Benefits of Recycling

Benefits of Recycling

Are you aware of your footprint on the environment and what it entails? Most people are not and do not know the consequence of the debris we leave behind. Our waste has severe consequences on the environment, from the rivers which we fish and drink from to the air we breath. If we could reduce our footprint by even the slightest amount through recycling then our whole ecosystem will benefit.

Over 300,000 tons of plastic shopping bags get thrown away to land fills. This has an undesired effect on the environment for many reasons. One reason is that plastic bags not only take years to deteriorate, they also cause problems for fish, game and wildlife. Just from recycling a portion of these shopping bags, we can create 100's of jobs and substantial economic benefits for communities.

It is not only plastic bags but all recyclable material that provide economic benefits. There is also, the often over-looked material resource benefits of recyclable goods. Used tyres being used for artificial turf in parks and on athletics tracks. These benefits are often over looked as a solution to many of the hazards produced by the landfills of tyres. Tyres are among the most difficult material to despose of and often times they are left in fields and create many hazards such as, health and fire hazards. The chemicals produced from burning tyres are extremely toxic and new methods of recycling provide us with a way to not only get rid of the hazard, as well as to give us a method of disposal that leaves the air we breath clean.

As with tyres and plastic bags, there is an enormous amount of plastic bottles from the bottles you buy your washing detergent in, fizzy pop bottles and plastic cups in offices. The plastic industry as a whole has many benefits from the recycling of these plastics, tyres and other goods. They are used as raw materials for many products and, in recent years, they have been used to manufacture building materials as well. These methods of recycling have a ten fold benefit, as they produce jobs in not only one sector but several, from manufacturing to construction.

Recycling does not only benefit us in preserving the environment in which we live, but it as well gives a far greater economic benefit to create a sustainable economy that has not only a stable job market, but renewable resources. We can create jobs while preserving the environment we live in through well-managed recycling programs.