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Bryn Olsen

Mrs. Jackie Burr, Instructor

English 2010, Section 5

30 March 2017

Understanding Recycling and Different Ways to Recycle

Introduction

To most people, recycling is not a new concept or idea. As a matter of fact, recycling has

been on the Earth since the beginning of its existence, through nature as the Earth itself recycles

plants, insects, trees, and creatures. Although our Earth has been recycling since the beginning,

only in the last thousands of years has the human race really begun to understand the concept of

reusing, reducing, and recycling. This is because humans finally understood that throwing away

recyclable objects is wasteful and can create health problems (History of Recycling). Most

people know that recycling is putting paper, cardboard, plastic water bottles, and aluminum cans

into a blue bin, but is there more that can be done? As scientists and common people have

experimented creative and more productive ways to recycle, research shows that recycling

benefits communities and cities because it saves money and causes less health issues, and when

recycling is exercised in a variety of ways, it varies from expensive to inexpensive, and simple to

complex.
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Recycling Saves Money and Communities

In La Crosse, Wisconsin, the Gundersen Health System took away 46 percent of its

waste, which is equivalent to more than 850 tons. Because the Gundersen Health System was

able to recycle a significant amount of their usually wasted materials, they saved $70,000.

Although the company never planned on recycling such a plentiful amount, they decided that

they would still continue to push their recycling program forward. Not only because of the

amount of money they were saving, but because of the effect it had on the community, keeping

the residents located next to their facility more safe (Ferenc 9).

Milly Zantow, a local resident in North Freedom, Wisconsin, is another example of

taking charge of a recycling mission to change the community. Zantow first started her recycling

program when she heard about her towns landfill almost overflowing with poisonous materials.

Inspired from her visit to Japan in 1978, where she noticed they practiced separating waste and

recycling, Zantow soon began creating a very successful plastics recycling business. Her

business was even so prosperous that she was able to encourage and motivate other communities

around her to do the same (Pasquariello 124). Both of these stories have something in common:

people coming together to make a difference. In both situations, waste and garbage were

overflowing their businesses and towns, but with a little extra time, both people were able to

impact their community in one way or another.

Easy and Effective Ways to Recycle

Many people believe that since they dont have a lot of money or resources, there is no

chance to make a difference in the world, when in fact they can. Natalie Ermann Russell, writer
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of How to Recycle Anything, has an A to Z guide of what to recycle and where to recycle it.

Russell has shown that any object that would usually be thrown away, such as crayons or

backpacks, can easily be recycled. By listing websites and available places to recycle the various

objects, Russell has made it convenient and easy for her readers to locate and know where to

recycle objects that would most likely been thrown out. In an article by Protect America called

Easy Recycling Tips For Your Home, it states many easy tips and tricks to save the

environment, the neighborhood, and everyone's wallets. The article has three different sections

that list different points that people can reduce, reuse, and recycle. Some tips seem so simple and

insignificant, but it is the the little things that really affect the planet and the environment.

In a song written and performed by Jack Johnson on his album Sing-A-Longs and

Lullabies that came out in 2006, there is a song called The 3 Rs that specifically talks about

recycling. Although the song is a little cheesy, and not a typical song performed from Jack

Johnson, his song has a great message concerning reusing, reducing, and recycling. In Johnsons

song, he encourages his listeners to bring their own bags to the grocery store to reduce waste,

give their clothes to their siblings to reuse, and if their trash is recyclable, recycle it. Johnsons

purpose was to encourage children and their families to use the 3 Rs, and he was able to have

the kids remember in a fun song. Johnsons song was a small gesture, that hopefully affected his

listeners for the better, as he was able to raise awareness of the wastefulness of humans.

More Expensive Ways to Recycle

Recycling can be done in small and simple ways, but to go even further with recycling,

would be through Natural Gas Vehicles. Most people are very aware of global warming and the
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effect that it has on oceans and Antarctica. In an article Transitioning to NGVs written by

Mike Richart, he says, NGVs are reported to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide and nitrogen

oxides by 70 percent and 87 percent, respectively, through burning compressed natural gas. The

air quality seems to be slowly decreasing as the air pollution is slowly increasing. With natural

gas vehicles, the fuel is cleaner and very beneficial to the air. Talking with a natural gas vehicle

owner and user, this person describes the pros and cons with owning a natural gas vehicle:

A pro about owning a NGV [natural gas vehicle] 2012 Honda Civic is the fact

that I get to ride in the HOV lane [Utahs carpool lane] to and from work. The

fuel is also at least one dollar cheaper. I remember a time when I was paying

$1.50/gallon for natural gas, as everyone else was paying $3/gallon of gas. Some

disadvantages are I paid $5,000 more for the car, which slowly I have made up by

the less amount of money I have to pay for gas. My tank contains only 5 gallons,

so I would not take the car on a road trip, because there are not easily accessible

natural gas stations.

Overall, this NGV owner says he does not regret buying his natural gas vehicle and is completely

fine with his product.

