Skip to main content

What's So Great About Recycling?

Recycling is integral to living a ‘greener’ life, but many people don’t really understand the environmental benefits of separating their rubbish for this purpose. Whilst it is perhaps clear that the less we recycle the more landfill space we use, the other environmental plus points of recycling are less widely appreciated. And there are many plus points, all of which add up to recycling being a crucial activity in combating climate change.

The reduction of landfill is certainly important, with space running out and landfill gases contributing themselves to global warming. But in addition to this are a number of other very good reasons for not simply discarding everything we use. In terms of raw materials, recycling reduces the consumption of these, which can have a very positive environmental impact. Use of materials such as wood is causing serious environmental issues, so recycling paper products is an easy way to reduce this requirement. In addition, the energy expended in making products from ‘virgin’ materials is offer much greater than using recycled materials. For example, each tonne of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 4000KW of energy and 7000 gallons of water! And similar savings apply for other materials. Recycling one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a computer for 25 minutes, whilst recycling two glass bottles saves enough to boil water for five cups of tea.

There are also added economic benefits of recycling. The recycling industry creates jobs when compared to landfilling rubbish, and income generated from selling second hand, and therefore recycled, products is vital for many charitable organisations.

So recycling is important, but is it easy? Well it is certainly getting easier as more and more rubbish is collected by local authorities in the UK for recycling. In addition, recycling centres are available in many communities for those items which would otherwise be destined for landfill sites. For other items, charity shops, online auction sites and car boot sales are a few of the options open to us, often making us money in the process.

Recycling has many benefits, not least those of an environmental nature. And with global warming reaching crisis point, every little helps.


Hayley_Jones

Comments

Tony Heywood said…
Thanks for the post it interesting to see the figures for what you save when you recycle. The one tonne = 17 trees is a nice one and I will past in onto my son who will use it at school.

There is also Freecycle. Its a cool way to save things from landfill sites and its free.

Also for kids toys, games etc I have found a great site called jumbleworld.

Toy Auctions

It is great fun for kids to use, safe and not a big business like ebay now is.
June 26, 2008 at 1:59 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How Loud is Your I - Nauseating Selfishness, Self Absorbed, Self Exalting

How loud is your I Yes, that's a question? In other words, how loud Do you defend yourself? How loud do you uplift self? How loud and long do you Assert and exert yourself In an effort to lord yourself Over others, sisters, and brothers? Acquaintances, any and all people Within close proximity of proud you Coercing, telling people what to do Pushing, shoving, and rarely loving Faintly yielding, never simply letting People be happy, nor live authentically On the contrary, do you seek to control? Dictate your will and contaminate the soul? If so, then you and the devil has often stole Time, talents, energy, resources, and life From precious people created in God's image Brutal and belligerent, you're marred visage Insecure and ignanimous bearing reproach As you try to live with yourself and cope Playing superior and pontificating royally It is you my dear who are actually the dope Perhaps you need to cleanse your heart Also your abrasive mouth with some soap Reckon your impol...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is "Green" Just a Fad?

Going "green" is nothing new. Long before the recent trends people have been trying to use healthier alternatives to toxin latent products for decades. In fact I have been using "green" products for most of my life. My question is very simple. Is going Green just a fad or is it really the right thing to do? Whether or not you have concerns of Global Warming or Green House Gases I believe that using environmentally friendly products (not just house hold cleaners) is the right thing to do, always. Below are just of the few statistics I have rounded up. Some are very shocking. The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years. About 110 million Americans live in areas with levels of air pollutants the federal government considers to be harmful. Americans dump 16 tons of sewage into their waters--every minute of every day. Although water covers two-thirds of the surface of the Earth, all the fresh water in lakes, stream...
1 comment
Read more

Online News : Nargis : Mayat mangsa masih dibiar bergelimpangan

Walaupun lebih lima minggu kejadian taufan Nargis melanda Dataran Irrawaddy, Myanmar, mayat-mayat mangsa terkorban masih boleh dilihat bergelimpangan di kiri dan kanan jalan. Malah lebih teruk, mayat-mayat itu dicampak ke dalam terusan atau kubur besar yang digali tanpa sebarang tanda. Pemerhati misi bantuan Kijang Care ke Myanmar, Syed Azidi Syed Aziz berkata, keadaan tempat yang dilanda taufan Nargis amat dahsyat dan sukar digambarkan kerana persekitarannya yang rosak teruk dan mayat mangsa korban masih dibiarkan begitu sahaja. “Berbanding Tsunami yang melanda Acheh pada 2004 lalu, memang segala-galanya musnah tetapi mangsa korban masih mendapat perhatian tetapi tidak di sini (Myanmar) usaha membersih kawasan yang dipenuhi mayat masih tidak dilaksana sepenuhnya lagi,” katanya yang baru pulang dari misi bantuan tersebut. Misi bantuan Kijang Care menjalankan operasi kemanusiaan di Myanmar bermula 2 hingga 6 Jun lalu yang disertai lima petugas membawa bekalan makanan, ubatan dan pakaian...
2 comments
Read more