Patricia Speights, MPH Student
Walden University
Aspects of Environment Health: Local to Global (PUBH-6165)
Instructor: Dr. Robert Marino
Fall, 2010
Learning Outcomes Define recycling
Understand the importance of recycling
Recall the types of products that can be recycled
Recognized the facts surrounding products to be recycled
Define global warming
Define the cause of global warming
Recognized how to start a recycling program in a community
Pollution can be effectively managed by reducing reusing, and recycling
Reducing –simply means to cut back
Reusing – means to use an item more than once.
Reference:Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2010)Reduce, reuse, recycle, buy recycled, Retrieved on October 18, 2010 from http://www.epa.gov/region9/waste/solid/reduce.html#reuse
What is recycling
Recycling is the process of taking a product at the end of its useful life and using all or part of it to make another product.
Reference:Earth 911 (2010). Recycling 101. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://earth911.com/recycling/
Things that can be used again or recycled include
•Plastic•Paper•Glass•Aluminum•Batteries•Electronics, etc
RecyclingSymbols and numbers What the numbers mean
1 – The easiest to recycle (normally consist of soda and water bottles as well as many other common food packages.
2 – Easy to recycle as well. Mostly used to package bleach, detergents, milk, containers, hair products, etc.
3 – Found in pipes, toys, furniture, packaging
4 – Use for many types of wrapping such as grocery bags and sandwich bags
5 – Mostly used in clothing, tubs, ropes, bottles, auto parts
6 – Mostly used in coffee cups, foam food trays, packaging peanuts
7 – Could be a mixture of any of the above or plastics not readily recycle
Reference:Green living tips (2010). Recycling by the numbers. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/187/1/Recycling-by-the-numbers.html
Benefits of recycling Can help save energy and water
Can help reduce overcrowding in landfills
Can help reduce air pollution
Can help create jobs
References:Environment Green (2010). Recycling facts and the benefits of recycling. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.environment-green.com/Recycling Revolution (2010). Recycling facts. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
Facts about Recycling
Did you know that If all our newspaper was recycled, we could save about
250,000,000 trees each year!
To produce each week's Sunday newspapers 500,000 trees must be cut down.
The average household throws away 13,000 separate pieces of paper each year.
Reference:Recycling Revolution (2010). Recycling facts. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
Did you also know that Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV
for three hours -- or the equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline.
We use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans every year.
Reference:Recycling Revolution (2010). Recycling facts. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
Plastic Recycling Facts We use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour! Most of them are
thrown away!
We throw away 25,000,000,000 Styrofoam coffee cups every year
Reference:Recycling Revolution (2010). Recycling facts. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
Tire Recycling Facts
• In the U.S., 920 million tires were used for non-commercial vehicles on the road in 2005, and every year on average, 290 million tires are disposed of. That’s about one tire per person in this country alone. Approximately 27 million tires, or nine percent, are said to be discarded in landfills.
Reference:Earth 911 (2010). Facts about tires. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://earth911.com/recycling/automotive/tires/facts-about-tires/
Electronic Recycling Facts Although e-waste accounts for only 1 to 4 percent of municipal
waste, it may be responsible for as much as 70 percent of the heavy metals in landfills, including 40 percent of all lead.
In the U.S., we generate an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of e-waste in 2006 alone. This includes about 44 million computers and televisions.
Only 10% of wireless devices are being recycled
References:Earth 911 (2010). E-waste harmful material. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://earth911.com/recycling/electronics/e-waste-harmful-materials/ERecyclingCorps (2010). Reducing e-waste through reuse. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://www.erecyclingcorps.com/t-Environment.aspx;
Glass Recycling FactsEvery month, we throw out enough glass bottles and jars to fill up a giant skyscraper. All of these containers are 100% recyclable! In fact they can be recycled endlessly.
Reference:Recycling Revolution (2010). Recycling facts. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
Effects of not recycling
Solid Waste and Landfills The US population discards each year 16,000,000,000 diapers,
1,600,000,000 pens, 2,000,000,000 razor blades, 220,000,000 car tires, and enough aluminum to rebuild the US commercial air fleet four times over.
