by 50 people |
Why Should We Recycle?
I chose to name this lens "Why Recycle" because it is a question that a lot of folks ask. Why take the time to recycle old newspapers, tin cans, plastic bottles, etc.? What do I get out of it?
Well, I hope to answer these questions as well as give tips, tricks, and ideas on how you can expand your thinking about what recycling encompasses.
A lot of people have the perception that people who recycle are sandal wearing, dirt munching, tree hugging druids. I hope to dispel that myth and any others that might pop up.
This lens was chosen as Lens of the Day!
I was honored to be chosen as Lens of the Day in the Spring of 2007! New Table of Contents
- This lens was chosen as Lens of the Day!
- Recycling takes time, why should I bother?
- Organize your Recyclables with a Recycle Bin
- Cool Pictures of Recycling Projects
- Recycle Air - Plant a Tree
- Quick Recycling Links
- The MAKE Blog
- Recycle themed books on Amazon.com
- Why you should recycle ink cartridges
- Reusable Canvas Tote Bags For Your Groceries
- Recycling Facts
- Stuff to help you recycle
- Compact Fluorescent Lighting
- For More Information on Compact Fluorescent Lighting
- Should we recycle?
Recycling takes time, why should I bother?
Is time the greatest barrier to recycling?
"Nothing is a waste of time if you use the experience wisely." - Auguste Rodin
A lot of things in life that are worth doing take time. For instance, it is easy for us to donate money to a certain cause or charity instead of our time. Time is an extremely precious commodity.
Some folks complain that they have to sort their recyclables. Those of us that currently do not have curbside pickup have to drive to the local Recycling Center and drop off our recyclables. Others just plain don't like handling "trash."
It sure is easy and it saves a bit of time to just dump everything in the trash bin. No sorting or rinsing required.
Would you rather do what is easy, or what is right?
Plastics are a petroleum based product. We all know what affect the rising oil prices have on us in regards to gasoline. Plastic products take hundreds of years to decompose.
Example:
The plastic milk jug that you used to pour the milk on your cereal this morning will take 400 years to decompose if you throw it in your trash.
However, if you take the few minutes (versus 400 years in a landfill) to rinse and recycle, that used milk jug could become part of your child's new playground equipment, a park bench, or the handrail on someone's deck.
By the way - this website shows 35+ uses for milk jugs.
It just makes ¢ents!
Recycling makes products available at lower prices because it lowers the production costs.
If time is money and recycling can save you money in the future, then aren't you being compensated (beyond the good feelings) for your recycling efforts after all?
Just my $.02
Organize your Recyclables with a Recycle Bin
Richell 3-Bin Recycling Tower
Amazon Price: $57.21 (as of 07/12/2009)
This is a great way to store your recyclable items. Since it is a stacking tower it won't take up much floor space. This way you can have everything sorted too.
It sure beats tossing everything in a cardboard box and then having to sort it when it's recycling day.
Cool Pictures of Recycling Projects
Completed wind chimes, set made 1999-2000. Still healthy!
Rainstick originelly comes form South American indians. They used tu fill sun dr...
These are two homebuilt recumbent bikes that I built from old bicycles. The one ...
Recycle Air - Plant a Tree
One tree produces enough oxygen each year to support 2 people. Can you imagine what would happen if everyone planted just one tree each year?
Pretty Cool.
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Quick Recycling Links
- Make a slingshot from recycled materials
- Neat how to from the Instructables website. Shows you how to make a slingshot out of stuff you can find at home.
- Make bowls from recycled magazines
- Excellent tutorial on how you can make bowls from magazines. I don't think you will be eating cereal out of them anytime soon, but they would make great containers for candy, fruit, or whatever else you can think of.
- Make a Seatbelt Purse
- Take an old seatbelt (obviously not one you will still be in need of) and turn it into a purse. Definitely, a one-of-a-kind item.
- Gigoit
- Gigoit (Garbage In Garbage Out) is a place where you can give away your unwanted items and look for cool stuff that other people no longer want.
The MAKE Blog
Make Magazine has an excellent blog that showcases people who recycle everyday items and create something new.
- Charles Z. Guan and the LOLrioKart
- GoCollege has an excellent interview with Charles Z. Guan, maker of the LOLrioKart:
Piloting the ka... - Flying furniture
- These are some fascinating uses for airplane components from MotoArt.
