“Why is recycling important?” This is a question that more of us are asking ourselves, which is only a good thing. We're becoming more and more educated about the damage that we as humans are doing to the environment- yet despite the answers provided by science and history, many people are still overlooking the importance of recycling. I have to admit, it's something I've been a little lazy with in the past, but since learning about the impact it has it's really caused me to fix up my ways; the more you know about its concept, the more you'll feel motivated to actually do something about it. Take responsibility for yourself and hopefully in time others will follow suite. From keeping overcrowded landfills from being overwhelmed by waste, to providing raw materials for new products, there are so many benefits to recycling. Here are some interesting facts worth knowing about this practice.
Using Less Paper is More Than Just Saving Trees
You already know that recycling papers can help save trees, this is something that's been taught to us since primary school. However, there's more to it than just this. In reality, you're also contributing to saving around 7,000 gallons of water in every ton of paper produced. Saving water is important, as the cleaning process uses fossil fuels which directly contributes to the harming of the environment. We live in a digital age, we need paper much less than we once did. Every bit you can save helps, simple things like having your bills delivered by email all add up. Most companies offer this these days, so it's easy as logging into your account and clicking a button. I've created a 'bills' folder in my email and drag all bill related mail in here when it comes through. It's far quicker and easier to find information when you need it, compared with rifling through paper documents.
Oh, Aluminium
Incredibly, seventy five percent of the aluminium ever made for products is still in use today due to it being widely recycled- something that has been going on for almost a hundred years. It can be melted down and reformed over and over without losing any quality. This makes simply throwing it away so wasteful, make sure you're recycling things like cans and milk bottle tops by putting them in the correct bin at home or at your local recycling centre.
The Truth Behind Plastic Bottles
As importance as aluminium recycling is, it's a mere scrape compared to plastic. We've all heard just how damaging plastic is to the environment, whole 'islands' of the stuff is washing up in our oceans and is even entering the food chain (which in many instances, ends with humans). Plastic bottles are one of the biggest causes of concerns. While they could realistically be reused many times, in reality they're seen as single use and people treat them this way. Billions of plastic bottles are being produced across the globe, if you were to recycle all of them, the resulting material would have the potential to create about 22 million size XL T-shirts. Plastic recycling isn't as efficient as other forms, and so the best way to combat this is to produce and use less of it. And one thing that each and every one of us can do is stop purchasing single use plastic water bottles. Invest in a good flask- double walled metal bottles work well and keep your drink either cold for many hours. Each time you leave the house, fill it up and put it in your bag. No need to use plastic bottles, or cups.
The Diaper Journey
Science has proven that it takes centuries for disposable nappies to break down, due to the plastic content in them. Statistics suggest that a baby, on an average, will have to go through at least 80,000 nappies in their early years, so imagine how much long term waste this is causing? One option would be to consider using washable cloth varieties (at least for some of the time). You can also buy biodegradable nappies, which are compostable and much more eco- friendly.
There's More to Go With Recyling
We all know we should be recycling more, and more efficiently. What will improve this over time is better education and more facilities. For example, when recycling wheelie bins were introduced and recycling schemes were rolled out by councils, recycling became a household thing. Before this, you'd only have a small number of people going to bottle banks and other recycling facilities. Inform yourself and do what you can to dispose of your waste products correctly. Only use removal and skip hire companies dispose of things in an eco-friendly way. And while not everyone on this planet is sold (or are just too lazy to perform it) recycling continues to be an answer to many of the world’s issues. This includes natural energy, pollution, and natural resource preservation.
Will you be making more of an effort to recycle this year?
