Tiani Orr
Period 5
March 11, 2014
Recycling Is Worth It
There are few things in life that can’t be replaced with money. A broken car can be fixed
at a repair shop for a fee; a soiled dress can be fixed at the dry cleaners for a couple dollars; a
wacky TV or phone can be replaced with a price. There is, however, one thing we all share that
cannot be replaced with any sum of cash, credit, or check. We all share this beautiful planet
earth and all use up a fair share of it. But our planet is being soiled with our trash and burdened
with our chemicals on a daily basis, and if we don’t clean up our act, this earth may not be very
beautiful for much longer. This planet could turn into a real life WALL-E, overrun with garbage,
chemicals, and cockroaches. Some may argue that the act of recycling is not worth the cost and
the energy; however, the only way to keep this planet alive and well is to preserve it, which
means we must recycle. Recycling is worth it because it upholds the environment, reduces
landfill sizes, and enhances our economy.
In the early stages of humanity, goods were not easy to come by. Most goods were
made by hand or slow machines, so every last fiber counted. Most everybody practiced
recycling in some way. Old clothes were cut and sewn into new ones, and an old, broken down
wheelbarrow could be cut up and rearranged into a chair. As the industrial age rolled around
and goods were created faster and cheaper, it made more sense to just throw the used or
broken item away and buy a new one. On the other hand, during the next years of economic
depressions and war years, such as the Great Depression and World War ӀӀ, goods were again
1
recycled because of the inability to purchase new ones, or for use in the war effort. After the
depression and the war years ended, the economy and industrialization rebuilt itself,
diminishing the idea of recycling. (Grabinowski, “How Recycling Works”) An observational
study on Residential Curbside recycling states:
In 1992, recycling of solid waste was estimated to be only 17 percent of U.S. solid waste
products. In comparison, Japan recycles 40% of its municipal solid waste, and some
West European countries are approaching a 60% figure. Thus, the United States has a
potential for much more recycling. (Oskamp et al. 1)
When we do not recycle to our full potential, the environment, plants and animals
suffer the consequences more than we do as humans.
From outer space, the world looks blue and green, and the snow capped mountains look
white. The continents appear green, and that, my friend, is not an optical illusion. The green
comes from the lush forests and shrubbery springing up from the crust of the Earth. The
piercing blue comes from the crystal clear waters of the oceans, lakes, and rivers that wind
their way so carefully through the continents. The white comes from the jagged peaks and
narrow drop offs of the majestic mountains. This land may be spectacular and awe-inspiring
now, but what will happen when our waste and debris begin to spread over into these natural
marvels? Imagine the next generation of kindergarteners looking at a snapshot of our world
from the International Space Station, but instead of pointing out the awe inspiring forest green
and the stunning blue, the teacher points to the large brown clumps under the haze that fills
the atmosphere and identifies them as the continents. The idea of the dull colored earth is not
2
the only problem, with all of the pollution and trash floating around in the atmosphere, the
biosphere of the earth will be in grave danger.
The biosphere of this planet is an amazing thing in and of itself. Naturally, ecosystems
take a change in the environment and grow to survive. When a great deal of unnatural, humanmade waste is dumped on the ecosystem, there is little chance that the plants and animals will
benefit and adapt to this change. A study published in the Marine Ecology Progress Journal
Series states that, “nine percent of the fish collected during [the study] contained plastic waste
in their stomachs.” (Aguilera) The research also states that the fish were malnourished because
of partial blockage of the stomach and intestines and had a 45% chance of living to lay eggs the
next spawning season. (Aguilera) When one part of an ecosystem falls out of place, it affects
every other living thing in that ecosystem, and could potentially start the decline of that
ecosystem. When an entire ecosystem fails, those ecosystems around it are also affected. The
results could be disastrous, not only for the plants and animals, but for us as well. For example,
the fresh water mussel is just as exposed to human waste, mainly plastic, in its habitat as any
other animal. The mussel may not seem as big of a deal if it became extinct compared to a wolf;
however, if the species did die off because of ingestion of plastics, it lead to the smaller animals
dying off at first, then the larger animals, then the larger ones, and soon our sources of food,
such as cows and chickens, are disappearing. An ecosystem is like a tapestry with fine threads
woven throughout. The only way one strand stays intact is because it is held together by the
others. If one thread is taken out, the rest will soon start to fall out of place. One of those
threads is us. When we recycle, we help to keep the harmful garbage out of plant’s and
3
animal’s habitats and allow nature to grow and flourish naturally, which, in turn, improves our
lives.
