Every single item that we toss into a regular garbage will end up in landfills. Recycling will keep those items out from already packed dumping grounds, and from polluting the environment. Many common products we use daily can be recycled, which not only save landfill space, but will also reduce energy and fuel use, and improve air and water quality. Materials, such as plastic, can be reused for many purposes when recycled.
There are many recycling programs today that collect plastic for manufacturing new products. Recycled plastic can be used in park benches, picnic tables, outdoor decks, playground equipment, fencing, truck bed liners, and even fleece jackets and sleeping bag fillings. Plastic water bottles can be turned into a recycled polyester fabric which is already used by well know clothing retailers like Patagonia, The North Face, Nike, and Adidas.
It is estimated that about 80% of all water bottles purchased by Americans end up in landfills, which is about 50 million bottles that are tossed into the garbage every day. Starting to recycle those bottles alone would make a big impact for the environment. It would also support businesses that focus on recycling.
Plastic floating on the Oceans
Knowing what to recycle can be quite challenging. Most of us fill the carts with card board waste and old newspapers, but there are so many other items that can be recycled including paper waste, aluminum, tin cans, empty aerosol cans, and plastic tubes. Many of these materials contain harmful chemicals that could be controlled through recycling programs. Plastic for instance, takes 500-1000 years to degrade. Over the time, it only breaks into tiny particles that are especially harmful for the marine ecosystem.
There are big garbage masses floating throughout the world’s Oceans. The biggest one, a Great Pacific Garbage Patch, off the coast of California is twice the size of Texas. These patches are mostly pieces of plastic that have gathered with rotating currents. Most of the plastic waste comes from densely populated coastal communities, but the waste can travel thousands of miles through nation’s waterways into the Oceans, according a study by Journal Science in 2015.
Countries taking actions to ban plastic bags
The single-use plastic bags create lots of environmentally harmful waste. Those are the bags that carry groceries from stores to homes, and are tossed away after one use. It is estimated that one million seabirds, and 100,000 sea animals die annually for either tangling into plastic bags or eating the tiny particles of plastic the animals have mistaken for food.
Many countries have already banned the single-use plastic bags. Some countries have either added taxes or fees, resulting as much as 70-80% less consumption. European Parliament has passed a law to radically reduce plastic bag use until year 2019. In America, many counties, and cities, including Portland, have already taken actions locally. In November 2016 California became the first US state that passed statewide law of banning single-use plastic bags.
In a part two we will learn about different ways to recycle and what can be done for reducing plastic waste.
Annamaria Morrill
