the industrial age practically everyone recycled in one way or another. They Did this just simply by sharing with family and friends. Some of the many materials that are recycled are: paper, glass, aluminum, steel, plastic, yard waste, food waste, used motor oil and plastic bags (Parks 65)
Imagine walking down a forest path, feeling the crisp fall breeze, hearing the birds chirping, breathing in the fresh air. The earth's environment is wonderful and as stewards of this plant, it is every human's job to protect and even enhance its beauty. Dumping incinerated garbage into a hole in the Earth is not exactly being a good steward. However, science has developed the technology of recycling, and people should use this blessing as readily as possible. In other words, everyone should recycle, and if they won't do it on their own, recycling should become a requirement. Recycling should be mandatory because it helps minimize pollution, conserve energy, preserve natural resources, and create jobs.
One of the worst things that people can gain from recycling is a false sense of security. Recycling is supposed to help the environment, so a person would assume that recycling sites are environmentally safe, but in reality they “are often often unsafe and unhygienic because of the harmful chemicals and large amounts of waste dumped there, which can lead to the toxication of bodies of water” (Thompson). Recycling sites are not any better than waste disposal sites, if not worse. They seem to be causing more damage than repair. Recycling paper is also counterintuitive. Paper accounts for “approximately 80 percent of all materials recycled today… yet recycling doesn’t save forests. Fully 87 percent of our paper stock
It is safe to say that the Earth is in trouble. We are polluting now more than ever, and we are using up vital land for one purpose, to pile our trash. This land that is being piled with trash day after day could have been kept in its natural raw state or rather used for a productive purpose rather than a final resting place for the large quantity of garbage that we produce. One simple task that we all can do each and every day to help the Earth is to simply recycle. The phrase Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle is one that is prominent in the world today; However, it is a phrase that holds little to no meaning or action behind it. Living your life by the above said motto in its simplest form would result in a lesser amount of trash being
Using scrap metal instead of new iron can help fight air and water pollution, along with reducing waste.
On average humans produce around 4.3 pounds of trash per day (“Municipal Solid Waste”). With 7 billion people and counting the amount of trash being generated is increasing (“United States Census”). All of our bottles, wrappers and food is being thrown away and entering our landfills. Landfills are man-made structures that are carefully designed to separate trash, we produce, from other land areas. These structures are made so that the trash and the byproducts of it do not contaminate groundwater or the environment around it (“Learn about Landfills”). Some ways that individuals can reduce the amount of trash that ends up in landfills is to recycle, donate, reduce food waste, and purchase materials with less packaging (“15 Easy Ways”).
Though, due to the continuous production of raw material over recycling, the natural resources that are used are beginning to vanish. Some of these resources include minerals, coal, oil, gas, timber, and water (though this material is plentiful). According to the EPA, if one ton of paper was recycled it could save almost twenty trees and if one ton of plastic was recycled it could save a little over fifteen barrels of oil (1). Additionally, for these products as well as glass and metals, in the article "Recycling and New Job Creation," Rick LeBlanc states that the industry will go through an attentive process for the product to be reusable afterwards therefore the natural resources are required less.