Reduce, Reuse, React

By A. J. Tripoli

            What is the point of recycling? Honestly. The extent of most people's knowledge on recycling ends at the fact that there is a different receptacle--well….usually. My 12 years in the Boy Scouts of America has taught me some interesting information on the topic that has brought me to care about where my trash goes and what happens to it. Recycling actually holds a crucial role in society, believe it or not, so knowing the ins-and-outs is important.

For example, recycling is a substantial way to save money. Producers of almost any type of plastic, metal or glass can benefit greatly from the manufacturing of products with reused materials. The Coca-Cola company, one of the largest companies in the world, focuses a great deal of its budget into ensuring that their products can be recycled properly. For most of the twentieth-century, most glass Coca-Cola bottles in circulation were cleaned and reused. In simple terms, more recycling equates to less money being poured into the creation of new bottles.

            Another benefit of reusing plastics and other recyclable containers is the effect their disposal has on the environment. When plastics are not recycled, they are usually burned due to the lack of landfill space. Both methods, however, are devastating for the environment. The incineration of plastics releases harsh airborne chemicals into the air and can impact anything from wildlife, to human health, to the wondrous Great Barrier Reef, which has been damaged beyond repair due to carbon dioxide emissions in Australia.

Pollution such as this has also led to key environmental changes in recent years. Hurricanes in North America have worsened in recent years due to change in Earth’s climate. Recently, 3 major hurricanes have appeared in the southern Atlantic ocean, the worst of which, Irma, is so strong that it wasn't able to be categorized in the standard 5 category rating system.

            This leads to the big question of how these problems can be avoided. The easiest way to help is to reach out to local municipalities about recycling. San Francisco, for example, has a great recycling program. In addition to one general recycling can per household, local parks and municipal areas can have up to 6 different types of recycling cans, such as paper, plastic, glass, etc. This saves the cost of sorting each material later in the recycling process. These bins make recycling easier, more intuitive, and help diminish the amount of pollution in the environment.

If more major cities implemented the use of sorted recycling, this would drastically reduce the amount of pollution to the Earth and money lost in most commercial production. Recycling is not only easy, but also extremely beneficial to both humans and our environment. Why should something so simple be so extremely overlooked? There is quite a bit you can do as a single person to help, and the effort is minimal.