Pace Paw Print

Media Credit: plymouth.edu These logos are placed outside of many bins so they can be easily located

Media Credit: egtrashrecycleservices.org Become aware of what should be recycled

Air pollution has a greater risk on your health than you may have thought-toxic air pollutants put you at risk for cancer, neurological issues, immune system depression, reproductive problems, and more. You are at risk of being contaminated from different factors. These risk factors include breathing in contaminated air caused from not recycling, eating contaminated foods such as fish from contaminated ocean water, or making skin contact with any contaminated product.

Air pollution also contributes to global warming. Global warming is the rise of temperature in the Earth's atmosphere partially due to destruction of low ozone levels. An increase in temperature of the atmosphere dramatically affects our health. The ozone layers wouldn't able to protect us from harmful rays and particles. These particles can infect our lungs, causing many respiratory problems.

Also associated with global warming is an increase in heavy rainfall which leads to an increase in disease outbreaks. This contributes to more hospitalization due to various reasons. One way to help prevent global warming and to reduce air pollution is recycling.

If these health issues haven't yet convinced you, take a look at these fun facts that may change your mind.

Let's start off with metals. Aluminum is a substance that does not disintegrate. This means that if an aluminum can was thrown into a landfill, it wouldn't decompose-it would still be there 500 years later.

Recycling aluminum and steel saves a lot of energy. For instance, one can of aluminum provides enough energy to run a TV for three hours. In addition, each year, aluminum cans become lighter in weight. In 1972, a pound of aluminum made 22 cans; today it makes 29. After recycling one pound of aluminum, it takes only six weeks to reuse that aluminum. Fortunately, aluminum can be recycled over a hundred times.

With one pound of steel, a light bulb has sufficient amount of power to last for an entire day. Recycling of steel in the Unites States for one year offers enough energy to supply 18 million homes with heat and light. For every ton of recycled steel, 2,500 pounds of iron ore, one thousand pounds of coal, and 40 pounds of limestone are saved.

Paper is another recyclable product that ends up in landfills. Separating paper from other waste products can save millions of trees. In order for manufacturers to put out each week's Sunday newspaper, half a million trees are cut down. By recycling one copy of a Sunday newspaper, 75,000 trees can be saved. If every person recycled only one tenth of a newspaper, 25 million trees would be conserved each year. All types of paper such as notebook paper, printer painter, construction paper, receipts, etc., can help preserve the trees that we need for oxygen supply.

On average, Americans use seven trees a year (per person) for paper. That is equivalent to 680 pounds of paper per person or 85 million tons across America. The amount thrown away each year is enough to heat 50 million homes for 20 years. Statistics prove that for each ton of recycled paper, 17 trees can be saved, as well as 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy, and 7,000 gallons of water. This is equivalent to a 64 percent savings of energy, 58 percent savings of water, and 60 pounds less of air pollution.

In addition to steel and paper, plastic is often thrown into a garbage can instead of a recycle bin. Every hour 2,500,000 plastic bottles are thrown away in garbage cans, on the street, and even in oceans. Plastic items thrown away in the ocean are responsible for the death of nearly one million sea creatures every year. Taking the time to properly dispose plastic saves money; it costs twice as much to burn plastic in an incinerator than to reuse it.

Glass bottles take up to 4,000 years to decompose. If it is thrown into a landfill, it takes even longer. Recycling one glass bottle is enough energy to run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. Making a glass bottle from raw materials causes 20 percent more air pollution and 50 percent more water pollution in comparison to making it from recycled material. Transporting the raw materials necessary to produce glass bottles creates close to 385 pounds of waste for every ton of glass made. If recycled, the waste is lowered by 80 percent.

Unfortunately many of these products are thrown into landfills because people choose not to recycle. It may seem easier to throw things in the nearest garbage, but if you purchase a recycling bin, the task becomes even easier. Place the recycling bin near the trash can. That way you can easily throw your recyclable product in the bin instead of the trash can. Choosing to recycle saves energy and natural resources. Saving money now may result in a decrease in pricing on aluminum, steel, paper, and bottles if manufacturers don't have to spend as much to remake the same items. Our natural resources are being demolished at an increasingly rapid rate. Rain forests are being cut down at an average speed of 100 acres per minute.

It is evident that taking the time to recycle will help improve our natural resources and health. If we begin to make changes now, we will be helping generations to come. It's time to end the trend of not recycling by taking the time to think about how much we all can benefit from properly disposing our waste.

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