Is recycling really necessary, or just B.S?

Question

Does bundling paper and crushing milk cartons really make a difference or is that just a way of making people think they are helping?

Answer 1

Recycling saves energy, landfill space and the planet. It is necessary on many levels. Some examples are: Aluminum cans made from recycled metal only use 5% of the energy that's needed to make that same can from non-recycled metal. Every ton of paper you recycle is 17 trees that didn't have to be cut down. So if you look at the amount of stuff we recycle you can see that it really does make a difference. Also, most of the materials we are currently collecting go back into making the things we buy. If we didn't use recycled content, we would have less resources to use in manufacturing.

Answer 2

Starbucks coffee cups are made from paper pulp that contains recycled material (10-30%, I can't remember exactly how much). That percentage would have to be replaced by freshly-cut trees. So given the number of Starbucks coffees sold each year, some trees are spared.

However, those trees are probably harvested later for other applications, like home building or notebook paper.

So we are decreasing the RATE of tree harvesting, not necessarily preventing trees from being harvested. This does allow more time for reforestation, which is good.

Answer 3

Recycling is very important because the Earth does not possess an absolute limitless supply of resources. With 6.62 billion people using such a large amount of our resources daily, there will be a time in the not so distant future where our resources on Earth willl just run out.

Answer 4

There's probably a slight benefit to the planet, but the biggest benefit goes to the companies that recycle all the trash - it's a hell of a lot cheaper to collect & pulp paper than to fell, trim and pulp a tree!

why else do you think they spend so much money on hype telling us to recycle.

Answer 5

Many frequently used materials can be recycled, in order to preserve natural sources, from which they are made of, like paper from wood celulose, or textile fabrics from silk and other materials.

It is estimated that recycled raw materials are lowering consumption of natural sources for 25-30%. this is the estimation for this decade, but for the next one, that percentage has to go up to 50-60%, because of shortage of natural sources.

Answer 6

When I purchase products made in whole or in part with recycled materials I know that recycling is helping. It helps us to retain more of our natural resources. And I can fit my weekly trash into one small bag. Everyone in our community has to purchase bags from the village. It's much cheaper to recycle.

Answer 7

Yes, especially plastics and paper. As the price of oil goes up plastics are more valuable. I like to save trees. There's only so much metal that is fairly easy to mine.

Answer 8

unless you want a garbage dump in your back yard I suggest you take it seriously. It isn't that hard to do. Even if you only recycle paper or plastic bottles it is very helpful.

Answer 9

when was the last time you saw a junk / grabage dump? Just think about how long it takes for some things to dissintegrate - the earth is turning in to a a huge garbage dump - we did it and we need to try and clean it up

Answer 10

recycling is very important when it comes to non biodegradable plastics these types of plastics cannot be decomposed by decomposing bacteria living around us therefore they cause litter problems and if plastics are burnt many pollutant gasses will be produced which may affect the environment negatively.