Someone once said, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with one step”. This certainly holds true when realizing hybrid technology is only a step on the path to a more sustainable future. Proponents of hybrid vehicles tout their fuel efficiency and lowered emissions - a big improvement over their gas guzzling counterparts. Opponents, however, continually assert the question, “What are we going to do with all those batteries?” With well over a million hybrids on the road today, it’s a fair question.
Today in the United States, the largest portion of municipal solid waste goes to paper and paper products. Since nearly 66% of the fibers used in modern paper production come from trees and tree byproducts, the enormous demand for paper is posing a serious threat to forest reserves. Ancient forests are being cleared at a rate equivalent to a soccer field every two seconds. This is a main reason why environmentally friendly paper products have been gaining in popularity. What are these environmentally friendly paper fibers?
Do you use plastics at home? It’s a high probability that your answer is a big affirmative. It seems that plastics have invaded every part of our lives today. Furniture, plastic bags, and practically every type of container are made from plastic. While these materials are very useful, they pose a huge problem to health and the environment. Plastics are among the most abundant waste materials in landfills today. Did you know that 2.5 million plastic bottles are thrown away by Americans every hour? Even worse, the plastic products ending up in our landfills are frequently non-biodegradable. Staggering facts, but there are better alternatives – compostable plastics and bioplastics.
As the population continues to grow, the amount of trash that we discard seems to grow even faster. In just one year’s time, we are now throwing away nearly a ton of trash per person. And we are only recycling about 30% of that. What a shame when we realize that it costs more to throw away recyclable items then to recycle it. The $30 it takes to recycle costs us $50 to ship to the landfills or $70 to incinerate. Here are 10 recycling ideas to help reduce our growing landfills.
Can you imagine life without batteries? Batteries of various types and voltages are found in almost all portable gadgets today. While they may bring life these gadgets, they cause deterioration and pollution of the environment when not properly disposed. The choice is in your hands, in fact only you have the power to properly dispose of your batteries (pardon the pun).
Consider the number of computers in most homes and offices around the world. Now think about how many printers are connected to each one of those computers. Although these electronic devices may only be replaced every few years, it is not the same with the consumables, namely the ink cartridges.
According to recycling statistics, only a small percentage of the plastics consumed get recycled. The Container Recycling Institute (CRI) said that in 2006, less than 1% of PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) plastics were recycled. This was a drop from the rate of one in four recycled PET plastic bottles in 1995.
Plastics are everywhere. In fact, most of the waste materials produced in homes, schools, and other areas are made from plastics. During the past decade, plastic production has increased due to the demands of consumers. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), 331 million barrels of liquid petroleum gas (LPG) and natural gas liquids (NGL) were used in 2006 in plastic production. That same year, 19.2 billion kilowatt hours were used to manufacture plastic.
With new technology coming out everyday, it’s a common response to go out and upgrade. This practice has been going on for decades. The result of which is an increasing number of electronic devices filling up landfills. For the unaware consumer, throwing out the old device is expected. However, this increase in electronic waste can lead to dire consequences.
People often have different ideas on what recycling is. Some may think of recycling as reusing, but they are actually two different things. Reusing is finding ways and means on how to use a product, aside from its original purpose. Recycling, on the other hand, is commonly understood as the process by which waste products would be used again. However, there are actually two types of recycled products.
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