Think Green! – Why Recycle?
Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink!
Only 1% of the world’s water supply is actually drinkable. 97% is salt water found in the ocean and seas and the remainder is frozen in polar caps. Do you live in an area that has restricted water usage for lawn watering in the summer? Has your area ever been under a boil alert? Why is bottled water becoming so popular? Pollution and micro-organisms leeching into the drinking water supply has threatened our water resources significantly. Making products with recycled components versus manufacturing brand new items creates less air and water pollution. (It also helps by not tossing garbage into our lakes and streams!) Recycling 1 ton of paper will save 24,000 gallons of water.
Where are we going to put all this stuff?
Americans generate 180,000,000 tons of garbage each year. We generate approximately 4.4 pounds of waste per day, per person. It’s estimated that 150 million computers will be discarded in the United States. These computers will be able to fill a hole that is one acre wide and 3.5 miles deep. With the population increasing on a yearly basis, the garbage will also increase. This means clearing land for not only housing but for landfills. The amount of disposable diapers that are thrown out every year could stretch from the Earth to the Moon SEVEN times!
Another cloudy day?
The least concern we have with air pollution is the affect is has on our weather patterns. Of higher concern is cancer, emphysema, allergies, skin disorders and a slew of other diseases and afflictions. Aerosol spray cans and air conditioners, among other things, give off CFC’s (Chlorofluorocarbons) that contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer. The ozone layer prevents harmful UV rays from reaching the earth and its inhabitants and helps moderate the planet’s temperature. As the hole increases, more UV rays are let through, killing plant life and increasing diseases that affect humans, such as skin cancer. Also, as the ozone layer becomes thinner, more heat from the sun gradually warms the earth, affecting weather patterns and melting polar caps causing flooding. Released CFC’s can be cut drastically by recycling. If one family recycles all of their waste newspaper, cardboard, glass and metal for a year, 850 pounds of pollutant emissions will be prevented.
In a nutshell, making products from recycled materials creates jobs, reduces the need to cut down trees, dig for minerals and drill for oil, makes less pollution and uses less energy. And it’s easy!
|
Email this Article
Print this Article
