Recycling – Why is it important?
Recycling isn’t the full solution, but it can help!
Recycling conserves natural resources and lets us skip the harmful extraction and refining process that goes into making products from virgin materials. Making stuff from the materials of other stuff uses less energy and water and stops that stuff from filling our landfills.
Recycling one…
Ton (2,000 lbs.) of paper saves enough energy to power a house for 6 hours.
Aluminum can saves enough energy to power a television for 6 hours.
Glass bottle saves enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours.
Pound of steel saves enough energy to power a 60-watt bulb for 24 hours.
Cellphone can save enough energy to power a laptop computer for 44 hours.
Plus, recycling accounts for 3.1 million jobs in the U.S. and keeps valuable material in the economy. 75% of America’s waste is recyclable, but right now we only recycle around 35%. Our Country throws away $9 billion worth of materials every year. Recycling is good for the planet and the economy.
The concept of recycling is great, but over time it has revealed a bigger issue of consumption and waste. Take a look at this video from NPR diving into the layers of the recycling industry. As the video shares, recycling is complicated. In addition to consuming less, consumers have to recycle properly, the technology to recycle each material has to exist, and there needs to be a market for that material. The consumer can have an impact on both ends by recycling properly and buy recycled material. Learn more about the relationship with recycling and recycling markets in our Materials Breakdown.
Specialized Recycling
There are many items that can and should be recycled that cannot go in your curbside recycling bin and need to be taken to a specialized recycling drop-off.
Electronics should never be put in the landfill. Though they only constitute 2% of waste by weight, they account for 70% of toxicity. In landfills these toxins leach into our environment and ground water. Find a designated E-Waste recycling drop for all electronics here.
Batteries and light bulbs (U-waste) should also be recycled because of their toxicity. Not all light bulbs are toxic and accepted by recyclers, so check before making a trip. Visit call2recycle.org/locator to find facilities and stores that accept batteries for drop-off, which includes most Staples locations. Please remember to click the “single-use batteries” checkbox for household batteries. For light bulb recycling in other locations, please visit wastefreesd.org and enter your zip code. Note- calling drop-off organizations before heading over might save you unnecessary driving time!
Oil should never be put down drains because it is bad for the sewage system and should especially never be put down storm drains as these lead directly to the ocean untreated. If you produce large amounts of cooking oil or motor oil bring to a designated oil collection.
Other toxic waste: All toxic waste should be disposed of properly and not sent to the landfill. Some of it can be recycled or repurposed. If you are not sure what is toxic look for words on the label such as poison, corrosive, flammable, combustible irritant, or of course toxic. See EDCO’s full list of toxic materials.
Textiles are important to recycle because there is so much of it. Instead of acting as padding on our landfills, these materials are important to be used to make more clothes and other textile products. Some thrift stores such as Goodwill and even some firsthand retail like H&M will take clothes even if they can’t be used anymore to be recycled.
Plastic bags can be recycled in special film plastic collection sites, most commonly found at grocery stores. This includes plastic grocery bags but also other types of film plastic like bread bags, newspaper bags, etc. Use this handy drop site locator to find a location near you.
Mattresses, tires, furniture, construction materials, and so many more items are all recyclable at the right place!
You can find where to recycle all of the above materials and more by using the following sites. Just type in the item and it will tell you where to take it!
Waste Free SD
Earth911
Recycle Nation
Or check out TerraCycle, you have to order a special collection box from them to ship it in, but they will recycle almost anything!
5 Tips to Set Up Your Home for Recycling Success
Looking to improve your family’s recycling habits? We’ve found that the key to recycling as much as possible is to make your setup at home efficient. Here are a few of our favorite tips to help improve your recycling game.
Have your trash can and recycle bin right next to each other.
Having a designated spot for recyclables inside the house rather than lugging your cans and bottles out to the garage every time makes you more likely to properly place these items in the right bin.Make your bins visually appealing.
If you don’t like the look of an open-top recycling bin, get a regular trash container with a lid and use it for recycling instead.Use a large bin for recyclables and a small bin for trash.
This will help you make the important mindset shift from “I throw things in the trash unless it can be recycled” to “I throw things in the recycle bin unless it is trash”.Keep a reference sheet of what can and can’t be recycled on the fridge.
Often people are deterred from recycling, worried they are going to “do it wrong.” Collected items in a curbside bin depend on location, but you might be surprised at some of the things that can now be recycled! Here’s a handy flyer for San Diego areas to refer to.Create a designated spot for “Special Recycling” items.
Items like plastic bags, batteries, fabric, and electronics can and should be recycled rather than sent to landfills. Plastic bags can be returned to many grocery stores and Solana Center collects e-waste such as batteries and electronics to be repurposed. Having a designated spot for these items in your home or garage will help make sure they find their way to their proper recycling location rather than get thrown out for the sake of saving space. We suggest keeping an empty plastic bag hanging in your cupboard for easy access which you can fill with other bags as you acquire them. Once it’s full tie the top and throw it in your car to be dropped off the next time you go grocery shopping.
Some people say they’ve given up on their recycling efforts recently, citing the recent reports of the material they’ve been so carefully set aside actually ending up in the waste stream. We know that it’s frustrating to see this kind of behavior from those we entrust our environmental efforts to, but we’d like to offer a salve for your frustration: Consider that the whole recycling life cycle requires a team effort. Your contribution to this effort is to separate the recyclables from the trash! Without your efforts, the recycling process can’t survive. Do your job even when others on the team are phoning it in. At least then you can continue to say that you are doing your part to make the world a healthier place.
We hope this article helps you to begin recycling if you have yet to do so. And if you already are recycling, we hope these tips help you to maximize the efficiency of your efforts!
