Cem YILDIRIM
Cynthia APOLLO
Com 102 Section 11
Short Essay Draft 1
Recycling
Today, in our globalized world, people consume stuff more than they
produce. So where does all this stuff come from? We extract it from the earth,
produce it in factories, distribute it to the whole world and people consume it
and dispose it. This is the linear system of stuff as Annie Leonard explained in
her article ‘Story of Stuff’. But what happens if we keep extracting and
extracting? What happens when we have left with nothing to extract? Because
the Earth has limited sources, and we use them like there is no tomorrow, one
day there will be no water, no air, no mining facilities, no forests or no fishes. So
instead of using stuff and dispose it, we need to make this linear system a cycle.
Instead of disposing, if people can find a way to complete the cycle, then we can
put them into production stage again, so there will be no need for extraction.
When we recycle our stuff, used materials are converted into new
products, reducing the need to consume natural resources. Also recycling
reduces energy usage, reduce air and water pollution. It decreases the amount of
waste sent to landfills or incinerators. If used materials are not recycled, new
materials are made by extracting fresh, raw materials from the earth, through
mining and forestry. Unfortunately, the earth is running out of resources. We are
using too much stuff, more than we produce. We destroy forests, to make paper,
we dig the earth and blow up mountains, to get the metals inside, we use all the
water without thinking. Annie Leonard claims that recycling will not help to
solve the problem, but you cannot do Green Chemistry, Zero Waste, Renewable
Energy or Closed Leap Production before you teach people how to recycle.
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Cem YILDIRIM
Cynthia APOLLO
Com 102 Section 11
Short Essay Draft 1
Today, our world, most of the people don’t recycle plastic, paper, glass, bottles,
cans or aluminum. If we teach them how to recycle these materials, than the new
produced materials will be from old materials. Also the linear process of stuff
becomes a cycle, if people extract, produce, distribute, consume, dispose and
recycle. Than the whole process starts al over again with the same materials, and
without extraction. When every people are aware of this problem and start
recycling, we can start using Annie Leonard’s suggestions.
Recycling has huge effects on environment, because it minimizes the need
for raw materials such as oil. Also using recycled material reduces the energy use
and carbon emission during the production process. And lastly transport impacts
are reduced. To produce a car from raw materials, you need to collect from all
over the world. The engines are made in Europe, the steel comes from Asia,
electronics comes from USA and they are all assembled in Japan or China, and
shipped back all over the world. But what if we produce a car from recycled
materials? Countries such as China are prepared to pay high prices for
recyclables, because they don’t have available sources for raw materials, and
they have a large manufacturing industry. In addition to all, using recycled
materials during the production process uses less energy than using raw
materials. By recycling aluminum, people save up to 95% of the energy than
regular production. Also recycling glass, paper, plastic and steel saves up the
energy by 20%-70%. Also it reduces the air pollution by 75%. It also cuts down
the energy use for extraction, because there will be no need for it.
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Cem YILDIRIM
Cynthia APOLLO
Com 102 Section 11
Short Essay Draft 1
Recycling is the best option for now, so the people and the governments
have to find a way to make people recycle. There are few ways to do it. In some
countries government pays container deposit. When people buy a product in a
container, a small charge is added to the price. So when the container is returned
to a collection point, the charge is paid back. This program showed 80% of
recycling rate. Also government can ban the disposal of such materials, as oil,
batteries, tires, etc. These products are toxic and they pollute nature for
thousand of years until they fully dissolve.
So, recycling is the way to keep the cycle going. We cannot extract
materials forever, because they are limited and we can’t use so much energy,
while we can use less. We need to help the environment by giving back what we
take. After disposal, we need to recycle our stuff to put it in production again,
without extraction.
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