“Paper or plastic?” used to be as common of a question in grocery stores as “Would you like help carrying your bags to your car?” Now, incidentally, rarely are either of these questions uttered in stores today.
Plastic grocery bags were introduced in the 1970s and gained immediate popularity. This veritable success story has a track record that any inventor would more than envy. Since its introduction four decades ago, this product has gone from “unheard of” to “unbelievably popular”. Now accounting for about four out of every five bags handed out in grocery stores, the plastic grocery bag as a product is an amazing success.
The handling and disposal of Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) have
become quite a conundrum over the past couple decades. Items that used
to be thrown into the trash, poured down the drain, or dumped in the
grass have been proven to pose a health threat when disposed of
improperly.
“According to federal and Indiana statutes the term
"hazardous waste" means a solid waste, or combination of solid waste
that, because of its quantity, concentration, or physical, chemical or
infectious characteristics may: cause or significantly contribute to an
increase in mortality or an increase in serious irreversible, or
incapacitating reversible, illness; or pose a substantial present or
potential hazard to human health or the environment when improperly
treated, stored, transported, or disposed of, or otherwise managed.”
With the development of single stream recycling, the recycling process has come a long way from its initial introduction.
Labels can be left on tin cans and plastic bottles since the heat involved in the processing of these materials eliminates the labels altogether. Most recycling centers even allow lids to be left on plastic bottles and containers. If that’s the case, surely something as harmless as stickers on a cardboard box is ok, right? The answer to that is a surprising "No". How about a little food residue in cans, plastic or cardboard? Although recycling centers ask that plastic, glass, and metal recyclables be rinsed and clean, cardboard and paper is a different story.
When the term “Recycling” is used, we generally think of plastics and aluminum being melted down and used to manufacture new items. But let’s not forget that recycling is also cycling used items through new people making that item new....to them!
If you’ve ever shopped at stores such as Goodwill or other thrift stores or at a consignment store, you have essentially been part of a recycling process for those items. “The resale industry has grown by about 7 percent in the last two years.
There are now about 30,000 resale, consignment and thrift stores operating in the United States, according to the National Association of Resale Professionals, or NART. Resale is a multi-billion-dollar-per-year industry. Don't believe it? Well, according to NART, Goodwill Industries alone generated $2.8 billion in retail sales from its 2,324 nonprofit thrift stores in 2009.” These statistics are from a time directly following a huge economic downturn. Since then, these types of stores have only gained popularity.
Biodiesel
is a derivative of vegetable sources such as soybean oil and is similar
to diesel fuel. It can also be made from recycled cooking oil and
animal fats.
All major engine manufacturers’ warranties cover
the use of biodiesel fuels, most often in blends of up to 5 percent or
20 percent biodiesel.
Plants in nearly every state in the
country produce biofuel. Its production has increased from approximately
25 million gallons in the early 2000s to almost 1.1 billion gallons in
2012. “This represents a small but growing component of the annual U.S.
on-road diesel market of about 35 billion to 40 billion gallons.”
It is unbelievable how much trash Americans generate through the course of a week. Estimates are that “1,600 pounds is the amount of trash the average American produces annually. With the garbage produced in America alone, you could form a line of filled-up garbage trucks that would reach the moon”.
As astonishing as this number is, it’s just the tip of the iceberg since today’s fast-paced culture perpetuates the problem with readily available, pre-packaged everything! In fact, speaking of packaging, “72 million tons of containers and packaging in 2009 ended up in the U.S. municipal solid waste stream or MSW.
From a very young age, we are usually taught that throwing trash on the ground or from a car window is littering…and wrong. When most of us consider trash and littering, we think of items like water bottles, soda cans, bags and wrappers from take-out, and the number one most littered item in America…..cigarette butts. But what about apple cores and banana peels?
Although it seems harmless, and maybe even beneficial, to throw these items onto the ground, it does cause issues we may have never thought of and is illegal.
