Better Uses For That Junk in Your Trunk

In today’s society, numerous different maladies compound the problems and pressures that we continually put on our environment. Whether we choose to pollute the land, air, or water, the cyclical nature of the life processes on Earth reflect the damage back onto us. Unfortunately, we tend to hear a great deal about these mounting atrocities and the potentially catastrophic harm they entail, rather than possible solutions to curb these problems. In turn, the general public often feels over whelmed, as this seems to be an inescapable, inherent element of our lives, too huge of an issue for anyone one person to tackle in a meaningful way.

What a many of us do not realize is the potentially great impact one can impart in the fight for a cleaner and healthier environment. This power is not derived from any special talent or skill set, special educational background or expertise, or top secret information. It is actually something very simple that many of us have been doing for most of our lives, but have not realized the importance it entails. This practice is the act of recycling.

Today, recycling is an oft overlooked aspect of our environmental preservation. With its practice almost a generation old, we begin to forget how much production energy we save through recycling alone. This does not even take into account the incalculable amount of power used to dispose of extra waste dumped into landfills every year that could have been recycled.

When we think of recycling, the first thing that comes to many peoples’ minds is aluminum cans. It can be assumed this is because most of us encounter these types of materials on a daily basis, whether we are paying a can deposit at the store or throwing our empty soda can away at lunch. However, other common items that we us use on a regular basis are members of the growing tree of products that can be recycled. Programs exist for many plastic items, paper products, most processed glass, and even yard waste and food scraps, all of which account for large percentages of our generated yearly waste.

The only way to curb continued under utilization of indispensable courses of action is to educate society by propagating information about the programs in place. All of these methods take very little effort on the part of the consumer. Every state in the union, as well as the District of Columbia, has instituted some variation of recycling legislation. Nevertheless, the basic principles and practices remain the same, along with the intended effects; saving the ecological integrity of our planet.
Recycling does not require a big picture effort to be taken for it to be effective. In fact, the way in which just about every American can contribute is one in which many do not even realize holds such importance. This is in the area of aluminum. In the span of three months, Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild our commercial air fleet in its entirety. In fact, when we recklessly throw a can into the garbage, rather than a recycling receptacle, we are wasting the equivalent amount of energy that would be derived from half of that can’s volume in gasoline. From beer and soft drink containers, 99% of which are made out of aluminum, only 49% were recovered through recycling, along with only 40% of all recyclable aluminum.

What many of us do not realize is that by recycling our aluminum cans, we are contributing to a process that conserves virgin materials and saves money used in the refining processes. Producing new cans from previously used aluminum takes 95% less energy than making them from unrefined materials. This means that by recycling, we can produce 20 cans from recyclable products, to every one made from virgin ore. Consequently, recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for four hours.

As we can see, our current processes for recycling aluminum are greatly effective, when utilized. The average aluminum can is made of 40% postconsumer recycled products, reducing energy consumption. This translates to an energy usage rate of 8 BTU’s of energy to make one ton of cans from recycled aluminum, as opposed to a needed 229 BTU’s of energy to produce the same output from unrefined materials. Plus, this process has relatively quick turnover. A can that is entered into the recycling system is back in the consumer stream, used, then returned to the recycling system in about six weeks (SWD).

Another often overlooked portion of widely consumed materials in the recycling system is glass. Not long ago, Americans dumped 10.9 million tons of glass into the waste system, with only 22% of this total being recovered for recycling. However, this rate is steadily increasing, as recovered material has grown to over 2.4 million tons. Glass is a key to the recycling system as so many products, from containers, to computers, to windows, are made using glass. The durability of glass allows it to retain its strength even after many cycles through the system. As a result of this strength, there is an increased demand from industry for recycled glass to create new products with better cost efficiency. Only sand is used in greater volume to produce new glass products than recycled glass itself. Just like recycled aluminum, recycled glass costs less than the raw materials used to produce new glass, as it melts at a lower temperature, therefore demanding less energy from the electricity, natural gas, or coal. This means that there are less emissions from the factories producing the materials, helping to save the environment from greenhouse gases.

