Recycling Done Easy free essay sample

But ALL of us will leave behind TRASH. Lets think how long that trash stays on the Earth. If we drink a Pepsi out of an aluminum can today and throw the can in the trash, it will stay there at least for 60 years, because that is how long it take for soda cans to decompose. We will be 80 maybe 90 years old, some of us may be gone even, but that can will stay somewhere in a landfill. If we use a Styrofoam cup to drink our coffee the cup will stay there forever. Styrofoam never decomposes. All the good things we have done will be gone. The great-grandchildren of our grandchildren will be gone but the Styrofoam cup that we throw in the trash will continue to pollute the earth. Now consider that Americans throw away 25 billion Styrofoam cups a year. Let me tell you how this trash impacts our world, how we can reduce it, II. BODY A. That trash poses a big problem for us because of the damage it causes the environment and our health. [Monroes Motivated Sequence Need Step] 1. Think about it. If we leave small heaps of trash lying around in our apartment or home, eventually that trash will start to disintegrate. . It will take up space. It will create dirt and a stench. It will attract rats and roaches, which will be very hard to get rid of. ii. It will breed bacteria and viruses which can get us very sick. 2. The same happens on the global and national scale. And that’s not just a little bit of trash. i. Let’s look at the U. S. The United States is the number one trash producing country in the world. In fact, US generation of municipal waste has increased from 137 million tons to 230 million tons in 2007, almost twofold. ii. An average American, like me and you generates 4. pounds of waste per day and almost 1,700 pounds of waste per year (New York Times). That means that 5% of world popula tion produces 40% of the world’s waste. (OECD) iii. The trash we produce ends up in landfills, it pollutes our water, soil and air. It attracts rodents and insects. It facilitates spread of disease, including plague (Diaz) . iv. And when trash decomposes or is treated, it releases green house gas emissions, which also contributes to global warming (EPA). B. What can we do about the trail of trash that we leave behind? [Monroes Sequence Satisfaction Step] 1. We can reduce it by recycling. Effective recycling reduces the amount of trash that ends up in landfills and makes new landfills unnecessary. 2. Recycling also reduces the waste of precious resources, including energy, timber and water. i. For example, to produce each weeks Sundays newspapers, about 500,000 trees must be cut down, but if we recycle all of the issues of New York Times published in a single day, we could save 75,000 trees. (Recycling Revolution) 3. The problem of the waste of resources is very urgent. i. For example, East Africa is currently suffering from severe droughts that are taking lives. Meanwhile, immense quantities of water are polluted through industrial production. Recycling trash uses less water than producing the same products from virgin raw materials. Specifically, if we use recycled paper 60% of water used for manufacturing is saved. When recycling steel 40% of industrial water is saved. (Recycling Revolution) 4. In other words, recycling significantly reduces the problem of the waste of clean water. C. The survey of this class shows that all of us recycle. So we all know about the need for recycling and its advantages. However, we know that not everyone recycles. And research shows that not everyone who understands the necessity of recycling, actually recycles. Why is that? [Monroes Motivated Sequence Visualization Step] 1. There are two challenges, which I will try to address. i. First is that recycling doesn’t bring an immediate material benefit. However, there is an immediate moral benefit of doing the right thing. Furthermore, there are long-term health benefits. If we do not recycle, we may suffer from diseases like cancer 50 years from now. ii. The second challenge of recycling is as follows. We all recycle, so we all know that it takes time and it is difficult if the right conditions are not there. In other words, recycling requires a conscious commitment on our part. However, there are simple steps that can make the task easier for us. 1. For example, we can put a box for paper and newspapers next to our trash bin. If we rinse and crash plastic juice bottles, soda cans, and milk containers they will not smell and will take less space. And we can take out or recyclables when more accumulates. 2. If recycling bins do not exist near our homes, we may be able to request blue recycling carts from local authorities. It may help to familiarize ourselves with the location of a closest drop-off center at www. chicagorecycling. org. If a drop-off center is too far, then it might be even easier to look at the nearest park. Chicago Park District Authority usually puts recycling bins in the parks. If we make sorting our trash easier and faster we are more likely to keep recycling. D. Studies also show that people are more likely to recycle if they live in communities which recycle or if they have friends and neighbors who recycle. [Monroes Motivated Sequence Action Step] 1. Therefore, my challenge to this class will be to join in the effort to raise awareness about recycling and make ourselves commit to recycling by talking to at least one friend or co-worker about recycling within the next month. That way we can hold each other accountable in our recycling efforts. III. CONCLUSION: Recycling or not recycling in fact defines us as human beings. Do we recognize ourselves as members of the entire human family and realize that we are trashing and polluting the Earth, our home. Do we, as responsible citizens, think carefully about the footprint we leave behind? Or do we just leave trash? Works Cited: Diaz, L. t al. Solid Waste Management, Volume 2. UNEP/Earthprint, 2006. International Waste Activities. † 2003. U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. 12 Oct 2009. http://epa. gov Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, â€Å"Municipal Waste Generation Statistics for the OEDC Area,† OECD Factbook, 2010. Oskamp, Stuart. Resource Conse rvation and Recycling: Behavior and Policy. Journal of Social Issues 51. 4 (1995): 157-177. Print. The New York Times, â€Å"Nugdging Recycling from Less Waste to None,† October 19, 2009 Recycling Revolution, â€Å"Recycling Facts,† http://www. recycling-revolution. com/recycling-facts. html Accessed July 22, 2011