What impact does Recycling have on the environment?

Most are eager to contribute to the environment by recycling and they might be more willing after knowing some recycling facts. Recycling is very essential for the sake of our Earth`s resources and thereby striving towards green living. Recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products. Recycling can benefit our community and the environment.

If you’re looking for a way to make a positive impact on the earth, it’s a good idea to start out by taking steps to help the environment by recycling. There are many ways in which recycling helps us and even the smallest step can produce significant results for the environment. Some of them include:

1. Promote sustainability– Recycling of waste materials promote sustainability and thereby helps conserve our valuable resources for our future generations. Recycling reduces the pressure on our earth for more and more raw materials and therefore benefit our environment.

2. Reduce pollution– The waste materials or garbage in landfills emits gases as it rots. This can pollute the environment. This also leads to a filthy and stinky atmosphere around the site of dumping. Anyone who has passed a landfill site during hot weather will be familiar with the smell and flies that can be found near a landfill site. Recycling helps in reducing the waste substances in landfills and therefore helps to reduce the pollution that it causes. Recycling products also typically emits less carbon, thus reducing the carbon footprint of a product. It also reduces greenhouse effect by producing less carbon dioxide.

3. Reducing landfill– One of the most important advantages of recycling is that it reduces dumping and landfill by wastes. The environmental problems of landfills are a difficult issue to fix. As more waste is put into landfills, the more it became difficult to manage such a large quantity of garbage. Products that are not biodegradable or are slow to decompose can remain in landfill sites for centuries, often emitting gases that could be harmful to the environment. Keeping paper out of landfills is just one way that recycling helps the environment.

4. Cuts energy consumption– Recycling items often use less energy than manufacturing products from raw sources. Making paper from recycled pulp, for instance, is much less energy consuming than using new wood by cutting of trees. There are benefits by growing trees because of carbon they consume. Protecting trees and recycling paper will help in balancing the damage that is done to the environment by putting paper in landfills and using energy to produce new items.

5. Saving money–   Another benefit of recycling is that when using recycled goods there is often a significant cost savings made. Recycling leaves and grass, for instance, is a great way to make compost. Using homemade compost is obviously a lot cheaper than buying compost and this is a useful way to save money. Saving money through recycling ultimately helps the environment. If we see a real benefit in our pockets then we are more likely to support the recycling cause.

6. Much needed employment– Helps creating employment opportunities (well- paid jobs) in the recycling and manufacturing industries. Some countries like US had set up recycling industries which provides employment for the youth.

E-waste and computers which constitute about 70% of the total heavy metals like lead, cadmium, arsenic, mercury etc. found in landfills poses a great threat to environment as they are air, soil and water pollutant. Instead they can be reused or recycled as most of the materials used in computers like plastics, metal can be reused. Recycling even one computer has a positive impact on stopping e-waste pollution.  We should take recycling seriously.

Recycling is very important for us considering these facts.

• Enough energy is saved by recycling an aluminium can to run a TV set for three hours.
• A steel mill which uses recycled scrap reduces related water pollution, air pollution, and mining wastes by at least 70 percent.
• Creating one ton of recycled paper uses only about 60 percent of the energy needed to make a ton of virgin paper.
• Seventeen trees are saved for each ton of recycled newspaper.
• An average American uses 650 pounds of paper during the course of one year. 100 million tons of wood could be saved each year if all the used paper was recycled.
• Recycling steel and tin cans saves 74 percent of the energy necessary to produce them.

Considering the above facts and data, one can imagine what a simple step towards recycling can give significant results. Recycling is just one of the many ways in which we can help the environment. Getting everyone involved, from kids to adults, towards environment protection can help produce a better environment for many generations ahead to come. Every step that we take, however small, is one more towards helping and supporting the environment in which we live. Remember that when discarded items are placed in your regular trash can, they will be used to cover landfills. When items are placed in the recycle containers, they will be reused to make new products.