Recycling for the Future

Recycling for the Future
According to Franklin Delano Roosevelt “A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself. Forests are the lungs of our land, purifying the air and giving fresh strength to our people.” Just about everyone knows our environment is in danger. One of the most serious threats is the massive amount of waste we put into the air, water, and ground every year. All across the world are thousands of places that have been polluted by toxic waste, radioactive waste, and just plain garbage. It is imperative that we are aware of all the things that we can do to help our environment by diminishing the amount of trash and garbage that we produce each year.
One of the main reasons for recycling is to reduce the amount of garbage sent to landfills. Landfill usage peaked in the 1980s, when Americans sent almost 150 million tons of garbage to landfills each year. Today, America still generates more than 100 million tons of trash into landfills annually. Every year, Americans use approximately 1 billion shopping bags, creating 300,000 tons of landfill waste ("Waste and recycling,"). Even though modern sanitary landfills are safer and less of a nuisance than the open dumps of the past, no one likes having a landfill around. In heavily populated areas, landfill space is scarce. Where space is plentiful, filling it with garbage is not a very good solution to the problem. Today, recycling efforts in the United States divert 32 percent of waste away from landfills. That prevents more than 60 million tons of garbage from ending up in landfills every year ("Waste and recycling,").
Recycling is a simple concept: take something that is not useful anymore and make it into something new instead of just throwing it away. It can be anything from recycling old paper into new paper or making an old hubcap into a decorative birdbath. In reality, recycling can get pretty complex. It interacts with our environment, politics, economy, and even our own human behavior patterns that play a major role in the future of our planet.
Recycling can be in many forms. On a small scale, any time a new product is use for something old is considered as recycling. One example is making old cereal boxes into magazine holders. Recycling on a larger scale becomes more important because used consumer goods are collected, and converted back into raw materials; remade into a new consumer products. Materials such as: aluminum cans, office paper, steel from old buildings and plastic containers are all exam¬ples of materials commonly recycled in large quantities. The simple concept of “Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle” would be very beneficial in preserving our environment for the future. Reducing goods and limiting amounts of waste will benefit the environment greatly. Reusing materials would be constructive and favorable. Recycling, as of today, has only proven to impact our environment. The determination to save the planet is clear, and America through recycling is headed in the right direction.
Energy Conservation can also be a product of recycling. Although some expert may argue that only small amount of energy can be saved, however, many recycling processes require less energy than it would take to manufacture the same brand-new item. In fact many experts believe that manufacturing plastic is very inexpensive with less energy consumption. Recycling steel certainly uses less energy than the entire process of mining iron ore, refining it and forging new steel. Ultimately, more energy conserve, means more natural resources are save for future generation.
Furthermore, in this time of economic hardship; recycling can have significant financial benefits. Recycling has a variety of economic impacts. For the companies that buy used goods, recycle them and re-sell as new products, recycling is the source of their income. For cities in densely populated areas that have to pay by the ton for their landfill usage, recycling can shave millions of dollars off municipal budgets. The recycling industry can have an even broader impact. In other parts of the country, recycling generate jobs and revenue. Recycling creates 1.1 million U.S. jobs, $236 billion in gross annual sales and $37 billion in annual payrolls ("Economic recycling benefits,").
Another impact of recycling is on the environment. Recycling is one of the best ways for us to have a positive impact on the world in which we live in. It is important to both the natural environment and the people of this earth. We must act fast as the amount of waste we create is increasing all the time. The amount of rubbish we create is constantly increasing due to; increasing wealth means that people are buying more products and ultimately creating more waste. Increasing population means that there are more people on the planet to create waste. It is important to protect our environment. Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from rubbish in landfill sites. Recycling helps to reduce the pollution caused by waste. It reduces the amount of raw materials needed to create new products, so that the rainforests can be preserved.
Recycling can also help in reducing the green house effect and slow down the process of global warming, because recycling mean less trees being cut down, and natural resources are conserve for it to function as earth’s breathing mechanism. Since it is scientifically known that trees exchange carbon dioxide to oxygen, and helpful when it comes to slowing the process of global warming.
Recycling is good for the environment, its saves energy, reduces effects of climate change, and it reduces raw material extraction. It is for everyone who is concern in keeping a clean environment, an environment which we can proudly pass on to our coming generation. A nation that is committed in preserving its natural resources and protecting its environment; is a nation that save its soils, and will never destroy itself.

References
Ashenmiller, B. (2009). Cash Recycling, Waste Disposal Costs, and the Incomes of the Working Poor: Evidence from California. Land Economics, 85(3), 539-551.
Baharum, M., & Pitt, M. (2010). Retail shopping centre recycling initiatives. Journal Of Retail & Leisure Property, 9(3), 201-210. doi:10.1057/rlp.2010.10
Benefit of recycling. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ohiodnr.com/Home/why/tabid/9402/Default.aspx
Cantu, D. (2011). From Trash to Treasure: Recycling Scrap Metal into Steel. Technology & Engineering Teacher, 71(1), 14-21.
Economic recycling benefits and facts information supplied by: National recycling coalition. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-benefits.html
Waste: facts and figures. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.idea.gov.uk
Waste and recycling facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html

References: Ashenmiller, B. (2009). Cash Recycling, Waste Disposal Costs, and the Incomes of the Working Poor: Evidence from California. Land Economics, 85(3), 539-551. Baharum, M., & Pitt, M. (2010). Retail shopping centre recycling initiatives. Journal Of Retail & Leisure Property, 9(3), 201-210. doi:10.1057/rlp.2010.10 Benefit of recycling. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://ohiodnr.com/Home/why/tabid/9402/Default.aspx Cantu, D. (2011). From Trash to Treasure: Recycling Scrap Metal into Steel. Technology & Engineering Teacher, 71(1), 14-21. Economic recycling benefits and facts information supplied by: National recycling coalition. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-benefits.html Waste: facts and figures. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.idea.gov.uk Waste and recycling facts. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cleanair.org/Waste/wasteFacts.html