It can be argued that recycling is not worth the cost. According to Joshua Duvauchelle,
health journalist for “Alive” health magazine, “The cost of collecting and processing recyclable
materials can be higher than it would be to send the waste material to a landfill. Processing
costs may also run higher than the value of the final recycled product, according to the National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.” (Duvauchelle) While some may believe this to be
true, a correctly run Reduce, Reuse, Recycle plan can actually save the United States money by
retaining our natural and virgin resources. Ashley Micks, from Stanford University, confirms,
“With a well-designed program and the right technology, recycling can be more efficient in
terms of energy, money, and natural resources when compared to a system that manufactures
everything from virgin materials and sends it all to landfills when consumers discard it.”(Micks)
Rather than using these precious natural resources, the same products that can be made from
recyclables and exported to other countries, thus counteracting the cost of recycling. Also, the
value of land preserved by recycling can, over time, exceed the cost of recycling the materials.
The land used for purposes other than for land filling can house businesses that will bring in
more revenue than will be spent to recycle materials. If the land is used for business, the cost
for recycling will be counteracted and then some.
Our lives can be improved by being able to settle and establish a home and a career to
raise a family in any given city. This can be hard to achieve when more and more land is being
used for landfills and leaves less and less land for building homes, businesses and more.
4
Imagine looking on Google Maps and finding the perfect place to build your dream business and
home. However, when you get there, you see that it is actually a landfill partially covered with
dirt and sorry little plants trying to survive in the hill of waste. It is unlikely that anyone could
build anything worthwhile on the dump ground, which leaves hopes and dreams lying on the
ground with the rest of the garbage. Landfill sizes need to decrease to allow families and lives
to grow in a good, solid, clean city. Recycling reduces the amount of waste sent to the dump by
23 percent. ("Municipal Solid Waste") This number prevents over 60 million extra tons of trash
from sitting on the ground taking up space that could be used for more profitable purposes.
We dump over 100 million tons into landfills every year in the United States. With that
much garbage sitting together buried under the earth, some trouble is bound to come from it.
Landfills have a whole slew of chemicals smashed together and suffocated under the ground
which can cause problems that we may not be able to see. “The assortment of chemicals
thrown into landfills, plus the chemicals that result when garbage breaks down and blends into
a toxic soup known as leachate, creates huge amounts of pollution. Leachate can drain out of
the landfill and contaminate groundwater supplies.” (Grabianowski “Benefits”) If we choose to
recycle, we can greatly decrease the amount of recyclable materials being thrown into these
landfills and contributing to the chemical soup and decrease the sizes of landfills, leaving land
open for living and growing.
Another important aspect of human life that is impacted by recycling is our economy.
Recycling directly creates jobs, indirectly influences other jobs, puts more money in the pockets
of the people, creates positive competition with other companies, stimulates the inventions of
5
green technology, and competes with waste disposal costs. A study by the Recycling Economic
Information found that the recycling industry employs 1.1 million people, and generates an
annual payroll of 37 billion dollars. The recycling industry, however, does not just benefit itself;
it indirectly benefits 1.4 million other jobs. ("South Carolina Department of Health and
Environmental Control") For example Scentco Incorporated has a line of products made from
recycled materials. These products include fragranced office supplies called Smencils, Smens,
Smarkers, and Smanimals. The products are made from 100 percent recycled newspapers,
environmentally friendly fragrances, and are packaged in corn-based biodegradable packaging.
(“Scentco Gourmet Scented Products") The recycling industry puts many more jobs and more
money into the pockets of the people and enhances our economy.