Blow your friends away with t... - DIY fireworks in action
- I made some fireworks on the 4th of July from the TurboPyro kit I received. The text, photos and in-...
- Maker Shed weekly wrap-up
- We added a few more kits to the Maker Shed this week, including the Wee Blinky by Dale Wheat. We car...
- How-To: Reclaim your hijacked search bar
- The other morning, I clicked on an upgrade button for Winamp. Generally, I like the program, it seem...
Recycle themed books on Amazon.com
Make: The First Year (4 vol. set)
LOVE this series! I now have a box that I fill up with stuff that no longer works. I scavenge otherwise worthless junk to build different projects from this magazine.
Amazon Price: (as of 07/12/2009)
MAKE: Technology on Your Time
Amazon Price: $34.95 (as of 07/12/2009)
The Home Energy Diet: How to Save Money by Making Your House Energy-Smart (Mother Earth News Wiser Living Series)
Amazon Price: $15.56 (as of 07/12/2009)
Why you should recycle ink cartridges
- Find out about Ink Cartridge Recycling
- Blue Streak Ink also accepts ink cartridges for recycling. You can sign up yourself, church group or other organization and receive $2-$4 off for each accepted cartridge you send in.
Did you know that of the 200+ million cartridges sold each year in the U.S. that only about 10% are recycled? That is unacceptable.
Reusable Canvas Tote Bags For Your Groceries
I think Walmart has a location at the front of their store where you can bring back your old plastic grocery bags for recycling. I am not sure about other stores, but if you use canvas bags you don't have to worry about it.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byRecycling Facts
I received some recycling facts from our local recycling service with our most recent invoice. I found it rather interesting.For each ton of paper we recycle we save:
17 trees
4100 kilowatts of energy
7000 gallons of water
3 cubic yards of landfill space
10 gallons of oil
60 pounds of air pollution
For every ton of plastic we recycle we save:
577 kilowatts of energy
685 gallons of oil
30 pounds of air pollution
For every ton of aluminum we recycle we save:
1663 gallons of oil
14,000 kilowatts of energy
10 cubic yards of landfill space
For every ton of glass we recycle we save:
42 kilowatts of energy
75 pounds of pollutants
5 gallons of oil
2 cubic yards of landfill space
For every ton of steel we recycle we save:
642 kilowatts of energy
76 gallons of oil
4 cubic yards of landfill space
Stuff to help you recycle
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byCompact Fluorescent Lighting
These bulbs operate for a fraction of the cost of the incandescent light bulb. The technology has advanced enough that their lighting quality meets or exceeds that of the incandescent bulb.
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byFor More Information on Compact Fluorescent Lighting
This lens covers the benefits of compact fluorescent lighting and features comparisons with the old standby - incandescent light bulbs.-
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
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Lower your energy bills, reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and help the environment just by switching to Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs. Those are pretty good accomplishments to make just by replacing a light bulb. According to CFLbulbs.com...
Should we recycle?
Tell me what you think.
Here is where you have your chance to weigh in on the debate of recycling. Do you recycle? Should we recycle? How can recycling benefit us all? Tell me what you think.
paperfacets wrote...
I get a good feeling just using my carry in tote at the grocery store. I pretend I am shopping in a French village when I walk out. The box person puts way more in those totes than in the plastic bags. It took me a couple of months to not forget them and get into the routine. So everyone don't give up on the idea.
Posted November 27, 2008
Mortira wrote...
Thank you for this great lens! Recycling is such an important activity - it really should be mandatory! With landfill space filling up, it's a wonder that governments don't do more to help people manage their trash quota. 5 stars and a 'roll!
Posted September 10, 2008
lisadh wrote...
The recycling facts are great. Maybe they'll make others realize the benefits of recycling. Nice job!
Posted September 03, 2008
MyZeroWaste wrote...
Hey :) This is a great lens. You have talked about the most important fundamental thing we need to understand about recycling - the *WHY* we need to do it.
Many people don't do it because they don't understand the importance of it. I think your lens will help them make positive choices; even if it's to recycle just one more thing :)
Posted June 18, 2008
by AllThingsMichigan
Born and raised in Michigan - the Great Lakes State.
Check out my Ink Cartridge Recycling lens to find out how to stop 300 Million cartridges from goi...
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