Quantifying The Importance Of Recycling For Eco-Friendly Lifestyles

I still remember learning about the three “Rs” when I was in grade school. We were told over and over again to reduce, reuse and recycle. The Wildlife Habitat Council describes them in more detail on its website.

The recycling part is the hardest for a lot of people. Sadly, recycling is still a lot more difficult for a lot of people, because it requires more effort. You need to make a point of taking products that can be recycled and putting them in the right place. Most communities are making it easier for people to separate nonrecyclable trash from materials that can be recycled, but it is not always easy.

You will have an easier time recycling if you understand the importance of it.

Is Recycling Really Worth the Effort?

People aren’t recycling very much. It is estimated that about 75% of all products that end up in our landfills could have been recycled instead. However, people only recycle 30% of it.

There’s no denying the fact that junk removal is important in our everyday lives. No one wants to lead their life surrounded by trash, so a clean environment is pretty much a necessity in all areas of life. But with issues such as climate change becoming increasingly pressing, it’s no longer a simple matter of removing junk – it’s recycling that really makes a difference in the end. So how important is recycling, exactly?

It helps with energy conservation

One of the biggest issues with the manufacturing process is that it’s quite a big energy sink. New products made from raw materials are an energetic investment that costs quite a lot of money, especially compared to the alternative. With recycled materials, a lot less time is spent on processing them and manufacturing new products out of them, greatly reducing all associated costs, such as transport. In economic terms, recycling is just far more lucrative.

Fewer resources are wasted

The biggest draw of recycling is the fact that you help reduce waste overall.  That means fewer raw materials, many of which are precious, limited resources, get completely discarded after one use. Even renewable resources can fare better because of this, as excessive mining can be a drain on the planet in many other aspects, for example. By ensuring that more resources get reused, you can also make sure fewer habitats get damaged. This brings us to our next point.

It aids in protecting the environment

Excessive manufacture and mining, quarrying and logging are some of the biggest sources of environmental deterioration. That’s why, if we want to protect the planet, recycling and reusing materials becomes paramount. With recycling, materials can be freely reintroduced into the market without wasting precious natural resources and drilling further holes into our environment by adding to the already substantial air and water pollution. Recycling is also connected to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, making it one of the most important steps to reversing global climate change.

It reduces landfills

Finally, there’s the factor of landfill which once again stresses the importance of recycling. Without it, waste simply piles up in landfills, and while a lot of it can be disposed of, much of it is not degradable and it might take many years until it disappears completely. With recycling, recyclable materials can be easily repurposed as materials for new goods. The vast majority of our everyday products are made from recyclable materials, so ensuring that they are disposed of in a manner that allows for it can make a substantial difference, reducing global methane emissions.

Recycling Must Be One of Our Top Priorities

Far too few people are recycling these days. Even people that do recycle are not doing it enough. The truth is that recycling can make a big difference when it comes to protecting our environment. You need to understand the importance and start making recycling part of your daily routine. You will be glad that you did and the planet will thank you for your efforts in the future.