Recycling is one of the easiest and most important things we can do to preserve the planet. Unfortunately, too many people either don’t understand the concept or just don’t care at all. The average person generates over four pounds of trash each day, and in a lifetime, the average American will throw away 600 times his or her own weight in garbage.
That’s enough garbage to fill… a landfill.
While some people just don’t take the time to recycle, others just don’t know which items to recycle and which to compost or toss in the trash. To improve your reducing, reusing, recycling skills, here is a comprehensive list of the top seven items you should be recycling.
- Aluminum
Aluminum is 100% recyclable. The best part? Making new cans out of recycled cans takes 95% less energy than manufacturing brand new ones! - PET plastic bottles
According to the Container Recycling Institute, Americans purchase about 25 billion single-serve water bottles each year. What’s worse is that 80% of those bottles, once used, will end up in a landfill. Plastic bottles are so common and so easy to recycle, so why not toss them in the recycling bins? - Newspaper
This item should be a no-brainer, but sadly, paper makes up about one-third of all municipal waste in the country. When you recycle paper, you are conserving resources and saving energy. - Corrugated cardboard
Did you know that recycling one ton of cardboard saves over nine cubic yards of landfill space? - Steel cans
Steel is one of the most recycled materials in the world. In fact, North America alone recycles more than 80 million tons of steel each year. - HDPE plastic bottles
This type of plastic is more commonly used for shampoo, milk, detergents, and bleach. Before recycling, make sure you rinse and clean your bottles. - Glass bottles and containers
Glass is recyclable as well. In fact, recycling just one glass container can save enough energy to power a 100-watt bulb for four hours.
Just by taking the extra moment to recycle these items rather than throw them in the garbage, you can make a huge difference in the way we handle our waste and protect our planet.
What else can you do to minimize waste? Post in the comments section below!
