On America Recycles Day, what new commitment can you make to recycle?

The U.S. is the #1 trash-producing country in the world at 1,609 pounds per person per year. This means that 5% of the world’s people generate 40% of the world’s waste.** Yes, we can do better!

So…..What are we waiting for?  Let’s get busy and recycle MORE!

Today focus on packaging.  Read all packaging and recycle what ever has a recycle triangle.

Recycling saves lots of energy: Products made from recycled material use less energy!  Sadly, valuable materials are ending up in our landfills every day.

Tips for increasing your recycling and working for zero waste in your home and business!

– Recycle all plastic bottles, plastic tubs, metal and aluminum cans, glass and newspapers and most paper products.  Every community has different rules for this, but please don’t put these in the trash!  Find a recycling location near you at http://earth911.com/

– Establish a place to collect recyclables. Keep a place for recycling in every room of your house or business. http://earth911.com/news/2012/12/11/binbisa-new-recycling-bin/ …AND recycle all junk mail

– Pre-cycle: Become aware of the packaging of the products you purchase.  Buy the products with the least packaging, and with packaging that is recyclable.  This has really improved the past few years.

– Awareness – The more you recycle the more you become aware of new things that you can recycle!

– Plastic Bags: All clean and dry plastic bags should be recycled.  If it stretches and is clean, recycle it.  Many grocery stores will take bags for recycling.  Ask stores to start collecting plastic bags for recycling if you don’t have someone local.   Some cities have banned the use of plastic bags!! We all can recycle them.  Studies indicate that 100,000 marine animals and 2 million birds die every year from ingesting or being caught up in plastic debris*

–Through recycling and composting you should get your garbage down to one small bag a week!

Recycling is a process to change waste materials 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 landfills) by reducing the need for “conventional” waste disposal, and lower greenhouse gas emissions as compared to plastic production. From Wikipedia

Eliminate the idea of waste:  http://www.terracycle.com/en-US/

** Recycling Revolution  http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html