We can all make a difference
We only have one day.
That’s what they tell folks in Alcoholics Anonymous. For today, you can try not to drink.
You’ve truly only got this one day.
Maybe you can make a difference.
Maybe you too can recycle.
“Arrghh!” You may mutter, “Recycling! Seems like everybody’s doing it these days!”
That’s true.
What started as a grassroots movement years ago has exploded around the globe into a worldwide effort to conserve our precious resources and protect mother Earth.
But recycling isn’t for everybody. Some may say, “hey, it’s just a bottle, I’ll just toss it out. I mean how may bottles get thrown out each year anyway?”
Turns out, a lot.
According to WikiAnswers.com, 22 billion bottles are thrown out each year in the United States alone.
That’s a lot of plastic.
If this seemingly doesn’t affect you, think again.
That used water bottle you idly toss in the ocean may end up in what’s known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
According to Wikipedia,
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N.[1] The patch extends over a very wide area, with estimates ranging from an area the size of the state of Texas to one larger than the continental United States; however, the exact size is unknown.
Lauren Hasler, of earth911.com, in her article, “Actual Size of Great Pacific Garbage Patch Shocks Scientists,” recounts a recent three-week voyageScripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California researchers traveled 1000 miles off the coast of California, investigating a phenomenon called “Great Pacific Garbage Patch.”
Hasler says, “Taking into account the amount of plastic collecting in ocean gyre’s (sic), it is important to recycle what you can. According to the American Chemistry Council’s ‘Too Valuable To Waste’ Web site, ‘While litter doesn’t belong swimming in the sea, it also doesn’t always belong in the trash bin. Plastic bottles and other plastic containers are among the most easily recyclable materials, and can go on to live a very useful second life as decking, carpet, or polar fleece, just to name a few.’”
And that seemingly innocent bottle you casually fling into the waves may end up hurting you in the end.
Wikipedia says, “Some of these long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals, and their young,[7] including sea turtles, and the Black-footed Albatross.[25] Besides the particles’ danger to wildlife, the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs.[26] Aside from toxic effects,[27] when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animal.[25] These toxin-containing plastic pieces are also eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals.[28] Marine plastics also facilitate the spread of invasive species that attach to floating plastic in one region and drift long distances to colonize other ecosystems.[17]”
You’ve got this one day to recycle that bottle.
“Okay, okay,” you may cry, “I’ll recycle that bottle! But don’t ask me about my old cell phone!”
Whoops.
According to earth911.com, “The total annual global volume of e-waste is expected to reach about 40 million metric tons. In the U.S., we generated an estimated 1.5 billion pounds of e-waste in 2006 alone. This includes about 44 million computers and televisions.”
As mentioned in my post on recycling cell phones, “Bricks and Phones Won’t Break Your Bones,”
Rather than tossing it into the trash, like 130 million of its hapless compatriots, it might be worth your time to recycle it. According to Elizabeth Shogran of NPR, in her article, ‘EPA: Don’t Trash or Stash, Recycle Old Cell Phones,’ the agency is encouraging folks to bring in their old phones to their local wireless stores, hoping to keep them out of the landfills and potentially saving several thousand pounds of copper, not to mention silver, and even gold.
You’ve got this one day to recycle that cell phone.
“Fair enough,” you may admit, “but I’ve got all these old jeans I don’t need. Why can’t I throw those out?”
About 23.8 billion pounds of clothing end up in U.S. landfills each year, according to Goodwill.
Author Lauren Hasler discusses in her earth911.com article, “Recycling Jeans a Hot Project for Businesses, Students,”
“… Goodwill and Levi Strauss & Co. are not the only ones taking action to keep clothing out of landfills. Students at the University of Memphis are partnering with Habitat for Humanity to collect old jeans to be used as insulation for homes. The project is called ‘Cotton: From Blue to Green.’ A collection drive is aiming to recycle between 500 and 1,000 pairs of jeans. The used cotton will then be recycled into insulation for a new home.”
You’ve got this one day to repurpose those old jeans.
One day at a time we can make this planet happier, healthier, and more whole.
Have you got one day?
If you are still talking about what you did yesterday, you haven’t done much today. ~Author Unknown
Dawn is a budgeting queen!
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Time for Chicago to get serious about recycling. Talk to your alderman about starting. Disgraceful in a big city there is no pick up.