Recycling can benefit our community and the environment and this is why developed countries are trying to have more recycling centers. Recycling is defined as the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as garbage and produce new products by turning them.
Recycling is one of the best ways for our earth to have a positive impact on nature in which we live. Recycling effects the environment indirectly because recycling trash to new raw resources consumes less energy and less waste. Solid waste can be used to boost country’s economy as well as benefit the environment.
In the previous decades we have been faced with a huge amount of litter and we are creating more constantly. Increasing wealth, increasing population, new packaging, new lifestyle changes and technological products are many of causes to have this huge amount of trash.
Having more money means that people are able to buy more products and ultimately produce more garbage. Growing population means that there are more stomachs on the planet to be fed and creating more waste. New lifestyle generated by technological world is another reason facing us with new crisis we didn’t have before. Eating fast food, means that we create additional garbage that isn’t biodegradable. Technological products and modern packaging are developing daily and causes numerous problems because much of these products contain materials that are not biodegradable.
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle
However, huge problems remarked above, force politicians and environmentalists to think about recycling. Waste reduction revolves around three R’s which we are going to explain.
Reduce
This calls for using resources that are just enough to cater to your needs for instance building a smaller house. This is an effective way of conserving resources as it also lowers the costs. This can be achieved through attaining accuracy when ordering to ensure that there is no waste or no material is sitting on the site for long periods that it is damaged.
Reuse
Here, you will do well to reuse existing materials and buildings effectively reducing the need for resources while lowering waste volumes and saving money. A huge percentage of resources are incorporated in the construction of homes owing to the mixed materials that are used, yet, the end destination for most of them are landfills. Thus, renovating a house is a much better option than bringing it down to put up another one because a negligible fraction of the old house may be reused.
Recycle
Using left over resources or those resources that have reached the end of their life minimizes the need for new materials as well as lowers the volume that ends up in landfills. Thus, it is advisable to use materials that are recyclable as this creates a market for the resources that are recycled while also raising the price that recyclers pay for resources that are recovered even as the recycling viability increases.
What are the benefits of recycling?
According to a recent study, we recycle about 32.5% of our solid waste across various different types of goods. What do we do with the rest? we burn and destroy 12.5% solid waste at incineration facilities, emitting harmful gases in the atmosphere. The rest of the waste, about 250 million tons of it, ends up in landfills annually throughout the country. If we could separate and recycle this waste, we could easily benefit from it.
Four benefits of recycling
1. It’s good for the environment
Recycling can significantly reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. It can save on non-reusable resources as well as water and landfill space, and most of all it can save energy. So, recycling reduces emissions, conserves energy, and reduces pollution.
2. Protecting our resources
Throwing away objects in the dumpster could increase the pressure on mining for new raw materials. It also wastes the energy such as fuel and other costs associated with mining. Recycling aluminum cans, steel, copper, and other expensive metals can save costly gas money and mining expenses, as well as conserve valuable resources.
3. Jobs opportunities
The idea of recycling is gaining popularity among individuals and companies more than ever for both economic and environmental reasons, and jobs in recycling industries are booming.
4. Improving financial incomes
One of the key benefits of recycling is financial income. We could all find several items in our homes that could be recycled and make money from them. Some such items are old furniture, old phones, cables, metal furniture, aluminum cans, metal containers, old clothes, electrical appliances, and more.
7 simple ways to reduce waste
By using these seven simple steps, you can make a big difference!
- Use your water bottles, coffee mugs and plates for several times, Skip the plastic or paper and get yourself some reusable and refillable kitchenware.
- Try with bags and containers which are reusable. Bring them with you when you shop, travel, and when packaging food! We recommend using bags made from recyclable material and glassware for food storage.
- Adapt old things like using old t-shirts as cleaning rags or food containers as storage containers for other things like office supplies.
- Begin composting in the kitchen and yard. Food scraps and yard debris can be composted into fertilizer, helping the soil too!
- Try to Pay your bills online! Going paperless with your bank and other bills helps saves trees! Taking a few minutes to “unsubscribe” to this excess mail can help reduce paper usage.
- Don’t use any paper materials in the kitchen! Forget paper towels and start using reusable wash cloths and napkins.
- Donating old goods can be another solution. Things like Old clothing, furniture and books can be donated! It’s better than throwing it away. You can help someone who needs these stuff!
Recycling is an option and a way of life style. It also could help you make money while helping the environment too. Once you make that choice, you could start taking steps towards recycling, reusing and reducing waste in your daily life quite normally and you could make a big difference.
Tired Earth is an international environmental group trying to improve awareness and increase the hope for a shiny future.