2007-03-23 22:14:23 · 9 answers · asked by Jacky K 1 in Environment
Remember when your bedroom as a child was always a mess and your parents always told you to clean it up, because it was like you were living in your own filth? Unwashed clothes, empty food packets all over the floor? Think of that on a larger scale, the entire Earth covered in it. Think of all the bacteria breeding and parasites that will cause plagues and deaths on a near extinction level because the soil was contaminated that no crops could grow, no clean water for drinking, the air thick with smog that it causes respiratory diseases... Should I go on?
2007-03-23 22:24:04 · answer #1 · answered by Lief Tanner 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
1. Recycling reduces our use of landfills and incinerators because it reduces the amount of garbage we throw away by 25-50%! That's alot of trash!
2. Recycling protects our heatlh and environment because it removes harmful substances and pollution from the waste stream, which is all of the waste or garbage in our community. Did you know that one quart of motor oil can contaminate one million gallons of water? Yikes!!!
3. Recycling conserves our natural resources because it reduces our need for raw materials. For example, if we recycle paper we don't have to cut down as many trees.
4. Recycling saves energy. When we make new paper from old paper, we use 60% less energy than making it from virgin timber.
2007-03-24 05:25:10 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
In theory, we should recycle in order to preserve what we have left of the earth's resources. In reality, many of America's recycling programs just don't work--you should see the recycling stations in Chicago! Massive mounds of garbage, just sitting there. I think the real answer is to recycle where actually possible, given the infrastructure, but more important, to conserve--to stop buying food that's packaged in stupid, individual-sized styrofoam, etc. To stop using just so dang much.
2007-03-24 05:24:35 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes simply as landfill is not a very effective idea- we can't simply keep burying things in an out of sight, out of mind mentality.
The problem is making recycling energy efficient. Currently it requires less energy to recycle metals (steel, glass, aluminium, copper) and cardboard than to produce from scratch- so these are good recyclable items.
The issue is of transportation and infrastructure- this needs to be better considered so it is less transport intensive and factories and sorting/reclamation facilities located very near to each other.
2007-03-24 05:30:36 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
How much waste do you think the average U.S. citizen produces each year?
According to the EPA1, the average U.S. citizen produced 4.4 pounds of waste per day during 2000. This is the equivalent of over 1600 pounds of trash per year per person or more than 220 tons of waste being generated each year.
Trash comes from many sources, including bottles, boxes, cans, yard trimmings, grass clippings, furniture, clothing, newspapers, and much more. Americans also dispose of several million tons of tires, appliances, furniture, paper, clothing, and other durable and non-durable goods each year as well. Packaging waste, including glass, aluminum, plastics, metals, paper, and paperboard, also contributes significantly to our annual waste totals. Even yard trimmings, such as grass clippings and tree limbs, are a substantial part of what is thrown away.
According to the EPA, below is an estimate of the type and percentage of waste products generated by Americans today.
Trash Type Percentage Tonnage
*(e.g., rubber, leather, textiles, wood, miscellaneous inorganic wastes)
Paper 40.4% 71.6 million tons
Yard Trimmings 17.6% 31.6 million tons
Metals 8.5% 15.3 million tons
Plastics 8.0% 14.4 million tons
Food Scraps 7.4% 13.2 million tons
Glass 7.0% 12.5 million tons
Others 11.6% 20.8 million tons
If we do not recycle, our environment will be destroyed, the air will be polluted and other worse things may happen. Start recycling now so our environment won't be further damaged. Also start throwing paper on the trash bin because you help can change our world.
2007-03-24 05:32:24 · answer #5 · answered by fatman 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
As we are finding out the in ground raw products that we are consuming will not last for very much longer so its very important that we slow this down by recycling
2007-03-24 05:23:08 · answer #6 · answered by burning brightly 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want to paw through my garbage like a racoon go ahead. I am not doing it until it is financially beneficial for me to do so. Basically you are paying to work and the city/county reap the benefits financially selling recycled material.
2007-03-24 06:45:57 · answer #7 · answered by Dennis S 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
So the entire planet doesn't end up being a land fill full of all kinds of things that don't need to be there. Plus we don't have endless resources on this planet. We will run out eventually. Good question!!!
2007-03-24 05:22:25 · answer #8 · answered by roritr2005 6 · 3⤊ 0⤋
It is so we don't run out of resources and so not everything is polluted.
2007-03-24 09:54:28 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