Lavinia
I go to the supermarket and purchase a plastic bottle of water. When I get home, I will drink that water and put the plastic bottle into our green bin. The green bin is our recycling bin. My family and myself recycle plastics, cardboards, glasses, and other reusable materials. Recycling is one of the best ways to help one of the main issues of the planet. But how exactly is it helping and how can we – humans – further help the excess of human waste?
Every bit of recycling helps, whether you are putting a plastic spoon in the right bin or placing a huge cardboard box into a large dumpster. There’s no denying the fact that Earth has a huge plastic and garbage waste problem. Unfortunately, the oceans take most of the brunt. There is estimated to be between 93,000 to 236,000 metric tons of floating micro plastics in the ocean (Sebille, 2016). All of these pieces of plastic are forming together to make hazardous floating islands that are a threat to marine life. Nations produce 1.3 billion tons of waste per year (Sebille, 2016). On land, there are mountains of garbage.
However, the world isn’t so gloom. Many countries are finding creative and healthy ways to recycle and reduce waste. Take Uganda, for example, in slums of Kampala, Ruganzu Bruno, an economist, has made and designed an amusement park out of plastics, tins, cardboards, and other recyclable material for the poor in that area (Goodnet, 2016). On a more expensive scale, Sweden has found a way to recycle waste into reusable material or into energy of different kinds (Sweden, 2017). Every household in Sweden has a strict organized system with different wastes. Garbage trucks, which run to electricity, take these pieces of glass, paper, plastic, and other materials to industrial units. These units recycle materials into other material to be reused. Newspapers are turned into paper mass, bottles are melted to form new items, and plastic items are transforming into raw plastic material (Sweden, 2017). In Hong Kong, a park has been constructed above a waste mountain (Goodnet, 2016).
All of these countries are trying to help the waste problem in the world, but where is the improvement? Believe it or not, recycling is making a huge different. By recycling you keep approximately a third of the soil waste out of our landfills. Recycling also helps save nature and natural resources. In fact, one ton of aluminum cans recycled save more than 1665 gallons of gas. Multiple environmental foundations like BlueGreen Alliance, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Recycling Works! agree that by 2030 the United States will have diverted 75 percent American’s waste coast-to-coast. With this goal, the United State will have also created 1.5 million jobs (Scientific American, 2017).
Recycling doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact recycling can be simple as using both sides of a piece of paper. You can reduce waste by simply not choosing to drink with a plastic straw. Even the little things help with recycling, for example, use glass containers or reusable bags instead of plastics. Instead of throwing away old clothes, donate them (Rethink Recycling, 2017). Some artists even take old parts of bikes and turn them into light displays (Taylor, 2017). Progress is happening everyday with each little step.
There are other positive effects recycling gives us. Firstly, recycling creates millions of jobs. Secondly, recycling saves nature. Thirdly, recycling keeps oceans cleaner. Recycling is a great way to reduce waste and pollution. There are countries all around the world that are helping in every single way they can. Every individual that helps with recycling is helping fix one of the many problems of the Earth, because recycling is making a difference.
Citations:
Sebille, Erik. “How much plastic is there in the ocean?” World Economic Forum. World Economic Forum. 12 Jan. 2016. Web. 19 June, 2017.
Simmons, Ann. “The World’s trash crisis and why many Americans are oblivious.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. 22 April, 2016. Web. 19 June, 2017.
“5 Countries with a creative approach to Trash disposal.” GOODNET. GOODNET. 27 July, 2015. Web. 19 Jun, 2017.
“The Swedish Recycling Revolution.” Sweden Suerige. Sweden Suerige. 29 March, 2017. Web. 19 June, 2017.
Kinhal, Vijayalaxmi. “What Impact Does Recycling Have on the Environment?” Lovetoknow. Lovetoknow. 2016. Web. June 22, 2017.
“Recycling Basics.” Environmental Topics. United States Environmental Protection Agency. May 5, 2017. Web. June 22, 2017.
“Are Benefits of Recycling Worth All the Effort?” Conserve Energy Future. Conserve Energy Future. 2017. Web. 22 June, 2017.
“Recycling Statistics.” BYU IDAHO. BYU IDAHO. 2016. Web. 26 June, 2017.
Scheer, Roddy. Moss, Goug. “After 40 Years, has recycling lived up to its billing?” Scientific American. Scientific American. 2017. Web. 27 June, 2017.
“Top 10 Ways to Reduce Waste.” Rethink Recycling. Rethink Recycling. 2017. Web. 27 June, 2017.
Taylor, Alan. “Recycling Around the World.” The Atlantic. The Atlantic. 9 Nov. 2011. Web. 27 June, 2017.
