...Recycling in Colorado? Throughout the last 5 months I had collected plastic bottles with hopes that I could recycle them and help save my part in the environment. Through my exploration I found there was only one location in Pueblo to recycle my plastic, but also I was required to pay for my donation. I was appalled at this discovery and questioned the idea of this charge. After speaking with the employees at this recycling center I was told “Colorado has too much empty space for landfills so rather than applying money to start recycling programs we can just bury it for cheaper.” Is this why it is so hard to recycle in Colorado; to think that such an idea truly existed created the thirst to find out why this is such an accepted idea. I believe that we need to stop this idea, and make a huge curve for the better of our community and our environment in Colorado. According to Boulder Colorado’s EcoCycle, Colorado recycling ranks 47th out of the 50 United States today! We should be so ashamed. Growing up in states like Massachusetts, Michigan, and California it is depressing when I look at the bottles and cans seeing the label that says return for 5 – 15 cents. Why can’t CO. have this; why can’t every state have this? Each issue that I have inquired about with the recycling programs brings up cost and efficiency however when seeing the facts from other states compared to Colorado it just seems that we don’t wish to see the final analysis. How are states like CA. and MA. had...
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...After the initial observation that many of the beaches in New Zealand had high concentrations of plastic pellets, further studies found that different species of prion ingest the plastic debris. Hungry prions mistook these pellets for food, and these particles were found intact within the birds' gizzards and proventriculi. Pecking marks similar to those made by northern fulmars in cuttlebones have been found in plastic debris, such as styrofoam, on the beaches on the Dutch coast, showing that this species of bird also mistakes plastic debris for food.[20] An estimate of 1.5 million Laysan albatrosses, which inhabit Midway Atoll, all have plastics in their digestive system. Midway Atoll is halfway between Asia and North America, and north of the Hawaiian archipelago. It’s a remote location, and the plastic blockage has proven deadly to these birds. These seabirds choose red, pink, brown and blue plastic pieces because of the similarities they share with their natural food source. On the shore, thousands of birds corpses can be seen with plastic remaining where the stomach once was. The durability of the plastics is visible amongst the remains. In some instances, the plastic piles are still present while the bird's corpse has decayed.[4] As a result of plastic ingestion, the digestive tract can be blocked resulting in starvation. The windpipe can also be blocked, which results in suffocation.[4] The debris can also accumulate in the animal’s gut, and give them a false sense of...
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...The City of Chicago has open its doors by implementing a recycling program that resident’s can be a part of. Their contribution will help to improve the quality of Chicago’s environment and shine a light on the benefits of recycling. Residents of Chicago who participate in the blue cart recycling program understand the importance behind the recycling initiative. To improve the environment and protect natural resources, residents must change their habits and adjust to new methods of disposing household waste. Through education and participation families will benefit from recycling. More importantly, families will experience a sense of contribution. Households will develop a routine and as time goes on, recycling for most people will become second nature. Thankfully, Chicagoans all across the city are experiencing the benefits of recycling for the first time. Although recycling is beneficial for the environment, the advantages for Chicago residents are clean neighborhoods, community programs, and infrastructure projects. The citywide recycling campaign is taking place in stages for the City of Chicago residents. By 2013, City Hall has grown the blue cart recycling program to seven communities serving over 600,000 homes. “This recycling and education program affirms Mayor Emanuel’s commitment to create a healthier and more sustainable Chicago.” (2013). In the first place, residents received information through the mail on how and when the service is available in their neighborhood...
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...Topic: Recycling Title: Saving our Resources General purpose: To inform Specific purpose: To inform the audience that recycling is essential for saving our resources. Introduction 1. (Attention getter) One time in high school, my class took a trip to the dump. It was so disgusting and stink; I remember smelling it in my sleep for several days. What caught my attention, was a fish caught in the plastic from a six pack of sodas. I was devastated by the effects of non- recycling and from then on decided to help save our planet earth. 2. (Tie to the audience) People with health issues have been hospitalized and died due to pollution. Kids with asthma are direct targets of the people who choose not to recycle. Pollution of our waters, pollutes our fresh grown fruits and vegetables that we all eat. It kills our natural resources and animals. 3. Today I’m going to explain what recycling causes and how it affects our lives now and in the future. Transition to body of speech I will start with the definition of what recycling is. 1. What is recycling? A. According to Wikipedia, Recycling is processing used materials (waste) into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution (from incineration) and water pollution (from landfilling) by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions...
