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Recycling, Just do it

By Melissa Carugati

It is something you grew up with and will be around for the rest of your life. In fact it has been around for 1000’s of years, they just didn’t have a name for it yet. So how much do you think you really know about recycling?

Most the things that are made of recycled materials, you wouldn’t know unless someone told you. To truly understand recycling and its affects, find cool things made from recycled materials, and clearing up any myths about recycling, please read on.

First let’s see what cool stuff is made from reusable materials.

Fashionable items are the trend right now in recycled materials. Turning something old into new. You may have seen the handbags made from newspapers, magazines, or even old advertising labels from. Shoes made from recycled Plastic bottles (Cosmo fabric, 2010). That cozy Fleece you wear to keep warm is also made from recycled plastic bottles.

Beautiful artisan jewelry made from different colored wine bottles can be found by a woman artist in Dallas Texas. Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew an entire buddhist temple in Thailand is made from  recycled Heinekin and Chang beer bottles (Alter, 2008). Home insulation is now hitting the streets made from over worn jeans. These are just to name a few items. The list is abundant. So now that you are aware of some cool materials made from recycled materials let’s look at he affects of recycling.

The after affects of recycling. The number one reason to recycle, is to save money. It cost more to produce a new product from raw materials than it does from something that has already been manufactured. Recycling keeps landfills from getting overwhelmed and stinking up your backyard. Saving energy is a huge affect of reusing materials. In the US alone, Aluminum recycling has saved 95%: plastic recycling70%: steel, 60%: paper,40%: glass, 30% (Woddell, 2008) Now there are negative affects of recycling. When some materials are being remanufactured they are chemically treated to give a newer affect and these chemicals are harmful to environment (Rosenburg, 2010). The positive effects surely outweigh the negative. There are some of myths that might make people think recycling has more negative effects than positive.

Some common myths of recycling will be cleared up in a few sentences.

Myth #1: We have to recycle because we are running out of space. Truth: National Solid Waste Management states we have only about 20 years left of landfill space (Hutchinson, 2008). ….Then we will be out of space.

Myth #2: Trucks collecting recycling produce more pollution than recycling saves.

Truth: its either recycling that needs to be picked up or trash.  It has to go somewhere. So the same energy is used, its just placed in a different system to be reused to make up for the energy used (Hutchinson, 2008).

Myth #3: Throwing away biodegradables is ok. Truth: where waste is deposited           underground, it lacks the oxygen to decompose biodegradables. Instead of throwing it away, it can be affectively broken down in composting (Gogan, 2010).

Myth #4: Al Gore is the most environmental person a live. Truth: In one month his Mansion in Tennessee uses more electricity than Americans in a year (Z, 2009).

So now that you know some facts about recycling, you

might understand why people are so eager to push recycling and why it is good for you.

There are people that try to bash recycling and people who

would give there left arm to recycle. Hopefully, you have received some insightful information about this sensitive subject and decide for yourself. So next time you go to throw a beer bottle away at a Friday night party ask your self, “ Can I reuse this?” Who knows, you may be able to save enough bottles to build your own home.

Resources

Alter, Lloyd. 10/27/2008. “Buddhist Temple Built from Beer Bottles”.  Treehugger magazine       Retrieved from. http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/10/temple-built-from-beer-   bottles.php

Gogan, Rob. 2010. “Recycling and Solid Waste Removal”. Facilities Maintenance operations: Harvard University. Retrieved from http://www.uos.harvard.edu/fmo/recycling/myths.shtml.

Hutchinson, Alex. November 10, 2008 12:00 AM. Recycling Myths: PM Debunks 5 Half Truths   about Recycling. Popular Mechanics. Retrieved from             http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/recycling/4290631

Rosenburg, Saul (Fall,2010). “Environmental Effects of Recycling”. Ask A Scientist. Retrieved                 from http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/newton/askasci/1995/environ/ENV141.HTM

Woddell,David. ver. 2 – Mon, Feb 11, 2008 at 8:11:53 PM. Energy saved. National Geographic.               Retrieved from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/geopedia/E-Waste

Z., Mickey. Oct 27, 2009 . “Hit or Myth? A Dozen Dirty “Truths”. Planet Green. Retrieved from                      http://planetgreen.discovery.com/work-connect/dozen-truths-problem-false.html