Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Ever since I can remember I have cared about the environment. From
the time I was a little girl I have felt like I was blessed with deeper
only grown. When I was 8 years old I heard about global warming for the first
time. (Now known as climate change.) When I learned that our planet is
essentially a living organism and pollution would make her, in hippie terms
off lights to save on electricity, taking showers instead of baths and began
released from human activity. Creating harmful chemicals that raise our
and with more wealth means people are buying more things and ultimately
means more waste. (Reynard Loki) More waste landfills will eventually run
gasses from the landfill sites. Reducing waste saves space reduces air
pollution, it saves money and limits our need to need to make more products
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average American creates 4 pounds of trash every day. And about 75% of
Well, we have all heard the facts, recycling 100 aluminum cans can
something as simple as recycling your pop or beer cans can reduce emission
reminds you that even the littlest things can make a difference. And its
easy! People all over the world are stepping up to being zero waste
better.
to see the effects our trash has had on the planet. We are seeing not only the
effects on the environment but on the people and animals that inhabit it all
over the world. And it is very real. With news stories and the media, more
and more people are waking up and wanting to do something about it, but
It is not just about climate change, Americans alone create 200 million
tons of garbage each year, and although a lot of that is collected and
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dispersed in landfills, huge amounts end up on the side of the roads and in
the oceans where curious animals ingest this garbage and are unable to
recycling wont keep all extra trash and waste out of the oceans, it does help
reduce waste and has a huge positive impact on the environment. Recycling
uses less natural resources and protects wildlife by reducing the need to
damage forests, wetlands, rivers and other essential ecosystems which are
the environment than just placing trash in landfills. I would argue that
goods, recycling requires far less energy, uses fewer natural resources and
keeps waste from piling up in landfills and blowing off into oceans than
creating new goods does. (Soccra) However more pollution from recycling
areas where more people are affected. Recycling newsprint actually creates
more water pollution than making new paper: for each ton of recycled
discharged.(Tierney)
materials like cardboard, paper, plastic and aluminum every day. But, the
EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we
only recycle about 30% of it. In 2011 the EPA reported that 32 million tons
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of plastic waste was generated in the United States. Only 8% of plastic was
recovered for recycling. (Wynne) So, why home recycling? You may think
that by putting your plastic items in a bin marked with a recycle symbol
helps it avoid the landfill route, but you could be wrong. It only means it has
Those facts were heart breaking and made me feel very disappointed
we have to realize that we are a small percent to the bigger picture here. I
began to think of the large factories and corporations that produce massive
disposable and single use products they are creating. Without companies
say we have a far way to go, but I am still impressed by the accessibilities to
recycling with my home pick up service and free glass recycling drop off
My school however, is ahead of the game and even has a small place
for people to properly recycle old batteries, I was impressed. But that is sort
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even for paper. I work at a mental health hospital downtown and the amount
of waste is mammoth. We use single use items for almost everything and all
of our charting is on paper. Patients can stay anywhere from 3-60 days and
bottles. We throw away thousands of paper med cups a day and only use
disposable plates and silverware in our cafeteria. They create so much more
home. So I decided to contact my CEO and ask why we dont have recycling.
thoughts on recycling are positive, but that he doesnt have a strong opinion
on the matter either way, he mentioned that his wife is the one who does the
He also confirmed that we do not have recycling at all at the hospital, the
only place is in medical records where an employee has brought in her own
trash can and labeled it recycling for paper and plastic. When we started
talking about if it would be easy to have recycling and if it would cost money
for us to recycle he said yes, Its too complicated and would take much
hospital I understood his concerns. People are usually unstable and having all
the sharp objects in one place, is probably not the best idea. He also
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mentioned it would be more work for the staff and he would have to pay for
didnt identify any financial benefits from recycling but, he agreed he had
would take more time, and cost more money, not to mention the person in
of convenience and price. I see why it would be so much work, but if we are
all citizens of Mother Earth, then shouldnt we all be doing our best to protect
her?
To look for hope, I reached out to my friend Darin who is the owner of a
local music venue in Down Town SLC and my hope was restored. I had
noticed that they hvae a great recycling program and was interested in the
motivation behind it. When I asked what Darins personal views on recycling
do locally to affect things globally Sigh, I am not alone. Little things really
can make a difference. Darin mentioned that they have had recycling since
the beginning but it hasnt always been easy, you have to keep up on staff
to make sure things get put in the right place, etc. Also, The State Room
does pay an additional cost for a mixed use dumpster and does pay more for
a separate account for glass. When I asked if there were any benefits or tax
breaks to his business from recycling he simply joked not that I know of,
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besides Karma. Clearly this business owners personal beliefs influence his
business decisions. He also mentioned he feels like the patrons like it a lot
and he feels like they in turn respect the business more. When I mentioned
how the hospital I work at doesnt recycle in conceded in the fact that a lot of
people weigh saving money over the effects our trash has on the
environment.
After interviewing these two business owners and comparing the facts,
I dont think people recycling at home will ever be able to make a big enough
difference to protect the planet and reduce climate change. If other business
owners like Kreg are not willing to take the extra time to recycle at home,
they are not going to take the time to create programs at their place of work.
never having the opportunity to be recycled. The biggest way we can make
have public pressure to protect the environment and use renewed sources, it
could decrease the need for using new natural resources and help protect
our environment. Also if you are a grassroots person who is passionate about
climate change and the environment, you can take your efforts a little bit
initiatives and pass them to your CEOs. Remember, recycling is the biggest
thing you can do locally to effect things globally. You can influence the future
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moral choice and most companies make decisions of ease, space and cost,
but remember that the planet matters too. If most recyclable waste comes
from large companies we have to show them a way to have a bigger impact
on how companies make those choices. Change comes from within, keep
recycling at home, inform the people around you and choose to support
ethics. You too can make a difference because yes, recycling matters.
2017.
"In the bin." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 22 Apr. 2015. Web.
16 Feb. 2017.
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Tierney, John. "Recycling Is Garbage." The New York Times. The New York
Reynard Loki / AlterNet. "If Recycling Doesn't Actually Help the Planet, Then
Dover, Sara. "Is recycling worth it?" CBS News. CBS Interactive, 26 Apr. 2013.