How much difference does individual recycling make?

Question

I'm wondering how much impact personal recycling makes? I mean I make a strong effort to recycle in my small world, newspapers, batteries, cardboard, etc. Many of my friends and family do also. But I wonder in the world picture of polluting businesses, and indifferent countries and societies if my bagging those newspapers every week makes even a small dent in the world?

Answer 1

I think the most significant aspect of this is that our awareness of conservation will slowly spread, not just across individuals, but across different aspects of daily living.  On the material front, this will make different types of transitions easier for us and for the next generation, when some natural resources are depleted. This preparation is not just mental. Behind all these mini-recycling programs are facilities, supply-chains, and mechanisms to make the next transition easier. Knowledge-wise, we will very likely see a new breed of MacGyver fans who are dedicated in creative recycling.

Answer 2

who knows but it sure can't hurt

Answer 3

recycling is a national or global Enterprise, we can do very little on an individual level, without the intervention and support of the government.

Answer 4

Everything starts with the first person.  

All states MUST  require recycling.  Then we have a chance of making a dent.  

All states should have to provide energy by whatever natural method they can. Wind, sun, manure, corn, grasses or whatever will work.

Every homeowner (code enforcement would have to do this)

should have to provide 10% of their own power, through the sun or through wind or whatever method is practical.

Think of how these things would pile up.

We recycle, magazines (our library recirculates them), newpapers, cardboard, appliances, glass, plastic, styrofoam,  everything we have a place to recycle it.

A great place to recycle things that you do not need any more is , Freecycle.com.  It is a Yahoo group where you can give and get things for free, instead of filling our landfills.

Happy New Year one and all.

Answer 5

I agree with a previous answer that every bit helps to save the precious little landfill space we have.  Also, have you ever considered FREECYCLING?  http://www.freecycle.org/

Read about it in my local paper's article.

http://www.gainesville.com/article/20071...

It is the best idea for re-using and recycling unwanted items instead of just throwing things in the dumpster!  Just remember one man's trash, is another's treasure. ;-)

Answer 6

I think individual recycling can't help very much because all the machines for recycling waste more energy than the things, you and me r recycling. For example, i see a lot of people bring the cans from the refreshment drinks with the car.So they pollute more than the do recycling, once with the car and the second with the machine that recycle the cans. We need to put pressure on the government to invent more efficient machines and not only for cans, for garbage also, for public transport. We can't make a difference if the buses we use are made in 60's ... But , like you i do my best not to pollute the aer and make more people to understand that we don't have much time "to play".

Answer 7

Each cola can you recycle is the equivalent of not dumping that much gasoline on the ground.

Each bottled water container that you don't use, or is recycled if you do use them, is exactly that much space not in a landfill!

Answer 8

Keep up what u are doing  :D  I recycle, too. And in my opinion, every little bit helps.  Its not right to say that even the smallest effort isnt helping because I believe that it is.  It cant be hurting anything, thats for sure.

Answer 9

Very little.  Industry can recycle millions of tons of material each month per plant.

However this doesn't mean that you shouldn't do anything.

Answer 10

u bet it does!!!1

When we recycle our waste products rather than throw them all in the garbage we save room in landfills, reduce energy required to manufacture new products and reduce the fossil fuels extracted and greenhouse gases being burned off into the atmosphere.

`facts~

*44 million newspapers are thrown away every day in the United States. This is like throwing 500 000 trees into a landfill each week.

*Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil and 7000 gallons of water!

*Plastic bags made from recycled polythene rather than virgin materials save two thirds of the energy required for production and reduce the water used by almost 90%.

*Recycling one ton of glass saves the equivalent of nine gallons of fuel oil and one sixth of a ton of carbon dioxide!

Answer 11

you by yourself can not realy make a diffrence but if every one did exacly what you are doing we can change the world together.