Another benefit to having natural gasoline cars is natural gas never runs out. There is a

plenty amount of natural gas, as gasoline and oil become less available and almost nonexistent.

But overall the cheap prices of gas are enhancing to potential natural gas vehicle car owners

(Weirauch 31).

Another way that is helpful to our planet and saves energy is through LED lights. In a

research performed by Hicks et al., they looked into the difference of incandescent lights with
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less using energy lights such as light emitting diodes, LED lights, and compact fluorescent

lamps, CFL. In the introduction Hicks et al. states, [LEDs and CFLs] are up to 6 times more

efficacious than conventional lighting options, such as incandescent, and have the potential to

decrease the overall energy consumption for light (293). The purpose of their experiment was to

see which light, out of the incandescent, CFL, and LED, would last the longest and be much

cheaper. In their conclusion, they found that LED lighting is more efficient and has a longer

lifetime and a lower operating cost ( Hicks et al. 293).

Peoples Behaviors Concerning Recycling

If so many people know about recycling, why dont more people do

anything about it? In a high school called Eastside Memorial High

School located in Austin, Texas, their students noticed that over 82

percent of the substances in the trash cans were recyclable. This

encouraged some students to conduct a school wide education

campaign to improve recycling rates. As the students, teachers, and

parents participated, they were able to improve the recycling conditions

for the best. Students encouraged other students to recycle and soon the

average 3,200 lbs per month of recycling turned into 4,400 lbs per month

equaling into saving over 10,250 lbs from going to the landfills, and

instead to a recycling facility (High School 11).

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Most adults are very aware of recycling and most adults participate, but in most cases.,

the youth waste the most and chose to ignore recycling. In a study called Development and

Validation of an Instrument for Assessing Attitudes of High School Students About Recycling

by Ilker Ugulu, he says:

Today, developed societies have tended to ignore the damage caused to the

environment and the scarcity of natural resources over the years for the sake of

economic development, which is seen in terms of an increase in human welfare.

As Ugulu says, teenagers who live in first class countries and who deal with less poverty areas,

are immune to the world outside of their high-end neighborhoods. Recycling comes easier to

those who constantly live in areas that are full of trash. As Ugulu finished his research he

concluded that attitudes play a key role in the success of students recycling.

Conclusion

Even though recycling is well known, and not uncommon, there is still so much to be

learned about recycling. Recycling doesnt have to be done in one way and only one way, there

are many opportunities to recycle, big and small. As scientists and everyday common people

come up with different and creative ways for recycling, our Earth, over time, can become less

polluted, have less garbage and more landfill space, and become a healthier and happier planet.

Many times humans are taking for granted the beautiful planets we live on and the resources that

it provides. But as people put a little effort into recycling, reducing, and reusing, slowly, but

surely, our Earth will become a cleaner and more beautiful place.
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Works Cited

Easy Recycling Tips. Protect America.com. Protect America. Web. 15 March 2017.

Ferenc, Jeff. "Gundersen's Recycling Pays off in More Ways Than One." Health Facilities

Management, vol. 29, no. 7, July 2016, p. 9. EBSCOhost. Web. 15 March 2017.

Hicks, Andrea L., et al. "Emergent Effects of Residential Lighting Choices: Prospects for Energy

Savings." Journal of Industrial Ecology, vol. 19, no. 2, Apr. 2015, pp. 285-295.

EBSCOhost. Web. 27 March 2017.

"High School Steps up to Waste Reduction." Biocycle, vol. 57, no. 9, Oct. 2016, p. 11.

EBSCOhost. Web. 14 March 2017.

History of Recycling. California Department of Conservation, 1997. Print.

Johnson, Jack. The 3 Rs. Sing-A-Longs And Lullabies For The Film Curious George, 2006.

MP3 file.

Nemec, Richard. "Road to Ngvs Hopefully Paved with Good Inventions to Match Intentions."

Pipeline & Gas Journal, vol. 242, no. 4, Apr. 2015, p. 42. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 March

2017.

Pasquariello, Kristy. "What Milly Did: The Remarkable Pioneer of Plastics Recycling." School

Library Journal, vol. 62, no. 8, Aug. 2016, p. 124. EBSCOhost. Web. 14 March 2017.

Richart, Mike. "Transitioning to Ngvs." Government Procurement, vol. 22, no. 2, Apr/May2014,

p. 18. EBSCOhost. Web. 21 March 2017.

Russell, Natalie Ermann. How to Recycle Anything. Real Simple.com. Web. 15 March 2017.
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Ugulu, Ilker. "Development and Validation of an Instrument for Assessing Attitudes of High

School Students about Recycling." Environmental Education Research, vol. 21, no. 6, 01

Jan. 2015, pp. 916-942. EBSCOhost. Web. 15 March 2017.

Weirauch, Wendy. "Data Compiled Show NGV Opportunities." Hydrocarbon Processing, vol.

78, no. 12, Dec. 1999, p. 31. EBSCOhost. Web. 27 March 2017.