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why recycling should be encouraged
why more recycling should be encouraged
why more recycling should be encouraged
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Another plastic soda bottle is dropped in a landfill. The sugary liquid completely consumed, but the bottle just tossed away to decompose. The consumer does not realize that it will most likely take around 450 years for that bottle to completely biodegrade (O’Conner). This one bottle alone will also contribute to the landfill’s emission of methane, a potent greenhouse gas (Treacy). All of this could have easily been avoided using one method—recycling.
Recycling should be common practice in every household, but the simple truth is that people do not want to recycle. The popular excuses include there is no need or not enough time. It is important for the government to take action using education in schools, money incentives, and steps toward convenience that will motivate the average American to recycle.
The problem is that only thirty percent of recyclable material is actually recycled (11 Facts). It is obvious that the need for recycling is not recognizable by most people. This need is clearly seen when looking at the environmental problems currently facing society today. Global warming is the biggest issue that can be partially alleviated by recycling. Global warming is caused by the increase in atmospheric gases such as water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide; these “greenhouse gases” trap heat on Earth and increase the temperature globally (Global). Plastic created without the use of recycled material uses fossil fuels, which significantly increase the amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide (Global). Plastic that is not recycled and left to biodegrade in a landfill contributes to the already over concentrated amount of methane in the atmosphere (Treacy). Therefore, it is easily seen that recycling holds a worthw...
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... of Recycling." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
"CPalms Core Standards." CPalms. State of Florida, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
"Economic Benefits of Recycling." South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. SDHEC, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
"Global Warming." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 14 June 2007. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Guyette, Lauren. Personal interview. 10 Nov. 2013.
O'Conner, Kari. "The Impact Of Plastic Water Bottles." Postconsumers. Postconsumers, 31 Oct. 2011. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
"Pasco County Recycling." Pasco County, FL. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.
Pitzi, Erica. "Experts Watching Sinkhole in Hillsborough Landfill." WTSP. Tampa Bay 10 News, 16 Dec. 2010. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
Treacy, Megan. "Biodegradable Plastics Are Adding to Landfill Methane Emissions."EcoGeek. N.p., 11 Oct. 11. Web. 16 Nov. 2013.
There are many benefits to recycling, but a lot of people will argue against it. As Bauer, Mary states, “[Recycling] is a messy process that uses caustic chemicals and produces harmful byproducts and emissions” (12). Regardless, recycling programs have been implemented in many places, such as California and Georgia, and have been successful. Hence, individual’s states in the United States should make recycling mandatory because recycling will reduce E-Waste pollution, reduce waste, and benefit the economy. According to Thomas, Valerie.
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
For most of America, recycling has become a way of life. For some, it is a valiant effort to take charge of our waste and do what is right for the environment and for future generations. For others, it is a forced mentality by government agencies or private businesses who attempt to prove their value by self-promoting their commitment to environmental responsibility. Recycling, in theory, is a positive effort; however, massive recycling programs are not the answer. Recycling programs in general lack an intelligent way to a means, since the costs and environmental burden may outweigh the desired result. Recyclers should only focus on materials that they can process in a cost effective way, and consumers should focus
We have to recondition our strategy on how we tackle plastic waste because we cannot afford to wait for landfills to malfunction in order to say that these issues are affecting our well being. We need to change our ethical stance by thinking long-term of what our actions are doing in order to stop practicing techniques that are only swell for a short period of time because they can result in major consequences. For example, if we keep the current status quo, we will eventually run out of space for plastic, both in recycling facilities and in landfills, thus, the landfill becomes saturated with toxin, and we will continue to release chemicals into the atmosphere causing harm to the biosphere. And, we certainly cannot always be creating new landfills every time we reach maximum storage, if so, we will run out of room on land and probably revert to the ocean for dumping trash. In fact, the ocean already has a trash estate larger than the state of Texas floating in the Pacific Ocean i.e. gyres. So, instead of producing plastic, which can only be recycled a few times, harm the biosphere, and result in toxic-saturation, we can produce materials that are fully recyclable over and over again so that we do not need to waste anything any
If everyone recycled think of how much more space there would be in landfills across the world. There is only so much room on this earth and we are using a huge portion of it for our trash. Clearlake, California alone on a busy day can bring in 80,000 pounds of trash to the local dump. I know this because I work at the local dump in Mckinleyville. I also see a lot of people that throw away their recycling for the simple reason of being too lazy to sort it. I watch bag after of bag of plastic, aluminum, and glass get thrown into the bin which we haul straight to a landfill in Anderson, California. If everyone in Mckinleyville recycled there plastic, aluminum and glass they could save thousands of pounds a day from going to the landfill. I think people are not informed that waste is a big problem in this world. But in fact conservation is an issue, and resources and energy aren't too plentiful. Someday these resources are going to run out. But the more we recycle the longer we can make these resources last.