The third piece to the common recyclable container puzzle is plastic products. This facet of the system is utilized in many homes and communities, but considering the ease at which it can be implemented and carried out, it is still a much under used resource. Since 1960, when the total amount of plastic waste generated represented barely 1% of the total waste, plastics pushed into the waste system has grown to account for more than 11% of the total waste product in the United States. Today, plastic materials are used to manufacture such products we use daily as beverage containers, kitchen utensils, and automobile parts, explaining much of the increase in their waste production (Minerals).
Many plastic products differ greatly from one another, therefore, a classification system was devised to better implement a recycling system, know as the Resin Identification Code. Each type of plastic is classified in one of seven different categories that differ based upon the levels and types of resin found within certain products and containers. This system mainly targeted consumer containers to allow communities to better facilitate an efficient system. Citizens in communities that support these programs are instructed on what “numbers” of plastic are able to be submitted for recycling. Some communities have curbside pick up with general trash collection, while others have drop off locations citizens bring their materials to (SWD).

Although the return rate for plastics is small, hovering around 40%, they are steadily on the rise. Like other materials, recycled plastic saves both energy and money through saved energy in processing practices. The production of plastics has accounted for a whopping 4% of the total energy consumption in America. This may seem minor, but when considered how many other variables factor into energy consumption, any one area accounting for such a large portion of usage is significant. However, in an environmental sense, the stress that slowly deteriorating plastics put on our landfills is a more pressing issue. Many types of plastics take years to completely return to a state that is acceptable to the environment. This waste continues to pill up, squeezing the already shrinking space in our landfills (NRC).

Many of us associate paper recycling to merely white paper used in our business and schools and the daily newspaper. However, the recycling of paper products extends into areas that seem obvious once introduced. Cardboard, packaging materials, magazines, telephone directories, etc., the list goes on of daily products that are also available for recycling. Still, paper products account for one of the largest portions of municipal waste, at a rate of 36%. This creates a great market for recycling and products made solely from recycled materials, as many packages, newspapers and office paper are made from 100% recycled materials (SWD).

The recycling systems for paper are not so simple, however. To create high grade products, only high grade, long fiber paper may be used in the process. Lower grades of paper are used to create low grade, short fiber products, such as that found in most newspapers. Generally, these waste streams are kept separate to ensure quality, as high grade, low grade, and cardboard products provide the common breakdown categories (Corrugated).

Reducing the amount of solid waste we decide to dump each year extends beyond these common methods. Recycling organic materials, such as food scraps and yard trimmings, significantly reduces the strain put on our landfills and incinerators. This method is practiced by government entities, big business, and individuals alike, the latter becoming the most critical. Of the total tonnage of waste generated, 12% was labeled yard trimmings, while food scraps followed close behind registering 11%. Surprisingly, yard trimming recovery has increased to almost 60%, while food scraps has lagged behind at a measly 2% (EPA).

Both of these figures can be increased greatly through introduction of composting techniques by individuals. Although many people would understandably not have enough room to create an adequate area for a compost heap of yard trimmings, such a heap composed of food scraps is not a huge undertaking. Food leftovers are the single largest component of the waste stream, contributing 96 billion pounds of waste each year. This includes uneaten foods and preparation wastes from residences, restaurants and other commercial establishments, and educational and industrial lunchrooms. Although the EPA’s hierarchy of food scrap disposal involves recovering food for the hungry, for livestock, zoos and animals shelters, and industrial processes in general, still the most realistic way to contribute is by composting materials (SWD).

Individual yard trimming disposal has increased in popularity recently, helping to reduce landfill build up and methane production. Still, there are ways to help the environment even if composting is not an option. There are countless programs set up locally and regionally for people to participate in yard material disposal. Also, many communities have composting programs for people to dump biodegradable materials, creating new soil for causes like garden projects and urban reclamation. One of the simplest ways is to keep your lawn at a manageable length, leaving the mulched clippings in the grass to decompose back into the soil and help feed the environment (SWD).

Understanding the impact we have on the health and beauty of the Earth is a key component to the general Gaia theory and the interconnectedness of life itself. Great revelations pertaining to the purpose of man will never be attained until we begin to recognize our influences on a smaller, more immediate scale. Therefore, finding meaning in caring for our planet is both a step in the right direction economically and culturally.

To put effort into such endeavors is investing in the environmental infrastructure of the Earth and the ethos of our intellectual development.

http://www.solidwastedistrict.com/information/stats.htm, (SWD)

http://www.corrugated.org/Recycling/RecyclingStats.aspx, (Corrugated)

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/recycle/, (Minerals)

http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/recycle.htm, (EPA)

http://www.nrc-recycle.org/resources/electronics/policy.htm, (NRC)