Should We Recycle?

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With environmental issues such as climate change increasing in public awareness exponentially, it is important to remember that recycling is one of the easiest things each of us can do to reduce our carbon footprint. Recycling saves energy, reduces pollution, and conserves natural resources. You'd have a hard time finding a reason NOT to recycle. Recyclable materials that end up in a landfill are a waste natural resources, a waste of energy and in some cases a waste of money.  

An aluminum can, for example, can be recycled and be back on the shelf in about 90 days. It takes 95 percent less energy to recycle aluminum than it does to make it from raw materials, eliminating the need for mining, transporting, and some processing. Making recycled steel reduces energy use by 60 percent, recycled newspaper uses 40 percent less energy, recycled plastics 70 percent less, and recycled glass 40 percent less. Manufacturing with recycled materials, with very few exceptions, saves energy and water and produces less air and water pollution than manufacturing with virgin materials.

Recycling prevents habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, and soil erosion associated with logging and mining. Using scrap steel instead of virgin ore to make new steel takes 40 percent less water and creates 97 percent less mining waste. Every ton of steel recycled saves 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal, and 120 pounds of limestone. Recycling one ton of glass saves the equivalent of 10 gallons of oil. Every ton of paper recycled saves 17 trees and 7000 gallons of water.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, methane is the second largest source of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, and landfills account for 37 percent of methane gas output. By reducing and recycling organic materials, including paper, we can divert them from landfills, thereby reducing the production of methane gas. The EPA also says recycling results in a net reduction in ten major categories of air pollutants and eight major categories of water pollutants.