Ever think about how much trash is created by humans? Ever wonder what you could do to help reduce your waste?
What happens to our recyclables?
Two main things can happen to our trash. The first thing is that plastics, cardboard, and other materials people recycle get collected and then sorted out to different places. The second thing that could happen is the plastics that don’t get recycled end up in the oceans and landfills which pollute them. A bunch of animals are affected by waste every year and about a hundred million marine animals die because of it.
How many people in the US recycle?
Recycling is pretty simple, right? You just need to remove the clean plastics, cardboard, glass, and paper when you’re throwing away your trash. With this being said the US is pretty low on recycling. According to Bloomberg News our recycling rate is only about 32% and 76% of our recyclables are lost at the household level. The Hill says the reason that the recycling rate is low is “a lack of access to local recycling programs and lack of confidence in recycling efficacy.” What also adds to that is the amount of people putting in the effort to do it.
Ways we can improve
As time goes on the earth’s waste is just going to get worse so we need to do whatever we can to improve it and help the environment. Here’s some advice for steps we can take: “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle have to happen in that order. We have to learn to use less first, then begin to find ways to throw less away. It’s time to get a refillable water bottle and recycle your paper and pop bottles and cans,” said Mrs.Garland, a Science teacher at Belleville High School.