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...What is Recycling? Recycling is a pretty simple concept: take something that isn't useful anymore and make it into something new instead of just throwing it away. It can be anything from recycling old paper into new paper, to making an old hubcap into a decorative birdbath. In reality, recycling can get pretty complex -- how it interacts with our environment, our politics, our economy and even our own human behaviour patterns will play a major role in the future of our planet. What is Recycling? Recycling can take many forms. On a small scale, any time you find a new use for something old, you're recycling. One example is making old cereal boxes into magazine holders Recycling becomes more important on larger scales. At this level, used consumer goods are collected, converted back into raw materials and remade into new consumer products. Aluminum cans, office paper, steel from old buildings and plastic containers are all examples of materials commonly recycled in large quantities, often through municipal programs encouraging bulk household collections. It's rare for a recycled product to be exactly the same as the original material from which it was recycled. Recycled paper, for example, contains ink residue and has shorter fibers than virgin paper (paper made from wood pulp). Because of this, it may be less desirable for some purposes, such as paper used in a copy machine. When a recycled good is cheaper or weaker than the original product, it's known as down-cycling...
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...Packaging functions When we want to purchase goods, we also focus on the good itself rather than the product packaging. But in fact, packaging also plays an important role for good and sale market. This paper is about the functions of packaging, including containing and protecting products, promoting product, facilitating usage and facilitating recycling. The essential purpose of product packaging is to protect the product from damage. Product packaging not only protects the product during transit from the manufacturer to the retailer, but it also prevents damage while the product moves on retail shelves. Of course, different products’ characteristics have different packaging. For example, computer as an electronic product must have bubble packaging and packaging box to protect product. Why use bubble packaging for computer packaging. In my opinion, bubble packaging is an extremely lightweight, durable packaging material that works well for wrapping items as well as filling the void in boxes. Computer is fragile product that bubble packaging absorbs shock to keep screen safe. However, packaging also plays an important role for portraying information about the product. Outside packaging of computer may contain directions on product information, such as brand name, style and sample of product. Many product packaging also have same information printing on their packaging. This information can help to sell the product and it allows potential customers to obtain the necessary...
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...Should Recycling be Mandatory for All Americans? Do you like to live in a place where trash is all around you? The average person living in North America produces 1600 pounds of garbage a per year, that is 29 pounds a week, and around 4.4 pounds of garbage in a day. Just sit back and think if everybody did their own part on recycling? Once all people stand for the cause and work together this problem can be solved sooner than later. People not recycling have created many problems for humans, wildlife, and sea creatures living on the earth. It should be mandatory that each city in the United States have a recycling program put into place. Not having these programs already in place has caused a change in the climate. There is a demand for new resources and trees to be cut down due to not recycling. Carbon dioxide that is processed by plants has decreased with the removal of trees. When trees are cut down fuel is needed to transport and process new paper. The fuel is being burned causing it to be released into the environment as greenhouse gases and this is contributing to the environment. The environment must process papers that do not reach landfills. After the paper goes into a landfill it must remain there until the ground absorbs it and processes it. Even though paper degrades at a faster rate than other manufactured items such as; Styrofoam and plastics, it is better to recycle paper than to consume new paper. Landfills are overcrowded due to human waste. All paper that...
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...Iyana Ipaja and its environs as a case study was done by Joy………… in the department of Chemistry under the supervision of my Project Supervisor. ……………………………………… ……………………………… Prject Supervisor Date ……………………………….. ……………………………………. (HOD, Chemistry Department, Unilag) Date DEDICATION AKNOWLEDGEMENT ABSTRACT ABSTRACT This study examines the overview and the concepts of household waste sorting – waste prevention, collection, recycling and reuse, followed by household analysis using empirical data. The analysis shows the average mean weight composition of household waste sortingat source ranges from 0.50kg to 0.63kg paper, 2.21kg to 3.29kg putrescibles, 0.85kg to 1.41kg glass, 0.52kg to 0.68 plastic and 0.89kg to 1.20kg cans. The average percentage composition of wastes ranges from 10% paper to 45% putrescibles. From the analysis, there is a low level of household awareness about the preparedness of household waste sorting at source, and hence low level of participation in household waste sorting, disposal and recycling. The study also concludes the need for strengthening the relationship of proper waste management framework policies and environmental awareness by the waste regulators in the State. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Nigeria as a country could be said to be urbanizing at an astonishing rate. The share of Nigeria’s urban population was revealed to have increased from 40 percent in 1970 to about 48 percent in 2009, with over 100 million out of over 160 million...
