In 1991, the Great Wall of China became the second largest man-made structure in the world. The largest was the Fresh Kills Landfill, serving New York City. It is now the highest point on the east coast.
Americans throw away 2.5 million plastic bottles every HOUR! (Now you know how Fresh Kills outstripped the Great Wall.)
For every glass bottle recycled, we save enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for four hours. (That makes us just about even in our household.)
One pound of recycled steel saves enough energy to light a 60 watt bulb for 24 hours.
Recycling and reusing the material in "tin" cans reduces energy use by 74%, air pollution by 85%, solid waste by 95%, and water pollution by 76%.
It takes 75,000 trees each week to produce the Sunday edition of the New York Times.
If Americans recycled just one-tenth of their newspapers, we would save 25 million trees a year.
The average American uses 580 pounds of paper each year. As a nation, we consume 850 million trees annually.
We are a recycling family. Each week we have one can of garbage and two to five bins of recyclables. We recycle every newspaper, magazine, catalog, phone book and cardboard box that comes into the house. Grocery bags and dry cleaner bags are returned to the grocery store. We recycle glass, aluminum, several grades of plastic, and chipboard. Some of what we can't recycle we use in compost. I'm looking into using shredded paper as an element in compost, or as an under layer for mulch.
Use it up, wear it out. Make it do or do without. I'm doing my part. Won't you?
Comments (5)
I'm proud of you, Buffy! Keep up the good work. Maybe I'll get to where you are one day! 850 Million trees, huh?(* Sniff *) :(
Posted by Mad Bull | October 1, 2003 10:17 PM
Posted on October 1, 2003 22:17
Have been for years. Started recycling back in high school before most people could even pronounce the word.
Problem I have now is, our community is having a rough time getting rid of the stuff. It has been a long battle with a lot of issues. But we try our best.
And good for you. Keep it up.
Posted by Wichi Dude | October 1, 2003 11:00 PM
Posted on October 1, 2003 23:00
...our binmen collect our plastic, tins and paper seperately...as well as the rubbish - we also recycle our glass...down the side of our garage we have 5 different bins :^)...
Posted by billy | October 2, 2003 7:11 AM
Posted on October 2, 2003 07:11
We recycled plastic and cardboard before our town even started recycling those things (we would take them over to WS's brother's - their town dump recycled them).
Now we have mandatory recycling of paper, plastic (all grades), tin, aluminum and cardboard. You should have heard the complaining when they made the recycling mandatory (it takes too much time, it takes extra room etc.). I couldn't believe the whining that took place. People have now gotten used to it though (except those that were so offended that they decided to rent dumpsters).
Posted by bogie | October 2, 2003 7:21 AM
Posted on October 2, 2003 07:21
MadBull, I feel the same about all those trees. It helps a little to know that the paper companies plant HUGE tracts of trees annually to replace those which are cut.
WichiDude, We had the same problem here at one point. I can't believe that the economy isn't ripe for the creation of companies that turn out products from recycled materials.
Billy, our garages must look very similar. We separate most of the recyclables, and paper, so there are seven cans or bins in the garage here.
Bogie, our recycling is not mandatory, but it's FREE. It's great incentive to get people to recycle, because we pay about $2 for each garbage can they pick up. We generally have one very full can each week, and occasionally two. We use a trash compactor for paper goods and a garbage disposal to keep that garbage down to things which can't be recycled.
Posted by Buffy | October 2, 2003 11:30 AM
Posted on October 2, 2003 11:30