Recycling

Unit 6 Project: Why We Should Recycle

Sean Sapirman

Kaplan University

CM220-11

Professor Burge

October 1, 2013

Why We Should Recycle

    Imagine little Johnny waking up in the morning and the first thing he sees is a sunny yet hazy sky, his first breath of the waking day consists of a lung full of fumes. His glass of water has been polluted with toxins and little garbage particles. These are just a couple of things that can happen if no one recycles. It is such a simple task and it does not even take much of an effort to do. Recycling has proven to be an inexpensive way to help our community. The benefits outweigh the risks we run into if everyone can do their part in keeping our community a clean and healthy place to live.

This is probably the most inexpensive and cost effective way to help keep the places we live clean and healthy. It is as simple as separating garbage; placing all the glass, paper and plastic in recyclable bags and normal trash in their respective bags. That right there is the first step. It is not like everyone does not already have trash, so take that extra step and separate it. It really is easier than leaning the ABC’s. By recycling one ton of paper, seventeen trees are being saved; that is in addition to two barrels of oil, 4,100 kilowatt-hours of power, which is almost four months of electric for a 2-bedroom household, 7,000 gallons of water and three cubic yards of landfill space (Paper Recycling | US EPA, 2013). That right there should get the brain racking with other ways to help.

Recycling profits can help cover the cost recycling acquires and forecast the need for new disposal space as every cubic yard of material recycled is one less cubic yard of landfill space that is required. These avoided costs are part of the profits that recycling brings to a community (Wilson). An example of saving on natural resources is when one ton of steel is recycled; 2,500 pounds of iron ore, 1,400 pounds of coal and...