I. Introduction: A. Attention-getting device: "DID YOU TAKE OUT THE TRASH?" How many times have our parents asked us that question? Probably more than most of us care to remember. Well, one day many of you will have children and most of the basics of parenting will remain the same. However, one may be changing. Instead of asking if your son or daughter took out the trash, you will probably be asking if he or she sorted the trash. If you are wondering what I mean by sort the trash, listen to these staggering environmental statistics: In one year, the United States produces 160 million tons of garbage and that only includes what is legally dumped. Really, how much in 160M tons? It's enough metal to build two million automobiles, enough wood to construct a million homes, enough paper to publish all the daily newspapers in the country, enough aluminum to rebuild the entire American air fleet 71 times, and would fill 11 million garbage trucks. According to The Global Ecology Handbook, written by Walter Carson published in 2010. B. Thesis statement: Everyone should make a stronger effort to recycle; it can be beneficial in so many ways. C. Preview of Main Points: Today I’m going to focus on three main points, first: Dangers from not recycling, second: What we can recycle, and lastly: How recycling can save you money.

II. Body D. Dangers from not Recycling. 1. Recycling has become necessary because landfills are rapidly being closed and are causing increasingly more damage to the environment. a. Landfills have decreased in number from 20,000 in 1978 to 3,000 in 2010. b. Landfills cause serious air and water pollution. i. A large landfill near Miami, FL has polluted a nearby lake to the extent that fish no longer live there. ii. Decomposition of waste in landfills