Reference: Recycling Revolution (2010). Recycling facts. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
Health Conditions that can occur from pollution Respiratory problems such as asthma
Cancer
Premature Death
Behavioral disorders
Kidney disease
Neurological disorders
Cardiovascular problems
Reference:Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2010). About air toxics. Retrieved November 6, 2010 from http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/allabout.html
Other effects of not recycling can cause
Global Warming
What is Global Warming
Global warming is an increase in the temperature of Earth’s surface.
Reference:National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (2007). Global warming. Retrieved on October 18, 2010 from http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html
What causes Global Warming
It occurs from an overabundance of carbon dioxide and other air pollution that traps the sun’s heat and causes the earth to warm up.
Reference:National Resource Defense Council (2010). Global warming basics. Retrieved on October 18, 2010 from http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/f101.asp#1
What you can you do to help reduce global warming and pollution Recycle food packaging (paper, plastic, aluminum, bottles,
cans, etc.
Buy in bulk
Choose fresh and local instead of packaged food
Bank online
Opt out of solicitation mail
Recycle used oil
Have a garage sale
Greenscape your lawn
Buy recycled products with recycled content.Reference:Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2010). Reduce, reuse, recycle: practice the 3 r’s inside and out. Retrieved on October 18 from http://www.epa.gov/wastes/wycd/downloads/consumer.pdf
Other ways to help
If a recycling program exists in your community, start today by recycling your recyclable household items. If your community does not have a recycling program, help start one.
To start a recycling program in your community
Contact elected officials in your area
Contact your local solid waste department
Reference:Earth 911 (2010). Recycling 101. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://earth911.com/how-to/how-to-start-a-recycling-program/
Questions
References: Earth 911 (2010). Recycling 101. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://earth911.com/recycling/
Environment Green (2010). Recycling facts and the benefits of recycling. Retrieved on October 7, 2010 from http://www.environment-green.com/
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). (2010). Reduce, reuse, recycle: practice the 3 r’s inside and out. Retrieved on October 18 from http://www.epa.gov/wastes/wycd/downloads/consumer.pdf
ERecyclingCorps (2010). Reducing e-waste through reuse. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://www.erecyclingcorps.com/t-Environment.aspx;
Green Living Tips (2010). Recycling by the numbers. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/187/1/Recycling-by-the-numbers.html
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). (2007). Global warming. Retrieved on October 18, 2010 from http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html
National Center for Electronic Recycling (2007). About ncer. Retrieved on October 5, 2010 from http://www.electronicsrecycling.org/public/
National Resource Defense Council (2005). Global warming basics. Retrieved on October 18, 2010 from http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/f101.asp#1
Recycling Revolution (2010). Recycling facts. Retrieved on October 13, 2010 from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html
Word Reference.com (2010). Recycling. Retrieved on October 24, 2010 from http://www.wordreference.com/definition/recycling
Sources for further reading http://earth911.com/recycling/ - this site provides information concerning
everything you need to know about recycling http://www.environment-green.com/ - this site provides recycling facts and
benefits http://www.epa.gov/wastes/conserve/index.htm - this site provides a list of
efforts and resources to conserve energy at home and work Electronics Recycling Directory: Directory of recyclers and others involved in
the electronics recycling industry -http://www.electronicsrecyclingdirectory.com/
1800Recycling.com: Directory of recycling locations and other green topics, including electronics recycling locations - http://1800recycling.comhttp://www.mygreenelectronics.org/ - this site enables you to do a search by zip code to find electronics recyclers in your area.
http://www.eiae.org/ - this site allows you to do a state-by-state search for electronics recyclers by using their "clickable" map.
http://earth911.org/electronics/ - this site enables you to do a search by zip code to find electronics recyclers in your area
Reference:National Center for Electronic Recycling (2007). About ncer. Retrieved on October 5, 2010 from http://www.electronicsrecycling.org/public/