Why Recycle? And why is recycling an energy-related issue?
Americans produce an immense amount of trash every year--more than 240 million tons, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. The amount of paper alone that is thrown away in the U.S. each year would build a wall twelve feet high that stretches from New York to Seattle (source: National Recycling Coalition). Much of this solid waste is material that could be reused and objects that are disposable and will quickly be replaced by new objects.
Recycling saves energy because in most cases, it takes less energy and fewer resources to make something from an existing item than to start from scratch and make it new from raw materials. For example, making a soda can from raw bauxite requires twenty times as much energy as making a can from recycled aluminum. The EPA estimated that in 2005, recycling saved at least the equivalent of the annual energy use of 9 million households.
Our "disposable" culture encourages us to believe that we can continue to use the earth's limited resources--including the fossil fuels that power most of our economy--without having to consider the consequences. But as we face the growing realities of climate change, oil depletion, and other results of our modern lifestyle, it is becoming clearer to many people that we must become more conscious about our use of all types of resources. Recycling has many benefits (see below) but from an energy perspective, a key one is that it can help to combat global warming. In 2000, recycling of solid waste in the U.S. prevented the release of more than 30 million metric tons of carbon equivalent into the air (source: National Recycling Coalition). Shifting to a more attentive use of resources and the products made from them is an important step toward becoming more conscious citizens of the planet.
The National Recycling Coalition offers an online Recycling Calculator that helps you measure the impact of your recycling on the environment.
The NRC's list of the Top Ten Reasons to Recycle:
- Good For Our Economy
- Creates Jobs
- Reduces Waste
- Good For The Environment
- Saves Energy
- Preserves Landfill Space
- Prevents Global Warming
- Reduces Water Pollution
- Protects Wildlife
- Creates New Demand