 Across the United States, cities and towns have created recycling programs to deal with the overflow of waste. The crisis caused by overflowing landfills, rising material waste removal costs and irresponsible use of resources has affected every part of human existence. It reaches the national economy and stretches to global climate change incurred by over-use of fossil fuels.
Simply put, it doesn’t make sense to harvest new materials rather than recycle what’s already there, but that’s what companies did for decades, because of a misguided notion about the realities around finite resources, as well as an irrational over-estimation about consumer squeamishness around recycled products as somehow sub-par.
People are beginning to get over the idea that new harvested materials have an edge over recycled ones. Buying, using and producing recycled materials saves vast amounts of resources, with a positive impact on human and environmental health. Recycling also promotes economic gain by practicing utility and recognizing value in used materials like paper, plastic and chemical or high-manufactured items.
By limiting what we put into landfills, we are reducing energy use, as well as materials costs. It’s a win-win situation, and people at any level of American life, from households to advocacy groups and government agencies, can help. Starting a recycling program is easy: just find a collector, and make sure that materials are sent there on a regular basis. A lot of times, this means saving materials from the jaws of the landfill. These simple actions can make a huge difference.
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