The thing about America Recycles Day is that it cannot be successful as long as it’s just a day. It needs to become America Recycles Every Day to achieve its goals of a more sustainable planet.
Although many municipal recycling programs cost more than they bring in and although there is an energy cost to recycling itself, recycling is still important.
It’s not enough to look at an aluminum can or stack of paper to understand the value of recycling. We must look at the history of the product, starting with the bauxite that was mined or the tree that was cut down, according to a National Geographic report. Understanding the object’s history makes clear the value of recycling.
Recycling “not only conserves natural resources and reduces the amount of waste that must be burned or buried, it also reduces pollution and the demand for energy,” according to the report.
That’s good in theory, of course, but without habits and practice it will never be more than theory. That’s where America Recycles Day comes in. By sponsoring recycling events throughout the country, ARD attempts to focus more people’s attention on the why and how of recycling.
Here are just a few of the area events going on today.
• Cub Scout Pack 33 will collect paper products, including newspapers, phone books and office waste, at Alma Primary School from 8-8:30 a.m.
• Central Mall will have a truck parked under its sign on Rogers Avenue to accept recyclables of all kinds. Especially important, though, it will collect e-waste — electronics and components like TVs, computer parts, cellphones. These items contain toxic substances that should not go into landfills.
• Arkansas Tech University’s Ozark Campus has an education display outside the student union as well as a show displaying art made by students from recycled materials in the library.
The Keep America Beautiful organization is a big proponent of recycling, as are its affiliates, including Keep Van Buren Beautiful. Although KAB has previously not accepted eyeglasses for recycling, this year it is working with Lions Clubs nationally to collect eyeglasses at recycling events, thanks to the efforts of John Pope, Van Buren Lions Club member and director of Keep Van Buren Beautiful.
Eyeglasses that are collected today will go to the Texas Lions Eyeglass Recycle Center, which processes 500,000 pairs of spectacles a year, reading the prescriptions, measuring the size and distributing them to people in this country and around the world who otherwise would not have glasses.
Recycling will only become a habit if it is convenient. So add a recycling bag next to the trash in the bathroom for your shampoo and deodorant containers. Add one in the car for bottles, cups and cans.
It’s good to recycle your grocery bags, but add other clean, dry bags, like the one from a loaf of bread or your dry cleaning.
If you’re not sure what your community recycles, check out AmericaRecyclesDay.org to find out. Recycling becomes less efficient when you contaminate your contributions with things that cannot be processed.
Fort Smith recycles paper, corrugated cardboard, chipboard, aluminum and steel cans, and plastics marked with 1,2, 4 or 7 inside the recycling logo. Check out sanitation.fsark.com for details. You can also find information there about disposing of things like paint, motor oil and pesticides, which should never go into the landfill with the rest of the trash.
And remember to hold onto your electronics for an e-waste recycling event. Fort Smith and Sebastian County sponsor events in the spring and fall.
Happy America Recycles Day. By all means take advantage of the many events in the region today. But if you are serious about recycling, start thinking about ways to make it a part of your life every day.
Waste is an affront to creation. Do your part to reduce waste by committing to reuse, recycle and reduce.