Recycling is Working and It's Worth It!

According to the National Recycling Coalition, recycling is working. Nearly half of Americans now live in areas that have curbside recycling programs. About a third of America's solid waste has been diverted from landfills into recycling centers.

Here are some of the website's facts:

* Twenty years ago, only one curbside recycling program existed in the United States. Today, there are more than 10,000 curbside programs in the United States.

* Today, the U.S. recycles 33% of its waste, a rate that has almost doubled during the past 15 years.

* Recycling saves energy and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming. If the recycling rate for aluminum and steel cans, plastic PET and glass containers, newsprint and corrugated packaging were to increase a mere 10%, an additional 3.9 million tons of materials would be recycled, saving enough energy to:

* Heat 1.5 million American homes in a moderate climate for one year.

* Provide the required electricity to 1.8 million Americans for one year.

* Save Americans about $957 million in avoided costs for barrels of crude oil.

Although not nearly publicized enough, this past November 15, 2009 was National Recycles Day.

There are three parts to the process of recycling. The first is Collection, which is basically diverting solid waste from going to landfills, to going to recycling processing centers. The second is Manufacturing, where products are made using recycled materials rather than only original, raw materials. Thirdly, Buying products that are made from such recycled materials.

Recycling does take some effort, which is what makes many people not bother, but it is really just like anything else that we do, such as cleaning our homes, washing our cars, or even just showering ourselves. We don't have to do these things. They are just part of our daily habits of cleanliness. The same is of recycling. There isn't much effort in rinsing ouy a can or plastic bottle and throwing it in a special container! What does cause confusion is that many communities have different guidelines for recycling, and may not do a great job of educating everyone in the community about their local regulations. So, finding your local recycling guidelines may be the most difficult part of your effort to recycle. Search your communities websites for their policies, print them and hang in your kitchen or on your refrigerator, until everyone in the family becomes familiar with them. You will find that in a few weeks, recycling becomes as second nature as doing anything else in your home.

The benefits to your community, your country and really, the entire world, make this matter! The last few decades have proved how the slow, but steady increase of recycling, has improved so many issues of waste disposal.

Here are some photos from TIME Photos that are available for publishing and promoting that illustrate quite vividly, how recycling gives great benefits:

Garbage Is Good: Recycling in America

Source: http://www.nrc-recycle.org/aboutard.aspx
Source: http://www.time.com/time/photoessays