How important is Recycling?
There is a large portion of U.S states that actually have
laws that require their residents to recycle while a
handful of states do not!
Among the states that recycle are Tennessee,
Mississippi, Alabama, Ohio, Georgia, Delaware, Rhode
Island, New Hampshire, Alaska, Oregon, California,
Washington, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa,
Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Pennsylvania,
West Virginia, North and South Carolina, District of
Columbia, New York, Vermont, Hawaii and Connecticut.
*Though there’s an overwhelming majority of states
that recycle, 19 states are not making any efforts.
*This is a growing problem that needs attention!
To give you an idea of the problem, here are some facts:
1) According to Clean Air Council: Protecting
Everyone’s right to breathe clean air “every year,
American’s throw away enough paper and plastic
cups, forks and spoons to circle the equator 300
times.”
2) “Every year, Americans use approximately 1 billion
shopping bags, creating 300,000 tons of landfill
waste.”
3) “The average office worker in the U.S uses 10,000
sheets of copy paper each year.”
4) “The average American discards 4.43 lbs of
garbage every day” according to EPA Facts and
Figures.
5) “Every Sunday, more than 500,000 trees are used
to produced 88% of newspapers that are never
recycled” according to environmental facts.
6) “North Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic
bottles every hour.”
7) “The average college students produces 640 lbs of
solid waste each year, including 500 disposable
cups and 320 lbs of paper.”
Now that’s you’ve heard some facts, let me provide you
with some information on how you can help.
A lot of people and maybe yourself might be wondering
how can I recycle and what materials can be recycled?
Well first I’m going to tell you how to set up your
recycling bin at your local address. Most of the time
especially here in Oregon, the garbage service you pay
for includes a garbage container, a yard debris
container and a yellow bucket for recycling glass. Go to
your local garbage service and ask about recycling. They
should be able to give you more information. If you have
aluminum pop, beer or tea cans keep those in a garbage
bag at home and when it’s full those can be taken to
local stores that have recycling bins in Oregon that
credit you 0.05 cents per can.
If you do not have a local store with recycling bins that
credit you 0.05 cents per can, there are other options.
You can go to the garbage service you use and ask them
where you can recycle cans.
So what can be recycled?
Among the materials that can be recycled are: plastic
jugs, plastic bottles, plastic tubs, shredded paper, phone
books, mail, mixed paper and catalogs, magazines,
newspapers and inserts, glass jars and bottles,
aluminum cans, clean metal food cans, boxboard, cereal
boxes, frozen food boxes and flattened cardboard.
So what cannot be recycled?
The materials that cannot be put in your recycling bin
are batteries or electronics, Styrofoam containers,
Styrofoam peanuts or packaging, hazardous or toxic
product containers, light bulbs, drinking glasses and
other glassware, plastic bags, flower pots, plastic toys,
pots and pans, scrap metal, ceramics, wax-coated paper
drink contains (juice boxes), aerosol cans, plastic and
metal hangers, foil, food and wet waste, food
contaminated paper plates and napkins.
Now you’re probably wondering there are so many
things that I cannot recycle so what can I do with them?
You can donate your unwanted electronics to local
stores such as Best Buy, Dell, LG or Nokia which will
haul away those material for you. For the non-electronic
items such as hazardous or toxic products, you can take
those to a local facility. For Oregon, the Metro South
Station and Metro Central Station offer services to
disposing safely those materials. The fee for their
service is $5 for 35 gallons of household hazardous
waste. If you are interested in bringing materials to
these two locations, their number is 503-234-3000.
Now what about plastic bags?
You can use your plastic bags from a local grocery store
as garbage bags for something else. It’s a great way to
use your resources without going and buying new
garbage bags.
To reduce the amount of plastic water bottles that are
thrown away each year, you can purchase a metal water
bottle. This way you’re helping the environment, can
reuse the water bottle and your reducing how many
water bottles are wasted.
Styrofoam is often used for family gatherings and getto-gethers but it is also the worst non-recyclable item
that we can use. Instead of using Styrofoam, buy paper
products or reusable plastic kitchen products.
Remember one person can make a difference, but it
takes more to make an impact. Let’s make change
together and reduce our carbon footprint! Reduce,
Reuse and Recycle!
A clean Earth is a happy Earth!