TMA Group

Home recycling requires a small amount of time, yet offers a considerable benefit to the homeowner as well as the environment. Consider:

• paper takes up as much as 50% of all landfill space;
• Americans throw away enough aluminum to rebuild the entire commercial airline fleet every six months;
• up to 90% of recycled glass can be reused to make new glass items, such as bottles and jars;
• recycling a 1-gallon plastic milk jug will save enough energy to keep a 100-watt bulb burning for 11 hours.

According to the EPA, the national recycling rate is just 30%. Increasing material recycling in the USA to 60% could save the equivalent of 315 million barrels of oil per year.

Here are some home recycling tips that are easy, efficient and effective. The key to a successful home recycling program is the storage bin setup. Be sure and label recycling bins to ensure materials are separated correctly.

According to Eartheasy, recycle products with the highest percentage of “post-consumer” recycled content. There are two types of recycled materials used in manufacturing products and packaging: pre-consumer, often referred to as mill scraps recycled internally at manufacturing plants; and post-consumer, those products returned by consumers, through recycling programs, to the manufacturing process.

When recycling paper, remember: newspapers go directly back into newsprint recycling; corrugated cardboard is a highly valued recyclable; magazines, glossy printed flyers or newspaper inserts, phone books, envelopes, computer paper, old letters, and paper packaging should all be recycled.

Plastic does not break down in the landfill, and since it can be recycled to make many diverse products, effort should be made to recycle all plastic waste. Glass is recycled according to color: clear, green and brown. Aluminum cans are very valuable as recyclable items. In addition, aluminum foil and foil packaging are also important to recycle; they are reprocessed into aluminum mechanical components, such as engine parts.

We all like a little good dirt. Who knew that tossing kitchen and yard scraps together would result in what gardeners call “black gold”. Composting is easy. Instead of sending organic matter, such as leaves, grass clippings, garden waste and food scraps, to the landfill, find a place in the yard and start a compost pile. According to the US EPA, compost enriches gardens, improves the soil around landscaping, can be used as a soil additive for house plants as well as protective mulch for trees and shrubs.

Annually in the United States, one-quarter of our landfills are filled with food and yard waste that can be composted. Every day a person generates 8% waste that can be composted. That adds up to 140 lbs per person of waste that we are
needlessly sending to the landfill. A community that composts reaps economic benefits by reducing the need for water, fertilizers, and pesticides. It is a low-cost option to chemical soil enhancers. Composting extends municipal landfill life by diverting organic materials from landfills and provides a less costly alternative to conventional methods of cleansing contaminated soil.

No advanced degree in environmental science is needed to be a successful composter. There are many options when it comes to a compost container. The crucial component of successful composting is The List of What to Compost. The
list includes: coffee grounds and filters; cardboard rolls; clean paper; cotton rags; dryer and vacuum lint; eggshells; fireplace ashes; fruits and vegetables; grass clippings; hair and fur; hay and straw; houseplants; leaves; nut shells; sawdust; shredded newspaper; tea bags; wood chips; wool rags; yard trimmings; and animal manure.

It is the perfect time of the year to start composting.

A standard case of glass bottled beverages contains 24 bottles. By recycling one glass bottle enough electricity is saved to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours. A recycled case of bottles saves enough electricity to power the same bulb for 96 hours, which equals 4 days!

The “going green” message seems to have become a mantra of this century’s first decade. Individuals, communities, businesses, states and nations have begun readjusting their environmental focus. With current globalization shrinking the world, it becomes easier to see how the lives of people, ecosystems, animals and plants are all interconnected. For example, according to Planet Green, pesticides used in Argentina can affect the health of folks in the U.S., just as greenhouse gas emissions from Australia can affect the Brazilian rainforests.

There is no denying that the planet, our planet, is impacted by our daily individual actions – good or bad. The bad news is the behavior of humans has had a negative impact on our ecosystems. Consider that approximately 250 animals are on the critically endangered mammal list; or 36 U.S. states are anticipating local, regional or statewide water shortages by 2013; not to mention, the recent environmental nightmare in the Gulf of Mexico. Going green involves taking steps to minimize the damage humans have done. The good news is each of us, as individuals and as communities can make green choices about the products we use, the food we buy, the amount of energy we consume, and so on.

Living an environmentally responsible life and making choices that preserve the earth’s resources will provide our planet with a sustainable future for our next generations. Recent numbers indicate that Americans throw away at least 100 million tons of paper a year, almost all of which can be recycled. A ton of paper that is recycled can save: 7,000 gallons of water; 380 gallons of oil; and enough electricity to power an average house for six months. Think about that!

There is value in going green; value that has environmental, economic and quality of life measurements. The planet’s citizens are beginning to tip the environmental scales in the right direction. It is the day-in and day-out choices that have the biggest impact. After all, look at the power of one glass bottle.