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RECYCLING OFFICE WASTE, RECYCLED PAPER AND HOME RECYCLING OF PAPER & PLASTIC

Eco-Logical cartoon graphic of cube-shaped globe

RECYCLING RATES ARE KICKING OUR CANS
The Benefits of Recycling at Home and at the Office

Does recycling seem like an antiquated concept, or at least something that's just not important to you? Maybe, maybe not. But consider this: In cartoon drawing of recycle bin one year, the energy conserved by the current level of recycling saves enough energy to power nine million households for a year.

There are many different types of products that can be recycled. This article focuses on four of the most common categories of recyclable items in your home or workplace.

PAPER RECYCLING

About 1/3 of the waste stream that goes to landfills is paper, which is a real shame since there is a strong market for recycled paper. Reusing more of our waste picture of paper recycling receptacle paper would help us reduce the acres of forest land that are being clear cut every year to provide paper in its myriad forms. To see how truly devastating the effects can be, check out the OnEarth article The Tennessee Tree Massacre.

Beyond recycling whatever types of paper your locale or office building accepts, you can help ensure a continuing demand for raw recycled paper by buying office paper, paper towels, tissues, and toilet paper that are made from recycled paper. Look for the highest possible percentage of "post consumer content." You may also want to take a look at our article about the paltry levels of recycled paper in mail-order catalogs.

ALUMINUM RECYCLING

Of all the things that are typically recycled, aluminum is king. According to the Aluminum Association, producing a recycled-aluminum ingot takes less than 10% of the energy required to produce an aluminum ingot from raw ore.

Unfortunately, according to the Container Recycling Institute, over one trillion aluminum beer and soda cans have been thrown in American trash bins over the last three decades. Used-can recycling rates improved greatly in the first two decades of that period, but over the last decade the percentage of cans recycled has been decreasing—from 65% in 1992 to 48% in 2002. The picture of recycling center US EPA notes that American consumers currently throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire US commercial airliner fleet every three months. Look—up in the sky—it's a bird—it's a plane—it's aluminum waste!

If we can do a better job of recycling our aluminum cans, we can save energy and avoid some of the environmental damage caused by aluminum mining and manufacturing, including the release of tens of millions of tons of greenhouse gasses and toxic air and water pollutants.

GLASS RECYCLING

Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. Although access to curbside recycling has steadily increased, the percentage of glass containers being recycled has been stagnant since the mid-1990s.

The types of glass that are usually recycled vary. Although glass containers are usually fine, sheet glass, glassware, and other non-container types of glass are often not accepted at recycling centers. Check with your city or county.

PLASTICS RECYCLING

bar graph showing rising rates of plastic bottle use but stagnant rates of recycling over time

SOURCE: Container Recycling Institute

The above graph tells an unfortunate story. We're using more and more plastic bottles, and we're throwing more and more of them in the dump. Plastic waste takes a long, long time to biodegrade, and recent research has shown that if it end up in bays or oceans, plastic can break up into micro-sized plastic particles and contaminate the marine food chain. We can do better!

WRAP-UP

Whether it's plastic, glass, mixed paper, or aluminum, it's best to check with your city or county recycling office (or their web site) to see exactly what types of each item they actually recycle. Programs vary widely across the country. If your collection agent can't recycle something, putting it in the recycle bin anyway will only bog down the system.

One last thing. We've decided that the high value of aluminum recycling is a great reason to drink twelve cans of Coke every day. Waaahhhhhooooo!

Publish date:

Updated: 16-NOV-2008
(Original: 05-OCT-2004)

Books and Music related to Recycling:

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Books for a Better Planet

For more reviews or purchase info, click on any title to go to Amazon.com

  book cover for Choose to Reuse, Nikki and David Goldbeck, Mar-1995

An Encyclopedia of Services, Businesses, Tools & Charitable Programs That Facilitate Reuse

A handy reference manual that lists a couple thousand resources where you can reuse, recycle, repair, restore, reclaim, refill, recharge, or resell just about anything your junk closet can dish out.

 
  book cover for Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, by Nicky Scott, 9/5/2007

An Easy Household Guide

Do you know what to do with your old cell phone? Where you can responsibly dispose of old medicines? What happens to the stuff you recycle? This easy-to-use guide has answers to all your recycling questions. Its A-Z listing of everyday household items shows you how to recycle most of your unwanted things, do your bit for the planet, and maybe make a little money at the same time.

 
  book cover for Cradle to Cradle, by William McDonough, Michael Braungart , 4/22/2002

Remaking the Way We Make Things

Today's "cradle to grave" manufacturing model dates back to the Industrial Revolution and casts off as much as 90 percent of the materials it uses as waste, much of it toxic. The authors argue that products and processes should be designed so that wastes and worn-out products serve as useful manufacturing inputs, not trash and pollution.

 

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Books for a Better Planet

For more reviews or purchase info, click on any CD title or image to go to Amazon.com

  Recycled – Nektar
 
  album cover for Nektar - Recycled; click to check out CD on Amazon dot com, opens in new window

It's rare that an entire album addresses an environmental theme, but here is one. Nektar's "Recycled" transcends mere notions of recycling to also explore man's relationship with nature and the cycles of existence. Musically and lyrically, it's a forgotten jewel of the 1970s progressive rock era.

 
  “Fresh Garbage” – Spirit, from the album Spirit
 
  album cover for Spirit first album; click to check out CD on Amazon dot com, opens in new window

Look beneath your lid some morning,
See those things you didn't quite consume—
Your fresh garbage.

Those lyrics from the song "Fresh Garbage" are the opening salvo in Spirit's first album, a masterpiece of psychedelic, jazzy, bluesy progressive rock. It broke into new rock territory in 1968 and still sounds fresh—not garbagy—today.

 
  “Plan It Earth” – Richard Sinclair, from Caravan of Dreams
 
  album cover for Richard Sinclair - Caravan of Dreams; click to check out CD on Sinclair Songs site, opens in new window

Unleaded fuel, Recycling should be the rule.
Air, land and sea, Should remain pollution-free.   more

Still a craftsman decades after his excellent work with the 1970s bands Caravan and Camel, Sinclair and his players create music that is lilting and laid-back, with a wonderful interplay of guitar, flute, bass, and other assorted instruments. The lyrics and music simultaneously challenge and soothe us—a treat for your ears and soul!

 

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"Recycling is a good thing to do. It makes people feel good to do it. The thing I want to emphasize is the vast difference between recycling for the purpose of feeling good and recycling for the purpose of solving the trash problem."

— Barry Commoner, in Orion Nature Quarterly [1990]


 

book cover for Michael Recycle, by Ellie Bethel, Alexandra Colombo, 3/29/2008

Michael Recycle

(by Ellie Bethel, Alexandra Colombo)

For children 4-6.
Check out on Amazon.com

book cover for The Three R's: Reuse, Reduce, Recycle, by Nuria Roca, Rosa M. Curto, 2/1/2007

The Three R's:  Reuse, Reduce, Recycle

("What Do You Know About?" series)
(by Nuria Roca, Rosa M. Curto)

For children 4-7.
Check out on Amazon.com

       
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