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The flow of trash never stops and will grow as our population grows.
Population hits 7 billion.
Our planet has never had to support an exponential population growth even close to where it is right now. We have reached 7 billion people and that number will continue to grow at an accelerated rate. Resources can become scarce and more expensive to replace as worldwide demand increases.
By learning how to recycle more efficiently we can cut raw material costs and our dependency on other countries for resources. New virgin raw materials will almost always be more expensive than recycled materials in one way or another. With petroleum based plastic, half the burden is getting the oil to the US from the foreign country it was purchased yet for years we have turned around and shipped our recycled resources out to other countries.
By learning how to recycle more efficiently we can cut raw material costs and our dependency on other countries for resources. New virgin raw materials will almost always be more expensive than recycled materials in one way or another. With petroleum based plastic, half the burden is getting the oil to the US from the foreign country it was purchased yet for years we have turned around and shipped our recycled resources out to other countries.
According to the EPA, increasing the national recycling rate from the current 30% to 60% could save the equivalent of 315 million barrels of oil per year. Recycling is something every individual can do to help improve the environment.
Recycling PET plastic is a perfect example of how we can continue to use the oil we already have instead of buying new oil. Amazingly we could recycle PET plastic almost forever instead of burying it in a landfill or burning it in an incinerator. For manufacturers, using recycled materials can save money on the cost of goods, while developing products made from recycled materials creates new jobs.
China has known for many years the value of recycled PET plastic, and was more than willing to buy up all US recycled PET. Until recently most rPET was being shipped to China. Using our US produced recycled plastic gives China an advantage over US goods both in cost savings of not using more expensive virgin PET, and additional environmental savings since recycled plastic uses 8 times less carbon. The reason for that is simple. It is a lot easier to make something out of plastic when it is already plastic then when you have to start with oil and turn it into plastic first. Since the US bought the oil to begin with, the US should reap the clean environmental benefits, and job creating products that can be made with them.
Recycling Improves Our Food Supply
Click picture to view larger image. Energy production from sources such as coal, trash incineration, and processes used in the manufacturing of chlorine add pollution to soil and water in the form of acid rain and mercury deposits that contaminate the fish we eat and the water we drink.
Click picture to view larger image. According to our previous Smart Health Talk guest, Alison Barratt, from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch were they study and monitor aquatic pollution, larger fish such as tuna and swordfish that have lived longer lifespans and grow to larger sizes, contain the highest concentrations of mercury. The longer the fish lives, the greater the time span to accumulate mercury and other toxins in their bodies.
Click picture to view larger image. We can reduce our mercury producing energy needs and start to clean up our waterways and oceans that supply our food by recycling PET. For every pound of PET plastic that is recycled, there is an average savings of 12,000 BTU's of energy.
Until we stop dumping toxins into the same places we are pulling our food from, we will continue to poison ourselves and risk the high price that comes with exposure, greater risk for cancer and other diseases. Pregnant women can no longer safely eat certain fish without risking permanent damage to their child.
Until we stop dumping toxins into the same places we are pulling our food from, we will continue to poison ourselves and risk the high price that comes with exposure, greater risk for cancer and other diseases. Pregnant women can no longer safely eat certain fish without risking permanent damage to their child.
Why Aren't We Recycling More?
People want to help recycle, but many consumers are confused on what they can and cannot include in the recycling bin. How many are evaluating packaging for recycling when buying new products or even have a clue what they should be looking for in an eco friendly package? How many of us know what the recycling numbers found on packaging really mean, and how do you see them when they blend in and are hard to find?
Are Plant Based Plastics the Answer?
With plant based plastic products entering the market, consumers are confused even further. They wonder if they are helping the environment when they buy plastic made from corn or bamboo over a petroleum based plastic.
The fact is our recycling facilities are not set up for these bio plastic products so they are rejected and sent to the landfill or contaminate the PET recycling process making it harder to separate out the usable material. Using our food for plastic with so many people still going hungry seems like a bad choice. With over 95% of our corn Genetically Modified without the permission or knowledge of the people, this practice further pushes a science that we have no long term studies to demonstrate safety to humans or the environment. We are using people as experiments without them knowing and allowing living genetically modified organisms and their pollen to migrate and infiltrate the genetic material of all our plants and even our own gut bacteria.
The fact is our recycling facilities are not set up for these bio plastic products so they are rejected and sent to the landfill or contaminate the PET recycling process making it harder to separate out the usable material. Using our food for plastic with so many people still going hungry seems like a bad choice. With over 95% of our corn Genetically Modified without the permission or knowledge of the people, this practice further pushes a science that we have no long term studies to demonstrate safety to humans or the environment. We are using people as experiments without them knowing and allowing living genetically modified organisms and their pollen to migrate and infiltrate the genetic material of all our plants and even our own gut bacteria.
Devastating Consequences of Not Controlling Trash
Click the picture to view a larger image. We need everyone working to solve these problems, because they impact the environment in which we all live and the security of our future food supplies.
There are already large collections of garbage in our oceans. Double it, and then double it again and you have the idea of how big the problem will be even 10 or 20 years from now. Fish found in some areas are now testing for as high as 20% plastic content. Fish, birds, and other aquatic life are being found with all kinds of plastics, cigarette lighters, and other trash in their dead bodies. They mistake this floating garbage for food. Doubt any of us want to see our garbage end up in the ocean or killing wildlife.
There are already large collections of garbage in our oceans. Double it, and then double it again and you have the idea of how big the problem will be even 10 or 20 years from now. Fish found in some areas are now testing for as high as 20% plastic content. Fish, birds, and other aquatic life are being found with all kinds of plastics, cigarette lighters, and other trash in their dead bodies. They mistake this floating garbage for food. Doubt any of us want to see our garbage end up in the ocean or killing wildlife.
By recognizing we have a problem, and taking ownership of our own trash, we can start to move to a problem solving phase that can open the way for new solutions.
Recycling Saves Money$
Recycling programs save city budgets money. Landfill space is expensive and creates an environmental hazard that leeches into groundwater and contaminates soil and air. Cities lose money in the long run by not setting up recycling programs that can bring in extra income and save landfill space. Money saved together with recycling income can be used instead to improve city services, parks, and protection.
Washington's State Department of Ecology reported that in 2005, the average household contributed as much as 7.9 pounds of waste per person per day and growing.
Manufacturer Leadership in Recycling
Making the worlds first water bottle that has already been recycled.
There is one model company in Canada that has taken on the role of becoming the first water company in the world to offer a 100% recycled PET (polyethylene terephtalate) bottle that is identified as 100% rPET for short. Naya Waters, was built on a foundation of recycling, carbon use reduction, and support of non profit programs designed to clean up and improve waterways. Naya was the first Canadian company to be certified by Carbon Trust, a world renowned carbon use certification organization. They recycle 96% of all materials used in production, and are working with local groups to develop new large scale recycling collection programs.
Click to learn more. The spring that is the source of Naya Water is deep under the ground at the base of the Laurentian Mountains outside of Montreal Canada. Naya maintains the spring in several ways. Pumping levels are regulated to make sure water levels stay constant, while a several hundred mile area around the spring is conserved as pristine wilderness so there is no possibility of contamination from agricultural or industrial practices. Springs like this make up less than one percent of the worlds water and are extremely rare. The natural aquifer filtration system produces the purest water free of contaminates that show up in city tap water.
Recycled PET is actually an energy source that can be reused over and over thus eliminating the need to tap into new resources. Much less energy and water are used to produce recycled plastic than using new virgin plastic. A 100% rPET bottle is 100% better, 100% of the time!
If we create less trash, there is less to clean up.
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