Tip 17 - One More Time |
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U.S. citizens recycle less than 10 percent of their trash while Europeans recycle as much as 60 percent of theirs.
We all use products made from natural resources -- paper, aluminum, glass -- and know that recycling saves natural resources and and conserves space in garbage dumps. But one of the hidden benefits of recycling is the energy that it saves. |
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MAKING NEWS
- Making recycled paper uses 30 percent to 55 percent less energy than making paper from trees.
- If you recycle a foot-tall stack of newspapers, you save enough energy to take a hot shower every day for a week. And considerable energy is saved by not trucking garbage to distant landfills.
- Other benefits of recycling: 95 percent less air pollution.
- Americans already recycle 24 millions tons of paper a year, 29 percent of the paper we use. But there's room to improve. More than 50 million tons worth of room, in fact.
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A GLASS ACT
- Recycled glass uses only two-thirds the energy needed to manufacture glass from raw materials.
- For every soft-drink bottle you recycle, you save enough energy to run a television set for an hour and a half.
- Refillable bottles don't need to be melted down before they're reused so they save four times as much energy, according to a study for the Commission of European Communities.
- Only 27 percent of the glass used in the United States is recycled, and there's no reason it can't be higher.
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YES, YOU CAN
- It takes enormous amounts of electricity to refine aluminum from its ore. That's why most aluminum plants are built in areas with cheaper electricity, such as the Pacific Northwest.
- Recycling aluminum requires only a tenth as much electricity as making the same aluminum from bauxite ore.
- Discarding an aluminum can wastes as much energy as if you filled the can half full of gasoline and poured it on the ground.
- It takes barely as much energy as there is in a tablespoon of gasoline to recycle that can.
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SIMPLE WAYS TO SAVE ENERGY
- Recycle. Set up an area to save newspapers, glass and aluminum.
- Separate them from your garbage. Ask your local recycler whether to sort the colored and clear glass separately.
- Recycle the paper, aluminum and glass however it's accomplished in your area: at supermarkets, by curbside pickup, at recycling centers.
- Organize a fund-raising drive to collect recyclables and donate the proceeds toward your favorite charity. Or, if there isn't a recycling program in your community, set one up.
- Given a choice, buy recycled products instead of those made of virgin materials.
- Urge your local newspaper to print on recycled paper.
- Re-use grocery paper or plastic bags, or turn them in for cash.
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SOURCES
- Seattle Public Utilities, 206-684-3000. For recycling and composting information, and curbside signups.
- Paper Recycling Committee, American Paper Institute, 260 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016. 212-340-0600. Free pamphlets on recycling paper.
- Glass Packaging Institute, 1801 K St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20006. 202-887-4850. Free pamphlets about glass recycling.
- Environmental Defense Fund, 1616 P St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036. Its book, Coming Full Circle, offers a good approach to setting up a recycling program, with many inspiring examples.
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