Ethics of Recycling
The Ethics of Recycling
In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in environmental awareness in the United States, as well as in many other countries. People are becoming aware of our current global warming issue, the decreasing numbers of one-use resources, and the great rise in air and water pollution. We have been seeking ways to treat and prevent these problems in our current society. One of the major ways Americans have been trying to combat the issue of decreasing numbers of one-use resources is to use more renewable resources that we are able to recycle. If recycling is available to all of us to use, should it be mandatory that we use renewable resources and recycle them after use? Is it worth the extra time and effort to put our cans in a separate bin for trash collection? Some of the benefits of recycling include: well-run recycling programs cost less to operate than waste collection, land-fills, and incineration; recycling creates 1.1 million jobs; and thousands of U.S. companies have saved millions of dollars through their voluntary recycling programs. Some of the downfalls to recycling include inconvenience and a sense of false security on the current status of our planet. I believe that the benefits of recycling greatly outweigh the downfalls, but what does this mean on a moral or ethical level? Just because an activity is obviously good to the majority of society doesn’t necessarily mean we should all have to participate. One major benefit of recycling is that well-run recycling programs cost less to operate than waste collection, land filling, and incineration. The more that people recycle, the cheaper it is to run these programs. Often, communities can get reimbursement for the items that they recycle. Recycling also produces 1.1 million jobs in the U.S. alone. The more jobs that we have available to offer people, the better off our economy will be as a whole. In the end, recycling is a good money-saving device and
In recent decades, there has been an increasing interest in environmental awareness in the United States, as well as in many other countries. People are becoming aware of our current global warming issue, the decreasing numbers of one-use resources, and the great rise in air and water pollution. We have been seeking ways to treat and prevent these problems in our current society. One of the major ways Americans have been trying to combat the issue of decreasing numbers of one-use resources is to use more renewable resources that we are able to recycle. If recycling is available to all of us to use, should it be mandatory that we use renewable resources and recycle them after use? Is it worth the extra time and effort to put our cans in a separate bin for trash collection? Some of the benefits of recycling include: well-run recycling programs cost less to operate than waste collection, land-fills, and incineration; recycling creates 1.1 million jobs; and thousands of U.S. companies have saved millions of dollars through their voluntary recycling programs. Some of the downfalls to recycling include inconvenience and a sense of false security on the current status of our planet. I believe that the benefits of recycling greatly outweigh the downfalls, but what does this mean on a moral or ethical level? Just because an activity is obviously good to the majority of society doesn’t necessarily mean we should all have to participate. One major benefit of recycling is that well-run recycling programs cost less to operate than waste collection, land filling, and incineration. The more that people recycle, the cheaper it is to run these programs. Often, communities can get reimbursement for the items that they recycle. Recycling also produces 1.1 million jobs in the U.S. alone. The more jobs that we have available to offer people, the better off our economy will be as a whole. In the end, recycling is a good money-saving device and
Cited: "Recycling Facts and Benefits". Environment-Green. 7/15/08 <http://www.environment-green.com/>. "Economic Recycling Benefits and Facts". National Recycling Coalition. 7/15/08 <http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-benefits.html>.