Plastic pollution negatively affects America’s future. The origin of this environmental pollution is caused by the excessive lack of ethics that human beings have. Many times, people throw garbage on the streets, seas, etc. Not knowing that this will be severely altered the environment, and planet earth conditions. Environmental pollution is found in many places such as plastic products, cleaning products, food, animals, personal care products, and the most dangerous in the environment where the oxygen we breathe and share with other living beings (Eriksen 2013).
In today’s society it is uncommon to see people walking around without water. Those who carry water with them either have their water in a reusable bottle or have bought bottled water. Bottled water is the more commonly found type of water carried around, reason being that it is easy to just buy a huge pack so that a person can just grab a bottle a go. The problem with bottled water is that more often than not, the bottle does not get recycled, but instead gets thrown into the garbage. The problem with this is that the bottles end up in a landfill. However, in this past year alone American’s used “about 50 billion plastic water bottles” (Ban The Bottle, n.d., Para. 4). Most people do not see the big difference between bottled water and tap
Some people say recycling is a waste of time. If one is a very busy person, then maybe. But taking that extra two seconds to recycle, saving energy, money, resources, and the world isn’t a bad plan either. If everyone would take the extra two seconds to recycle, the extra effort would help to make the world would be a much cleaner and more efficient place. Recycling could also help to lower taxes in the long run. Recycled materials have value, and trash costs money. A city recycling program could sell it and make money. Then, with the extra money, the city wouldn’t have to charge as much money on taxes. Now how does those two extra seconds sound now? One can better the place they live in and save some money by taking two extra seconds to recycle.
Many people believe that we should not recycle anymore, but this is not the case. We, the people of the world, need to continue to recycle because we do not want our children to grow up in a world where there are no certain species of animals due to recycling failures. We also do not want our children to grow up thinking that it is okay that they throw their garbage on the ground, and not have to pick it up. We need to teach our children that they need to take care of the earth that they are living on, because they only get one. Recycling is one of the most beneficial environmental issues that we have here on this earth. Recycling saves energy, limits pollution and supports several environmental factors of the economy. “In 2003, the savings from recycling 54 billion aluminum cans exceeded the energy equivalent of 15 million barrels of crude oil- or the amount of gas the U.S. uses in one day,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA estimates that 200 million gallons of used oil are not disposed of properly, and if we were to dispose the oil properly then we could keep the oil from polluting the ground and the fresh water source. According to E. Takatori, “… While on-going societal regulation treats material recycling as the dominant cycle, the properties of recycled plastic remain the most port
One reason is that recycling can help save the earth from waste and trash build-up. For example, fifty percent of roofing and construction on houses is made from recycled aluminum cans. Using recycled materials to produce new products costs less money and less energy than new materials. It can also save valuable landfill space. People have trash everyday. Pretty much anything is recyclable. If you throw them away, it?s a waste of natural resources, a waste of energy, and a waste of money. Instead people should take the time collect these things and put some effort into helping in the world we live in.
Being convenient enough for everyday use and even tasting better to some, plastic bottles are a popular way of consuming beverages. They are convenient and to some people, can even taste better. However, the process of manufacturing and transporting the millions of bottles produced is detrimental to the environment. Continued use of plastic bottles could exponentially hurt the planet.
Recycling is an important asset to the world “going green”, (keeping the environment healthy), project people have been working on for at least a decade. Over the years the environment has suffered immensely because we humans haven’t done what is needed to make sure that our planet can flourish and evolve into its full potential. When we drive down the roads, or walk on the streets, or even relax in our own yards, we don’t think about the paper wrapper we just threw out the window, or the bottle we left on the park bench or the napkins we let fly off our table and were too lazy to pick up. A good percentage of the waste on our planet is due to exactly that. LAZINESS. Humans have this mind set that if they don’t want to do it, and they can get away with it, then usually they aren't going to do it. Plain and simple, people are just lazy. Basically, if everyone would just pick up after themselves, half of the worlds pollution and filth would be taken care of. The way to do this in a beneficial manner is simply by recycling.
While walking through the park last Sunday, I observed a shocking scene. There are two cans: one for recycling and one for trash. The recycling receptacle had only an empty Dr. Pepper can and a few used Ozarka water bottles. On the other hand, the trash can had a plethora of half eaten meals, wrappers, banana peels and disgustingly even bottles, cans, newspapers and plastics that could have been recycled. Because people do not understand or do not care to understand about conserving our resources, many reusable items are being put in landfills when recycling these items could help save the environment.
Therefore, recycling can protect natural resources, preserve energy and lessen pollution. If people want to save planet Earth for generations to come, then recycling is necessary. On Debate.org, the question “Should there be mandatory recycling?” was asked and 84 percent said yes, while only 16 percent said no (“Should There Be Mandatory Recycling”). Recycling is very important to the planet and can make a huge difference in so many ways. Recycling is a way of life and once a person has made the choice to follow through with the steps, recycling can become second nature. Every small contribution adds up to how the society shapes the Earth’s future. How will someone make a difference?
Recycling is important in the effort to preserve our environment for future generations. We are running out of locations to put landfills. Recycling is a simple and effective way to reduce the amount of waste stored in landfills, yet many people do not know how easy it can be. For example, whenever I go to Shoprite® and I b...