In this day and age, more and more people are waking up to the importance of recycling. Whether you recycle or not really, recycling does make a huge difference to our environment, and can save the planet. Many people don’t believe that one person will make a difference, but things do begin to add up over time. The more people know why recycling is important, the better. That’s why we’re writing this post today!
Although more people are recycling, there are still plenty who avoid it. Let’s talk about why recycling is important:
Recycling Conserves Our Resources
Our resources are limited. When we recycle old items and transform them into new, we have less of a need to use natural resources to create things from scratch. Recycling helps to conserve our important raw materials and protects natural habitats in the future. We do have a limited number of natural resources, so we must work to conserve them as much as possible.
Recycling Helps To Save Energy
When we use recycled materials in the manufacturing process, we use much less energy than that required for producing new products. Recycled materials are industry ready, so we also save energy on extraction, refining, and transporting raw materials. There’s so much energy to be saved in recycling – see stats later on in the post to back this up!
Recycling Reduces Landfill
The 1,500 landfill sites in the UK are responsible for at least a quarter of the UK’s methane emissions. This is a powerful greenhouse gas. As recyclable materials are made into new products, the amount of things sent to landfills reduces. This means there are much less dangerous gases present in the atmosphere.
If the materials aren’t sent to a landfill, they will be incinerated. Both options are bad for the environment. We will eventually run out of places to put the waste. Recycling is the best option, always.
Recycling Protects The Environment
You don’t need to be a hippy to care about the environment. We should all aim to care for the environment as much as possible, especially if we want our children, their children, and so on and so forth to live healthy, happy lives. Extracting, refining, and processing raw materials creates air and water pollution, so recycling reduces this substantially. Recycling also reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and this helps to tackle climate change.
The current situation in the UK saves so many CO2 emissions that it is the equivalent to having taken 5 million vehicles off the road.
Recycling Is Also Good For Businesses
Recycling is good for businesses because of the way it conserves energy. As a business that recycles and works with other sustainable companies, people who are conscious of the environment will want to work with you too. In fact, this could become a unique selling point for you as a business.
The Majority Of Household Waste Is Recyclable
The majority of household waste is recyclable; around two thirds to three quarters. If you’re not recycling this much, there may be something you’re missing.
The more people who get involved with recycling, the more pressure will be put on manufacturers to begin using renewable materials.
You’ll Save The Lives Of Animals
It isn’t nice to think of innocent animals suffering, but many do due to the waste that is on landfills, pollutes the sea, and litters the streets. Fish get caught in plastic, animals become suffocated, and get injured in a plethora of ways due to the waste.
Recycling Creates Jobs
Recycling can create many more jobs. As the items that are recycled are later segregated and taken to plants, many job roles are available for people who may be interested in working in this sector. Processing is considerable, so you are helping to keep the people that take care of this in their jobs.
Recycling Stats
- Recycling one glass bottle saves enough power to power a personal computer for 25 minutes.
- 70% less energy is used to recycle paper than to make it new.
- One recycled tin can will save enough energy to power a TV for 3 hours.
- Glass is 100% recyclable and reusable.
- Glass products that end up on landfills will never deteriorate.
- 80% of a vehicle can be recycled.
The efforts of just one person make a huge difference. Not only do you help the environment, you are helping your kids, grandkids, their kids, and so on. If we all start to take care of the planet, the planet will take care of us. Start recycling today!