Many people may bemoan the fact that they have to walk through a foot of snow to take out the extra recycling bin or make their way out to the compost bin...and, I will concede that it does take a little more effort to do the environmentally responsible thing but Americans are doing it more and more, day by day. What follows are some incredible statistics to see the growth, and to see how much we need to improve.
Americans haul away 82 million TONS of trash to recycling centers each year. This is just 32% of what we throw out. What is the most recycled item? Aluminum cans! A million and a half cans are discarded and we recycle 45% of those. Each can is worth 3 cents. That's a lot of aluminum processing that is used for things like roofs, tin foil, etc. Have you seen the new recycled aluminum foil at the store?
We generate about a million tons of glass and bottles, but only recycle 25% of that. Glass never, ever breaks down. Once it's in the landfill it stays forever. Beautiful kitchen countertops and recycled drinking glasses are being manufactured now, so don't throw out that pickle jar!
Plastic soda bottles generate almost a million tons of waste. We only recycle 31% of that. There are some beautiful rugs, furniture and cutting boards made out of this type of plastic. Flatten those Diet Coke bottles and get them to the recycle center!
We do much better with our newspapers, discarding 12 million tons and recycling 88% of that. Pretty good! Keep putting your paper of all kinds in that recycle bin. Highly efficient home cellulose insulation and kitchen countertops are now made from paper pulp.
Would you pay for a grocery bag each time you buy groceries? Watch out because that is in our future! There are pilot programs in several different states to reduce the number of plastic bags in this country, so don't forget your reusable bags at the grocery. Whenever you shop, someday, you will have to buy bags each time.
Keep the questions coming and turn out those lights! ;>
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