Recycling is a simple concept to understand. It’s also easy to understand why a sustainable world won’t happen without every person doing their part. The person who drank from the plastic bottle or uncovered the candy wrapper must take responsibility for their purchase and properly dispose of the waste material. Moreover, it doesn’t take that much effort to direct the plastic bottle or candy wrapper toward the recycle bin rather than the waste bin.
In addition, there is no shortage of information about the growing waste disposal and pollution problems that arise by not stepping up recycling efforts, nor is there a dearth of recycling bins and centers throughout the United States. Many cities require, or at least offer, recycling bins on garbage collection day.
Really, the effort for everyone to do their part is minimal. Yet despite an abundance of information about the value of sustainability, many people in the US, regardless of age, ethnic group, or socioeconomic status won’t bother to do it. It’s unlikely that they’ve never heard of it. Those who do make an effort, actually find it rewarding to do it…if not monetarily, at least emotionally.
3 Reasons Why Your Effort Makes A Difference
Here are 3 good reasons why doing your part in recycling makes such a difference:
Reason #1: You’ll be assisting the economy. You’ll be diverting economically valuable material away from landfills and incinerators. In fact, almost everything can be recycled: paper, glass, plastics, and even some metals. Even big things can be recycled. If, for instance, you live in the Beehive State and your car finally dies out on you, it’s easy to figure out what to do with it: sell it for cash. Since it’s now a junk car, look for places to sell junk cars in Utah. You never know, your old car seats might end up becoming converted into stylish laptop cases.
Reason #2: You’ll be assisting the human race. By reducing the demand for new materials to be manufactured from scratch, you’ll contribute to reducing the carbon footprint.
Reason #3: You’ll be helping Mother Nature out. You’ll be reducing risks to animals like turtles when they get caught up in six-pack rings that get tossed recklessly away.
The Quiet Crisis
How bad is the waste problem?
The World Bank’s Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice says each year it gets worse. Though heavily weighted towards The United States, China, Japan, Brazil, and Germany, on average each nation generates about 1.3 billion tons of waste. This rate of waste production is anticipated to increase. By 2100, some projections show it will be nearer to 4 billion.
In developed countries, urbanization and industrialization are responsible for producing so much trash. Population size is not always a decisive factor. For instance, although the United States has a population four times smaller than China, it still manages to produce more waste.
In undeveloped countries, other factors are at work for the production of excessive waste that can’t be properly disposed of. In low-income African and Asian countries, trash is a result of rapid population growth, increasing urbanization, and a rise in consumption of industrial goods.
A Call for Leadership
Many countries around the world are oblivious of the need to recycle. If they do have recycling at all, it’s only the educated minority or the wealthier class of people who are making an effort. These poorer nations are too preoccupied with political upheavals, economic turmoil, and the needs for survival. This places the burden on advanced industrialized nations to set the example, developed nations where there is sufficient economic prosperity and political stability. The global community needs these economic leaders to set the example of creating viable recycling systems and to implement waste management solutions.
Within developed nations, leadership for change can come from three sources: government initiatives, private ventures, and the responsibility of every citizen to do their small part. Increasing economic incentives to recycle will make a huge difference. Once the more prosperous nations cultivate a feasible system of recycling and trash disposal, then developing nations can follow their lead.
Recycling will assist in the reduction of garbage piling up in landfills and from getting dumped in the oceans. It will save trees, and reduce the air, water, and oil pollution that comes from the production of cans made from ore. Unless there is a huge effort made to increase recycling and reduce waste disposal in landfills, there is no hope for the human-generated stream of waste to ever slow down and become manageable.