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...Mark Hancock Environmental Economics Bottled Water Environmental and Economical Effects Introduction Since the early 1990’s American’s have been consuming large amounts of bottled water. Most American’s don’t realize the effects of the bottled water industry on the environment or on their wallet. Individuals believe that bottled water is more pure and of a higher quality than that of their conventional tap water. In reality this is false. We as a country are wasting money on bottled water and harming the environment in the process. Without a change of consumption habits our environment will see some dramatic changes. This is an important environmental and economical issue that will effect future generations as well as the current. Brief History Bottled water has become a part of many Americans life. Perrier started this trend with their introduction of bottled water in the early 1980’s. Ever since the early 1990’s when Coke and Pepsi got into the bottle water market because they saw their market share for soda declining Americans have been consuming bottled water at an alarming rate. These companies tried to glamorize their product saying it will make you skinny and healthy and associating it with big name celebrities and athletes. They stated that they were not in competition tap water because they provided a product that was portable, convenient and pure. In 2007 it was an 11.35 billion dollar business. The American people certainly bought into this...
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...Recycling – A Call for Change By: Nicole Hurley Our trash has become a growing problem not only for our environment, but for our economy as well. In America in one day, a single person creates 4.6 pounds of trash, which is more than any other country in the world. Only 1.5 pounds of this trash is recycled per person per day. This totals out to us having created 251 million tons of trash in America in one year, and we have only recycled 81 million tons of it. These statistics need to change, and one way we can do this is with mandatory recycling. Mandatory recycling can produce many different benefits, such as improving the economic development of the United States, saving the American family valued dollars, saving our natural resources, and sustaining the environment for future generations. By converting waste into valuable products, recycling creates jobs and adds significant value to the U.S. economy. Recycling is a big industry, and in 2000 it employed over 1.1 million people and provided an annual payroll of $37 billion. This was a great help to our country’s job creation and economic development. Statistics from the National Recycling Coalition show that incinerating 10,000 tons of waste creates one job and land filling 10,000 tons of waste creates six jobs, but the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) shows that recycling 10,000 tons of waste creates 36 jobs (City of Fort Collins, 2008). More job openings would increase the productivity of our economy because people...
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...The intent of this research report is to examine the vast array of factors that create the necessity of learning how to efficiently use the technology available to both improve upon and generate new processes that will make a global recycling effort a successful endeavor to improve the quality of life on the planet and the health of the planet itself. To be discussed are the major areas of impact including the social, financial, and environmental considerations and the unique challenges that arise with each variable toward the end of balancing the basic needs of a prosperous civilization with the potential of its resources, (US EPA, OSWER, Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, 1998). The practical aspects of each will be examined for advantages and disadvantages within the framework of an economic base and the measures that must be taken to reshape the paradigm that currently governs the path of both human civilization and that of the ecological growth of all life on Earth. Of all of the wondrous mechanisms that exist within the living cell, one of the most profound is the genetically coded activities that utilize raw materials in order to synthesize new substances which then react, forming reaction products that are often in turn used for other processes. Human society, as within the cell, consists of a multitude of individual systems that work together toward the continued life and growth of the whole. The basic building blocks of life serve as the perfect model for...
