Not recycling yet? Here is why we need everyone to limit the amount of waste we create.
For starters, did you know the average person generates about 4 pounds of waste per day?
According to Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generated about 250 million tons of garbage in 2011. Only 87 million tons were recycled and composted.
An organization called DoSomething.org posted an article and a list of statistics that I found very interesting. It stated, that while close to 75% of trash is recyclable, only 30% is actually recycled.
The article also disclosed that we generate about 21 million tons of food waste each year. I find this horrific, considering how much hunger and poverty the world faces today.
That aside, the article noted that if we composted that food, it could reduce greenhouse gas by close to the same mount. In plain English, composting 21 million tons of food, is just as good as taking 2 millions cars off the street.
According to DoSomething.org, if we recycled one tenth of our newspapers, we could save close to 25 million trees each year. Now I don't know about you, but I think that is a lot of trees worth fighting for.
Dumping, unfortunately, is another issue on the rise. Just the other day, WPTV News Channel 5 covered a story that dealt with illegal dumping. While cities like West Palm Beach are cracking down on illegal dumping, more has to be done.
Not only can dumping increase water pollution and spread disease, it is a danger the lives of humans and animals.
As human beings, we should all care about these issue, knowing how it can affect our planet. With this blog, I am hoping to demonstrate that recycling can be fun and have great perks.
It's not enough to want to do the right thing. It's important to actually do the right thing. The world should be our oyster. Not our dumping ground.
For starters, did you know the average person generates about 4 pounds of waste per day?
According to Environmental Protection Agency, Americans generated about 250 million tons of garbage in 2011. Only 87 million tons were recycled and composted.
An organization called DoSomething.org posted an article and a list of statistics that I found very interesting. It stated, that while close to 75% of trash is recyclable, only 30% is actually recycled.
Think about it. All that trash had to be place somewhere.
Photo Cred: Environmental Protection Agency
That aside, the article noted that if we composted that food, it could reduce greenhouse gas by close to the same mount. In plain English, composting 21 million tons of food, is just as good as taking 2 millions cars off the street.
According to DoSomething.org, if we recycled one tenth of our newspapers, we could save close to 25 million trees each year. Now I don't know about you, but I think that is a lot of trees worth fighting for.
Photo Cred: Mark Kalman
Not only can dumping increase water pollution and spread disease, it is a danger the lives of humans and animals.
As human beings, we should all care about these issue, knowing how it can affect our planet. With this blog, I am hoping to demonstrate that recycling can be fun and have great perks.
It's not enough to want to do the right thing. It's important to actually do the right thing. The world should be our oyster. Not our dumping ground.
No comments:
Post a Comment