I’ll be honest, I don’t understand why everyone doesn’t recycle. Most towns have easy pickup with garbage day. My little town recently switched from once a month to every other week. I was ridiculously excited when we got the letter about it. If we forgot to set out our recycling we would then have two months worth for the next time. Every other week works out a lot better!
I always feel a little sad on recycle day. Driving through town there isn’t a lot of garbage cans at the curb. Why not recycle? We have two garbage cans on our back patio. One gets garbage and the other gets aluminum and plastic. It takes pretty much no effort.
I’m curious though why people choose not to recycle. Maybe because I’m a child of the eighties but I feel like “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” is drilled into my head. I feel guilty every time I throw out a something that could have been recycled.
Here are the benefits of recycling according to the EPA:
-Recycling protects and expands US manufacturing jobs and increases US competitiveness.
-Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.
-Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
-Recycling saves energy.
-Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
-Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
-Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.
I encourage you to start recycling if you aren’t already. It’s a good job for kids and it’s great for the environment! I’ll leave you with this quote that I just happened upon last night: “We abuse the land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” -Aldo Leopold