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Recycling

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Ryan Stafford
Ryan Stafford

This document discusses the problem of recycling and plastic waste. It notes that while 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, the recycling rate is only 28%. Plastic pollution, especially from plastic bags, kills over 1 million sea creatures each year. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, comprised of 80% plastic, is twice the size of Texas and weighs 3.5 million tons. The document provides specific behaviors people can change, reduce, or modify to help address this problem, such as using reusable bags, switching to CFL bulbs, taking shorter showers, and turning off unused appliances.

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RECYCLING By: Ryan Stafford
? About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is only 28%. ? Plastic bags and other plastic garbage kill over 1,000,000 sea creatures a year, primarily in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The garbage patch is twice the size of Texas, floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. It¡¯s 80% plastic and weighs 3.5 million tons.
Ten Behaviors to Change ? Turn off the TV when you leave the room ? Unplug power cords for unused appliances ? Walk/ ride a bike to places of shorter distance ? Carpool with friends to work and school ? Use canvas bags instead of plastic bags ? Take showers instead of baths ? Use CFL bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs ? Cook more, and eat fast food less. ? Become active in your community, spread the word about recycling!!
2 Behaviors to Reduce ? Use canvas bags instead of plastic bags- if you don¡¯t like canvas, opt form paper over plastic. Paper bags can biodegrade in a matter of weeks. Americans only recycle 0.6% of the 100 billion plastic bags that they take home. The rest end up as litter or in landfills. ? Switch over home lighting to CFL bulbs- they initially cost more but save in the long run by using only ? of the energy of an incandescent bulb, and lasts 8-12 times longer. If every American household replaced one standard bulb with a CFL, we would save the same amount of energy as a large nuclear power plant produces in one year, and one bulb can save 260 pounds of CO2 a year.
2 Behaviors to Modify ? Take shorter showers- a 5-10 minute shower uses less water than a full bath tub. A 5 minute shower uses 10-25 gallons of water, while a full bath tub requires about 70. Installing a more efficient fixture will help maintain higher water pressure while lowering the amount of water used. ? Switch off unused appliances- Turn off unused appliances, such as lighting in unoccupied rooms, TVs, chargers and computers. This can account for 10% of your electricity usage. Turning off one could save 99 pounds of greenhouse gas.
Shopping Bag Data ? In two weeks, shopping for myself I collected 20 plastic bags. The population of Ashland, KY is close to 21,000 people. If each person accumulated 20 bags in 2 weeks, that would amount to 4200,000 bags, that¡¯s 210,000 bags a week! + =
Sources ? www.business-ethics.com ? www.dosomething.org ? www.epa.gov

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Recycling

  • 2. ? About 80% of what Americans throw away is recyclable, yet our recycling rate is only 28%. ? Plastic bags and other plastic garbage kill over 1,000,000 sea creatures a year, primarily in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The garbage patch is twice the size of Texas, floating somewhere between San Francisco and Hawaii. It¡¯s 80% plastic and weighs 3.5 million tons.
  • 3. Ten Behaviors to Change ? Turn off the TV when you leave the room ? Unplug power cords for unused appliances ? Walk/ ride a bike to places of shorter distance ? Carpool with friends to work and school ? Use canvas bags instead of plastic bags ? Take showers instead of baths ? Use CFL bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs ? Cook more, and eat fast food less. ? Become active in your community, spread the word about recycling!!
  • 4. 2 Behaviors to Reduce ? Use canvas bags instead of plastic bags- if you don¡¯t like canvas, opt form paper over plastic. Paper bags can biodegrade in a matter of weeks. Americans only recycle 0.6% of the 100 billion plastic bags that they take home. The rest end up as litter or in landfills. ? Switch over home lighting to CFL bulbs- they initially cost more but save in the long run by using only ? of the energy of an incandescent bulb, and lasts 8-12 times longer. If every American household replaced one standard bulb with a CFL, we would save the same amount of energy as a large nuclear power plant produces in one year, and one bulb can save 260 pounds of CO2 a year.
  • 5. 2 Behaviors to Modify ? Take shorter showers- a 5-10 minute shower uses less water than a full bath tub. A 5 minute shower uses 10-25 gallons of water, while a full bath tub requires about 70. Installing a more efficient fixture will help maintain higher water pressure while lowering the amount of water used. ? Switch off unused appliances- Turn off unused appliances, such as lighting in unoccupied rooms, TVs, chargers and computers. This can account for 10% of your electricity usage. Turning off one could save 99 pounds of greenhouse gas.
  • 6. Shopping Bag Data ? In two weeks, shopping for myself I collected 20 plastic bags. The population of Ashland, KY is close to 21,000 people. If each person accumulated 20 bags in 2 weeks, that would amount to 4200,000 bags, that¡¯s 210,000 bags a week! + =