Recycling

The world would be a better place if everyone would recycle.Recycling is one of the most misunderstood yet extremely important issues in our world today. Recycling is simply returning materials to their raw material components and then using these again to supplement or replace new materials in the manufacture of a new product. It is important for every person to take responsibility for his or her own contribution to the recycling effort. Recycling is known as reusing and restoring our garbage, most people don't understand it can also include donating old clothes to charitable organizations, reusing plastic containers to store food in the refrigerator, and many other activities we already participate in. Although recycling is everywhere in our lives, I will focus on our everyday waste products, why recycle them, how to recycle them, and if it is a worthwhile cause. There are a myriad of curbside recycling services operating nationwide, therefore, people can no longer make excuses for their lack of recycling. It is important that everyone becomes educated about recycling. This would lead to people making informed decisions about buying products which are recyclable and minimize the amount of garbage that cannot be recycled.Recycling 'healing' the Earth in many ways, such as helping to slow global warming, diminishing acid rain, reducing water pollution, conserving landfill space, and lowering pollutants in the air '. For four consecutive weeks, I collected my personal garbage and counted and/or weighed the respective products. I learned that many of the products I use can be recycled, however, I also realized that I need to make a more conscious effort to buy recyclable products. I noted everything in my journal, which gave a description of the garbage I collected and how it is divided into several categories which are: aluminum, other metals, glass, plastics, newspaper, white paper, other paper, and food products. I will discuss each group and how, or if, the products listed in the group can be recycled. Using aluminum can cut down on a lot of pollution. Virgin ore is a substitute for aluminum, but it is not healthy to the environment. By using recycled aluminum instead of virgin ore, we can eliminate 95 percent of air pollution and 97 percent of water pollution. More than 95 percent of all canned beverages are sold in aluminum containers. Aluminum is one of the easiest products to recycle. During my month of recording all the garbage, I noticed that I threw away a lot more than just aluminum cans. I also recycled pie plates, foil, frozen food and dinner trays, and some take-out containers. Other types of heavy aluminum include lawn furniture tubing, house siding, gutters, storm door and window frames, and even pots and pans. I counted 134 aluminum cans and 23 pieces of aluminum foil during my four weeks of collection. Recycling these cans is not only environmentally healthy, but are also economically 'healthy'. The aluminum cans I collected can be remelted and back on the shelves in supermarkets in as little as six weeks. Recycling aluminum saves energy. Aluminum can recycling saves 95% of the energy needed to make aluminum from bauxite ore. The aluminum can industry makes up to 20 times more cans for the same amount of energy when they use UBCs. Recycling has been an effective fundraiser for charities and civic organizations for more than 30 years. The aluminum industry annually pays out about $1 billion for empty aluminum beverage cans. Helping is as simple as taking your recyclable cans to your local recycling centers and designating the proceeds to a Habitat affiliate in your town.

In the category labeled other metals, there were two main types of products, food cans and metal hangers. Metal hangers are very easily recycled, even without the hastle of curbside assistance. They are just given back to the dry cleaning shop the next time you go to one, and this process by definition is called recycling. This act of kindness and intelligence not only shows how good of a person you are, but it also helps the store save money. These products contain steel, which is the most recycled item in the United States. Other common steel recyclables are automobiles, household appliances, railroad cars, and some industrial equipment. "More steel is recycled each year than all other materials combined and doubled". Food cans are also steel; they are also magnetic which makes them easy to sort at recycling centers. Most food cans are 1% tin plated, and 99% steel. Steel is recycled by separating it by grade and then torching and shredding the scrap into fist-size pieces. "The steel is then sold to a plant who will rework the steel and melt it into new steel products". Glass products were the next items on my list. The glass items I collected were beer bottles, wine bottles, and glass juice bottles. There are two main ways glass bottles can be recycled efficiently . They can be cleaned and reused, or they can be broken up and melted down to make new glass. As more people join the recycling movement, more bottles are collected, but this raises another problem - vast amounts of glass must often be separated by color, and metal pieces have to be removed. The expense of this extra handling sometimes leads to bottles being thrown away in a landfill site, after they were carefully collected. Over 5 billion glass bottles and jars are recycled every year. Needless to say, glass is 100 percent recyclable. This means that for every glass bottle returned to a recycling plant, one glass bottle can be produced. Another good thing about glass is that it never deteriorates. It can be recycled time after time and never disintegrate. "Glass containers generally cost less than containers made from plastic, paper, or metal". I collected more plastic items than any other item on the list. Some plastic containers are labeled as to what type of plastic the product contains. These codes are written on a triangle shape on the bottom of many plastic containers .The following is a list of the most common types of plastics: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), a lightweight, transparent plastic that is resistant to chemicals and moisture. High density polyethylene (HDPE) is used in milk jugs, two-liter soda bottles, and plastic grocery bags. Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a type of plastic used in flooring, records, vinyl siding, shower curtains, and garden hoses. Low-density polyethylene (LDPE) in cellophane wrap, diaper liners, and some squeeze bottles. Polypropylene (PP) is a light, highly resistant, thermoplastic resin used in packaging, coating, pipes, and tubes. Polystyrene (PS), commonly called styrofoam, is used in coffee cups, egg cartons, and almost all packing pellets. The two most common types of plastics from this group are PET and HDPE plastics. I collected mostly HDPE products for the project. Plastics appeal to packagers because