Okay, we are going to finish up our discussion on the basics of consumption this week. The theme is the final R or Recycle. We all know about recycling and most places now have some kind of a program and policies in place for both residential, commercial and manufacturers.

understand the reasons to recycle

Why should we recycle? Often it feels like a burden to recycle. Understanding the reasons why often elude us.

1. limited supply - with an increasing population more waste is being created
2. extreme demand - consumptive society demands more materials and creates more waste
3. conservation - to minimize the impact of harvesting raw materials and destroying habitat of limited natural resources
4. energy reduction – recycling uses less energy than the manufacturing of a raw material and therefore reduces carbon emissions (CO2)
5. pollution – reduced pollution from waste and manufacturing reduces climate change and toxin exposure
6. landfill - the more we recycle, the more we keep from landfill and incinerators saving the environment from toxins leaching into our eco-systems and methane gas escaping into the atmosphere (which is more potent than carbon monoxide)
7. money - recycling saves us valuable dollars by producing materials for less

Not having a program in place is all the more reason to reconsider what you should buy? It is also a good time to petition your government, change how you reuse and dispose of items, stretch your item for a little longer, repair it and find creative ways to keep it out of the landfill.

In our next article we will take a quick look at the impact of our waste with some amazing (and frightening) facts. Then we will explore how to make sure we optimize our recycling efforts. After all it’s your planet too.