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...ENG 170 Lisa Tellor-Kelley November 9, 2015 Mandatory Recycling In The United States. The average American can produce around 1600 pounds of trash each year. If you break that down, that’s about 29 pounds of trash in a week and about 4.4 pounds in a single day. What person wants to live somewhere they are surrounded by trash? If everyone in the United States did their part in recycling then this would not be as serious. Once society makes a stand and work together to solve this, it can be solved sooner rather than later. Sea creatures, wildlife and humans have all been affected by people that do no recycle. There should be a law in the United States that makes recycling mandatory in every state. By people not recycling has made a drastic change in the climate. Trees have been cut down and new resources are in a huge demand because of people not recycling. After the trees are cut down, fuel is needed to transport the trees and to make new paper. When the fuel is being used it gets burned and being released as a greenhouse in the environment. Sometimes, papers do not reach landfills and the papers that do not reach the landfills should be processed. Even if it does reach the landfills, it should remain there until the earth absorbs and processes it. Even though paper disintegrates faster than Styrofoam and plastic, instead of consuming new paper, just recycle the old one paper. Human waste is the reason landfills are so overcrowded. The paper that does not get recycled gets...
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...Recycling Everyone can take part of save the planet. One of the most contributing ways of saving the planet is by recycling. These three words reduce, reuse, and recycle is talking about how people handle waste, which currently is a big issue in the United States. In today’s society, landfills are overflowing causing serious issues that need to be addressed. Knowing how to address them and how to correct the problem can be an easy process if taught the proper way to do it. Recycling allows today’s society to process used materials, which reduce the consumption of raw materials, energy, pollution, greenhouse emissions, and the need for conventional waste disposal. Recycling is one of the ultimate solutions to reduce the amount of waste that is constantly dumped into our landfills. The United States is the number one trash producing country in the world. (www.nbci.nlm.nih.gov, 2010) The United States have environmentalist groups that are really pushing for stricter laws regarding recycling. These environmentalist groups do not only want to make it a choice but demand that every American household must recycle in order to reduce the amount of waste that is entering American landfills. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 32.1% of solid waste is recycled, 13.6% is incinerated, and 54.3% end up in landfills, yet some believe that approximately 90% of all solid waste is recyclable. (Chase, Dominick, Trepa, Bailey,& Friedman, 2009) (www.lwvmd.org) Solid waste...
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...EG 372 – Written Analysis Project Part 5 March 2, 2013 Do we have a throw-away society? Who is impacted by the problem? A throw-away society is one that ultimately affects every person on the Earth. However, the greatest impact is upon the developed, industrialized countries; as they are the greatest producers of products that may be discarded. This is not to say that less developed, non-industrialized countries are not affected also. These countries are also affected by polluted land and waterways. The polluted waterways are more of a health risk because of either a non-existent purification systems or inefficient systems. The amount of trash that has been thrown away in the years since the Great Depression, will have an impact on the lives of everyone on Earth for generations to come, unless something is done to exponentially reduce our production of garbage. What is the problem? According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s website, in 2010 (the latest figures available), the United States alone created over 250 million tons of trash. An interesting fact; the total volume of solid (this includes construction, demolition and non-hazardous industrial) waste produced in the United States each year is equal to the weight of more than 5600 Nimitz Class aircraft carriers, or 247,000 U.S. Space Shuttles, or over 2.3 million Boeing 747 Jumbo Jets (Beck). In an August 2008, ABC Good Morning America report it was stated that there is a massive area...
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...INTRODUCTION: A BAGLESS AUSTIN The future is upon us. Store-goers will soon need to re-evaluate their shopping experience, as Austin will be going bagless beginning March 1, 2013. All consumers use plastic or paper bags on a regular basis, whether while retail shopping or grocery shopping. That’s all about to change, however; the passage of this new law means that those paper and plastic bags are on the way out. Single-use bag use will be diminished, re-usable bags are headed to the forefront, and shoppers will be getting used to a new experience when the head to their local grocery early next year. BACKGROUND According to a city report released this year, “Austinities use 263 million plastic bags a year – that’s more than 330 bags a year for every resident. It costs the city – meaning it costs us the taxpayers – about $850,000 a year to dispose of plastic bags.”(Lisheron, 2012) Consumers in Austin have already started to get a taste of what is to come. Companies, such as Walgreens, have implemented a trial test on stores to gauge the impact of the law being passed. Candace White, an avid shopper at the Slaughter and South Congress Walgreens, was quite confused when the cashier thanked her for coming but did not place her products in a plastic bag. The cashier informed her about Austin going bagless and she was given a free recycled bag. Like most Austinities, she was not informed of the new law which is soon to be enforced. This paper will reinforce the reasons why going...
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