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Five
Good Reasons to
Recycle
- Conserves energy (e.g. It is 98% more energy
efficient to
recycle an
aluminum can
than to make a
new can from
virgin
material.)
- Conserves resources (which also protects habitat
for animals) By
reusing
resources there
is less of a
need to disturb
the environment
to mine and
harvest virgin
materials (e.g.,
Plastics come
from the
non-renewable
resource fossil
fuels; by
recycling
plastics there
are more fossil
fuel resources
protected or
available for
other
applications.)
- Conserves landfill space Landfills are EXPENSIVE
to build and no
one wants one in
their backyard;
therefore, the
more we do to
recycle, the
less need we
have for
landfills.
- Prevents litter When we properly dispose of waste
or recycle we
have less
litter, which is
unsightly and
can harm
wildlife, in our
environment.
- Makes people feel good to help protect the
environment This
is more
esoteric, but we
all feel good
when we pitch in
and do our part
to protect the
planet that we
depend on for
our own lives.
Here
are some tips that
may help you start a
recycling program:
- First, check out this site, http://www.thinkearth.org.
Although this
site is geared
toward middle
school students,
you can glean a
lot of useful
information on
starting a club,
assessing how to
think through
the project you
have in mind,
and fundraising.
- Check out the Earth 911 system to find out the
closest location
to bring the
recyclables you
are interested
in recycling.
You can do the
collecting and
hauling
yourselves to
start and
perhaps find a
place that pays
for the aluminum
cans to cover
the cost of your
gas and some
basic supplies.
- There is a lot of information on recycling on our Earth911
, as well as
that of the US
Environmental
Protection
Agency.
- You may also want to contact your City's/County's
Recycling
Coordinator
(usually listed
in the
government pages
of the phonebook
and the position
is housed in the
Solid Waste,
Environmental
Protection or
Public Works
Department).
This person
and/or a local
recycling hauler
can usually help
you with more
information on
recycling in
your area and
suggestions for
how to help the
program run;
sometimes they
can even help
with equipment
for collections.
(Remember,
something as
simple as large
cardboard boxes
that were going
to be discarded
can serve as
recycling
receptacles.
Start small and
unelaborate.)
Use the left
sidebar menu to
go to the Programs
and Events
section for
your home state
to find
additional
community
recycling
program
information, as
well as local
contact numbers
and Web links
for recycling
information and
other
environmental
topics.
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