The recycling is not the worthless business it is often portrayed to be. Recycling is a very
good competitor for other companies because it allows materials that would otherwise be
waste products become usable resources. Instead of having to harvest virgin materials, which
depletes the amount of natural resources in our country, or import materials from other
countries to create goods, previously used materials can be utilized to create items that are just
as high or higher quality. Goods made from recyclable materials are on the market and are
often cheaper than goods made from non-recycled materials. Alongside being cheaper, these
products are eco-friendly because they use fewer chemicals and use recycled materials. For
example, the Dakine Men’s Surf Pack is made from 100 percent recycled PET fabric, which
comes from plastic bottles, and doesn’t use PVC coating, which is an environmental toxin, while
it is being created. This pack is 40 dollars cheaper than the same kind of surf pack that is made
with non-recycled materials. (McCarthy) As you can see, recycled products give non-recycled
6
products some real competition, which, in turn, makes both companies strive to work harder
and create better goods to outdo their competition. All of this competition creates more goods
and more variety for us, the consumers, to choose from.
Recycling does more than create more jobs and come up with cool items made.
Recycling gives another option to choose from when looking at methods of removing garbage
from residential areas. It can often be cheaper to recycle than to pay the cost of disposing solid
waste from our homes and taking them to landfills and incinerators. The cost for removing
waste from homes has been increasing steadily (Apotheker) which makes recycling make more
economic sense. “Recycling encourages the development of more environmentally friendly
products” ("South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control") and green
technologies. For example, in South Carolina, extra tires are used to create rubberized asphalt
for paving roads. More examples consist of 3D printers, innovative solar panels in the shape of
ivy leaves, and spray on solar panels are green technologies that have been created because of
recycling. (Yoneda)
Recycling really is worth it. The lives of the fish swimming in the sea are worth it. The life
of the great big moose is worth it. The lives of the little ducklings waddling through the pond
are worth it. Don’t let the plants and animals pay the price for us throwing things away
unnecessarily. Their land and home should never have to become our dumping ground. Our
economy is worth recycling. Who doesn’t want more job opportunities and money in their
pocket? Recycling can do that for everyone. So next time you are debating about where to put
that plastic bottle, think about the ducklings, think about the fish, think about the dollars you
7
will help save. Think about the jobs, think about the landfills, and think about your kids. That is
when you will know just where that bottle belongs; in that perfect green bin labeled
“Recycling.”
8
Works Cited
Aguilera, Mario. "Plastic Trash Altering Ocean Habitats, Scripps Study Shows." Scripps Institution
of Oceanography, UC San Diego |. N.p., 08 May 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
<https://scripps.ucsd.edu/news/1847>.
Apotheker, Steve. "Recycling." Journal of Resource Recycling 1st ser. 1.1 (n.d.): 1-4. Pioneer
Databases. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
Duvauchelle, Joshua. "Cons of Recycling." LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 16 May 2010.
Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://www.livestrong.com/article/124212-cons-recycling/>.
Grabianowski, Ed. "Benefits of Recycling." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 17 Aug. 2007.
Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/greenscience/recycling2.htm>.
Grabianowski, Ed. "How Recycling Works." HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 17 Aug. 2007.
Web. 10 Mar. 2014. <http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/greenscience/recycling1.htm>.
McCarthy, Erin. "13 Products Made Using Recycled Materials." Mental Floss. N.p., 22 Apr. 2013.
Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://mentalfloss.com/article/50227/13-products-made-usingrecycled-materials>.
Micks, Ashley. "The Costs of Recycling." The Costs of Recycling. Ashley Micks, 12 Dec. 2012.
Web. 11 Mar. 2014. <http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2012/ph240/micks2/>.
"Municipal Solid Waste." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 11 Mar.
2014. <http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/index.htm>.
Oskamp, Stuart, Rachel L. Burkhard, and P. Wesley Shultz. "Prediction Three Dimensions of
Residential Curbside Recycling: An Observational Study." Journal of Envioronmental
Systems 1st ser. 1 (2012): 1-10. Pioneer Databases. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
"Scentco Gourmet Scented Products." Scentco Promo. Scentco Incorporated, n.d. Web. 11 Mar.
2014. <http://scentcopromo.com/>.
"South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control." SCDHEC: Land & Waste
Management. DHEC’s Office of Solid Waste Reduction and Recycling, n.d. Web. 11 Mar.
2014. <http://www.scdhec.gov/recycle>.
Yoneda, Yuka. "6 Examples of Groundbreaking Green Technology." Inhabitat Sustainable Design
Innovation Eco Architecture Green Building 6 Inspiring Examples of Groundbreaking
Green Technology Comments. Inhabitat, 21 Sept. 2010. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
<http://inhabitat.com/6-inspiring-examples-of-groundbreaking-green-technology/>.
9