Our Northwest Energy: Our Green Lifestyle: Recycling

By: Emily Easley

"Bicycle Chair" photo provided by www.bikefurniture.com

Many Americans are evolving from light green to dark green by incorporating innovative recycling ideas into their lifestyles. People are doing everything from using plastic bags to make rugs to using old bicycles to make lawn chairs.

Recycling is the process in which used materials are turned into new products in order to prevent the waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of raw materials, reduce energy usage, air pollution and water pollution, and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Why Recycle? There are many reasons to recycle. Here are just a few of them:

Recycling creates jobs and stimulates the development of greener technologies
Recycling reduces the need for new landfills and incinerators
Recycling prevents emissions of many greenhouse gases and water pollutants
Recycling conserves resources for future generations

Where Does My Recycling Go? "Plastic Bottle Car" photo provided by www.ecogeek.org. Recycled goods are taken to a materials recovery facility where a combination of machines and skilled people sort them.

Milk, shampoo and detergent containers are manufactured into wheel barrows, irrigation pipes, and air conditioning hoses
Paperboard milk and juice cartons are manufactured into office paper
Soft drink bottles made from Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) are manufactured into new detergent bottles, carpet and fabric
Glass bottles and jars are sorted by color and then melted down to make new bottles and jars

Click here for a complete fact sheet of where recycled goods go.

What Happens to Goods That Are Not Recycled? "Landfill" photo provided by www.uploadwikimedia.org. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, there are currently 3,091 active landfills and over 10,000 old municipal landfills in the US. Although the number of landfills has dramatically dropped, being at 8,000 active landfills in 1988, recycling is just as vital now as ever.

How Do I Recycle Different Materials? Americans have grown up with the knowledge of how to recycle materials such as pop-cans, paper, and glass, but most Americans don’t know the first thing about recycling obscure materials such as computers, cell phones and even cars. With rapid technological change, people are replacing and upgrading their gadgets constantly. The result is a technological waste mountain.

Up to 20 million “obsolete” PCs are discarded annually in the United States alone. Discarded computer equipment, also known as e-waste, should not be thrown out with your household garbage because they contain toxic substances and are effectively hazardous waste. A single computer can contain up to 2kg of lead. You can dispose of computer waste by returning the product to the manufacturer, taking the item to a professional waste disposal facility or donating the goods to a non-profit organization.

"Cell Phone" photo provided by www.fllibertarian.com. There are approximately 100 million broken or obsolete cell phones currently taking up space in the U.S., and nearly 200,000 homes could be powered for a year with the energy saved by recycling them. As a nation, we currently only recycle around one fifth of our old cell phones; a shame, considering that cell phones, made up largely of plastic and metals like gold, lithium, and copper, are 100% recyclable. Some companies, like ‘Turn On Your Mobile,’ even have a recycling scheme’s where you can exchange your mobile phones for cash.

Despite their complicated construction, cars are one of today’s most recycled assets. Whole automobiles are simply not landfilled because steal and iron components are too valuable. Recycling your old family car can be as easy as taking it to a steel, iron or metal mill. Visit www.recycle-steel.org and use the steel recycling locator to find the closest location to recycle your car.

"Recycle" video provided by www.recyclenow.com & www.youtube.com