You already know the reliable clink and clack of a bottle thrown into a recycling bin, but do you know the environmental impact? It’s hard to talk trash without getting down and dirty. Waste has real and lasting effects on the environment, but so can you. Here are the top four ways you can make a difference by recycling:
4. Cut Costs
The importance of recycling
Image via Flickr by Jdhancock
Businesses can save big when it comes to office recycling. Small changes can make a huge impact on the life of your business, as well as the life of the planet. Some of the most common waste products including cardboard, paper, and plastic come to landfills directly from companies. In fact, the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs for UK determined that commercial and industrial waste in England alone is an estimated 47.9 million tons.
Encourage your employees to not only reuse paper when possible and (as a company) resell it. For example, The University of Washington medical Center in the US saved $110,000 in a single year by cutting landfill costs through recycling and reselling paper and cardboard.
3. Conserve Energy
Energy conservation isn’t about simply turning off lights when you leave the room. Waste already causes a considerable energy deficit through transportation and incineration alone; however, the same items that create the deficit can also be used to fight it. It’s possible to recycle organic waste products such as vegetable oil and even corn.
Recycled organic waste can power everything from cars to kilowatts. Corporations can save as much as 11 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year via vegetable waste.
2. Save Space
No, not outer space, although, we’ve already learned how pollution affects the atmosphere here and beyond. Consider the gravity of garbage. The UK alone has around 2,000 landfills. Only 75% of them still accept waste, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t taking valuable land.
The more trash we create, the more space we consume. Often times, it’s also land that can no longer be used due to toxic trash like used batteries and other consumer electronics. You can save space by recycling all sorts of things. Common products like bottles, boxes, and cans aren’t the only reusable materials. Consider and compare mobile phone recycling and other electronics recycling programs.
1. Reduce Pollution
You can recycle and reuse simple household items like aluminum to minimize mining pollution. According to National Geographic, “mining and refining virgin aluminum also produces greenhouse gases as well as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, two emissions associated with acid rain.” So, the next time you cook your famous pot roast, consider rinsing and recycling the aluminum foil.
Now that you know how you can make a difference by recycling, it’s time to get creative with ways to recycle and reuse. Share your favorite recycling tips in the comments below.