recyclingFacts and figures, reasons, and why it

makes you awesome

Recycling has been practiced for thousands of years… before the industrial revolution, it was cheaper to recycle and re-use something than manufacture it.

Recycling history

Time went by… and human population grew.

The need for more and more goods And products made a push to recycling

With the industrial revolution it became easier to manufacture new products than fix, recycle and reuse the ones already made.

The need for a large scale recycling program started to arise

Population growth also brought about more and more solid waste, increasing the need for more and more landfills.

During the industrial revolution, the thirst for more and more also brought about another “awesome” social aspect… child labor.

Ah! Almost forgot…

This was a time in history when we had depression and war. These two combined forced us to make an effort in recycling and reusing goods out of necessity.

30s and the 40s

Time went by… and then came the 60s and 70s and besides cool clothes and hippies also brought Earth Day and an increased awareness about the environment.

Recovery in the economy and growth brought back a thirst for more and bigger goods… big cars and a booming economy … we consumed more and more as well…

and we generated more and more trash and waste as well..

The first Earth day was celebrated in 1970 (I know, right!?) and it was local movement coming from San Francisco, CA. It brought to light some environmental issues that were largely unknown to the general public.

The idea was from a Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson after a massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, CA.

As a result 20 million Americans took the streets for a better healthier living.

Earth Day contributions

Landfill space Energy savings (sometimes) Cost Save trees (paper, cardboard) More employment And it makes you an awesome person,

better than those who don’t recycle.

Reasons torecycle

One of the main reasons for recycling is to reduce the amount of solid waste that is taken to the landfills… less landfill space.. Means more space to play, live.. Etc

Landfill space

In the 80s Americans were dumping 137 million metric tons of garbage in landfills…

Today we dump approx 91 million metric tons of garbage in the nation’s landfills.

Recycling efforts today in the USA are around 30% of produced recyclable materials. That is about 55 million metric tons that do not end up in landfills. That is awesome!

We still live in a fossil fuel dependent economy. Even though there are other fuels and some countries that use alternative fuels in large scale (including the USA) we still depend on dirrrty fuels…. Think coal, oil…

energy

Recycling some materials utilize less energy than making materials new from raw natural resources

We can save some trees, energy mainly in the production of aluminum.

Here at Central, as an example, we pay to have our garbage, solid waste collected. The more we recycle the less money we have to invest in… well… garbage… and more $$$ for student activities, materials, sports.. And iPads!

cost

OK, this is a delicate issue, since one can argue that less need for new materials, say: aluminum cans, there will be less jobs in the aluminum cans manufacturing business… however…

There are then more jobs in the cans recycling facilities, more recycling… more people needed to work on those facilities… also more people to collect and sort materials.. And also manufacturing recycled materials does need workers.

So .. It’s all good.

More employment

Recycling saves trees

But.. What do those plastic recycling codes mean????

Plastic recycling codes

Recycle plastics marked with a number 1, 2, 4, 5 or 7, including: Bottles with a 1, 2, 4, 5 or 7   

Don’t recycle: Plastics marked with #3 or #6Plastic used

to dispose of needles (label and dispose of in the trash):Toys Plastic bags Bottles that contain or have contained hazardous materials, like motor oil, antifreeze or pesticides.   

Saint Paul

Dude… you’re awesomegirl…. You’re awesome too!