Tuesday, November 15 is America Recycles Day.
From local announcement:
Electronics recycling collection and document shredding event takes place from 10 am to 3 pm Tuesday at Retail Merchants Association headquarters, 5100 Monument Ave. Recycle up to one pickup truck load of electronics; drop off aluminum and steel cans, cardboard, paper, plastic and glass bottles. Free. www.cvwma.com
That said, this Wednesday is one of those every other week, “Red Wednesdays” for Oregon Hill curbside pickup. Don’t treat your recycling bin like an everyday trash can that sits on the sidewalk. Fill it with with recyclable materials, put it out this Wednesday morning and then take it back to your own property after it is emptied.
By recycling 1 plastic bottle not only saves anywhere from 100 to 1000 years in the landfill but also saves the environment from the emissions in producing new bottles as well as the oil used to produce that bottle.
For every 1 ton of plastic that is recycled we save the equivalent of 2 people’s energy use for 1 year, the amount of water used by 1 person in 2 month’s time and almost 2000 pounds of oil.
Today the most common products in cities recycling programs are paper products, cardboard, plastic, glass and aluminum.
Approximately 60% of our rubbish thrown away today could be recycled.
A survey was done and 9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would recycle more if it was easier. Odd as it seems there are many people who do not realize that plastic bottles our water comes in is made out of oil. This is the same oil that is used to make gasoline. It’s the same oil that is in such high demand and is not an unlimited resource.
Another way to look at it:
http://www.treehugger.com/corporate-responsibility/happy-zero-waste-day-event-formerly-known-america-recycles-day.html
“Enough. Throwing stuff away isn’t green, even if it goes into a blue or green bin. It is still throwing stuff away. We should be celebrating a Zero Waste Day, where we practice at least 7 Rs that don’t include recycling:
Reduce: Just use less.
Return: Producers should take back what they sell. More and more of them, like Apple and Dell, are doing so now.
Reuse: Almost boring, but we throw too much stuff out too soon.
Repair: Fix and mend things rather than replacing them.
Refill: In Ontario Canada, 88% of beer bottles are returned to the beer store, washed and refilled; just south of the border in the USA, the number drops to under 5%.
Rot: Compost what is left over, turning it into valuable nutrients.
Refuse: Simply refuse to accept this crap from the manufacturers any more.”
PEOPLE…..Stop using beer bottles and get a kegerator!!
Agreed. While I am a whole-hearted recycler, I have long believed that putting the burden of recycling solely on individuals who are largely unstructured, undisciplined, and somewhat uncaring, is part of the problem with mass adoption of recycling.
Manufacturers need to be mindful of their products, AND the packaging (another pet peeve of mine). I’m talking about stuff like gold-leaf embossed lettering for a box of crackers here. Waste is difficult to deal with, but we are doing (as a society) a much better job of it. At least we don’t have to sort the recycling any more (at least at the curb).
That said, I’m off to the cobbler to pick up my re-heeled boots. :)