The average American throws away 4 pounds of garbage per day. In 1990, it is estimated that Americans will throw away over 1 million tons of aluminum cans and foil, more than 11 million tons of glass bottles and jars, over 4 and a half million tons of office paper and nearly 10 million tons of newspaper. Almost all of this material could be recycled.
Recycling means to make a new product from old materials. Recycling saves large amounts of energy. Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to light a 100-watt light bulb for four hours. Recycling one soda can saves as much energy as if the can were half full of gasoline.
When waste products are recycled, fewer raw materials are used. Americans threw away 35 billion aluminum cans last year - we threw away enough aluminum to build an entire air fleet four times over. Recycling paper reduces the pressure on our forests for wood pulps.
cans (aluminum and/or tin) | |
glass bottles | |
paper | |
aluminum foil | |
styrofoam (containers or packaging materials) | |
cardboard | |
disposable diapers | |
plastic containers | |
newspapers | |
grocery bags (paper or plastic) | |
egg cartons | |
batteries | |
clothing | |
catalogs and magazines |
Benefits:
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Drawbacks:
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Instant garbage | Possible alternative |
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1. | 1. |
2. | 2. |
3. | 3. |
4. | 4. |
5. | 5. |