Recycling

Most people today aren’t really sure what recycling really is. To put it simply, recycling is the processing of old or used materials into newer materials to prevent the unnecessary use of potentially useful materials. In the United States alone, recycling facilities earn an average of almost 3 billion dollars per year. In addition to the amount of money recycling saves, it also creates jobs. If we were to destroy 10,000 pounds of waste, we would only create one job. Land filling that same amount of waste would create only 6 jobs. However, recycling 10,000 pounds of waste would create 36 jobs. Recycling is also good for the environment as well. Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to the world’s climate change. It may not seem like much is happening right now, but every bit that you recycle gives your children and grandchildren a greater chance to see a white Christmas in their lifetimes. If that’s not enough, here are some more reasons why you should recycle. If we recycled all of the newspapers printed in the U.S. on a typical Sunday, we would save 550,000 trees–or about 26 million trees per year. There are more roads in our national forests than the entire U.S. Interstate Highway system. Americans also throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our entire commercial fleet of airplanes every 3 months. The U.S. is only 5% of the world’s population, but used 25% of its natural resources.

Some people do not recycle just because they are not sure of what can be recycled. About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, but our recycling rate is only 28%. Some household items that can be recycled are: glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles and jars, cardboard, aluminum cans, paper bags, newspapers, mail, and magazines among many other things. Items that can be made out of recycled materials are: paper, ink, plastic bottles, tires, ribbons, books, paper money rolls, bowls, dinnerware, and backpacks among many other things. Finally, recycling is important because one person can make a huge difference in the environment by recycling. By recycling old materials, buying and using recycled products, and encouraging friends and family to help out, one person can play a major role in saving the environment and stopping the global climate crisis. As long as I can convince one person to start recycling to help our environment, this essay will be a huge success. If you learn nothing else from my essay on recycling, remember this. That if you had the chance to stop global warming and the global climate crisis, you would. This is your chance. Doing your part and recycling is one of the most responsible things a person could do and is something that more people should get involved in. That is how I feel on the topic of recycling.