Do you hear that? That is the sound of mother earth crying out. She is crying because the air is constantly being polluted by industrial smoke; she’s crying because of global warming; she is crying because of contaminated water. Her feelings are immensely hurt because she is under the impression that you do not care she is suffering. Well, there is a way we can flip the script and save the mother earth from her pain. This something very easy and simple thing that everyone can be doing across the globe daily to help save our planet.
The answer is recycling. Recycling is the process of turning used materials and waste into new products to prevent the waste of potentially useful materials. Recycling is the single most important task in relieving our planet from all the pain we have caused it. Recycling diminished landfills, save money and create job opportunities, and also reduce deforestation. The first reason we should recycle is because it diminishes landfills.
A landfill is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial. It is the oldest form of waste treatment. Historically, landfills have been the most common method of organized waste disposal and remain in so many places around the world.The US has 3,091 active landfills, just imaging how many there are in the world. These landfills are not suitable for mother earth, when organic material such as food scraps and green waste are put in landfills, it is generally compacted down and covered. This removes the oxygen and causes it to break down in an anaerobic process. Eventually, this releases methane, a greenhouse gas that is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide.( In addition, the department of health says that landfills produce objectionable odors and landfill gas that can move through soil and collect in nearby buildings. Of the gases produced in landfills, ammonia, sulfides, methane, and carbon dioxide are of most concern.( Many items that are placed in landfills takes years to decompose, and some items such as glass never decompose. With the rapid recent increase in human population, over-population is started to become a concern. We could potentially run out of land and no-one wants to be living next to a landfill. Additionally, another reason we should recycle is because it saves money and creates more job opportunities. Simply put, recycling is less expensive than waste removal fees.Waste collection is measured by weight therefore by recycling and throwing less away, you are reducing your waste disposal costs. Depending on what materials you recycle, your business could potentially make money off the recycling program. Former prime minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, said at an environmental conference: Currently, our country needs to spend 400 mil just to manage these waste and Just by recycling as much as 22% of the 5 million tons of waste produced each year could save the government 88 mill a year. ( The goal is to be saving as much money as possible and we can do this by recycling. All the millions of dollars that are being saved by recycling could be used somewhere else. Recycling also creates jobs for people and gives them a way to provide for their families. If the U.S. had a recycling rate of 75% by 2030 it would create 1.1 million new jobs.( The jobs that recycling create include collecting, processing and preparing materials, making new products from recycled materials which is called manufacturing, and reuse and remanufacturing. We have seen a drive for job creation in the European Union. “The E.U. could add another 560,000 new jobs by meeting its goal of recycling 70% of discards. Jobs from recycling grew 7% per year in the E.U. between 2000 and 2007.( The last reason we should recycle is because it lessens deforestation. Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted into a non-forest use. This can have a negative impact on the environment because eighty percent of earth’s land animals and plants live in forests, and many cannot survive the deforestation that destroys their homes. This is why we see the extinction of many plants and animals because they are unable to survive in any other habitat but their own. Deforestation not only destroys the habitat of these animals, it also pollutes the atmosphere. But, with recycling we can fix this issue by reusing products and waste materials and make new items. Did you know that each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4,000 kilowatts of energy and 7,000 gallons of water? Just imagine if everyone in the world recycled how much resources and energy we could save. When people choose not to recycle they are the ones responsible for causing the world so much pain. It is important to make recycling a priority in your every-day lives so we can moderate landfills, decrease deforestation, and create a way to save and make money. Now go do your part in helping keep the world were live in green.