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Many people recycle because they want to reduce their impact on the environment.
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Recycling reduces energy consumption and keeps objects from being wasted.
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Recycling is one of the three steps in the waste disposal hierarchy. This includes Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
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One of the most commonly recycled items in the United States is the aluminum can. It takes approximately two months for an aluminum can to be recycled and returned to a grocery store shelf.
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Aluminum cans in the landfill can take 500 years to even begin to change form.
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There is no limit to the number of times aluminum can be recycled.
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If paper is not recycled it takes 500,000 trees to produce the Sunday newspapers alone, every week.
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By recycling just the Sunday newspaper, 75,000 trees are saved. 250 million trees would be saved if all newspapers were recycled all year.
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The average American uses about 680 pounds of paper a year for various purposes. Most of it is not recycled.
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When more people recycle less energy is used and the greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.
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More than one million sea creatures are killed each year because of the plastic bags that are thrown into the ocean.
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It is estimated that roughly 60% of the garbage that reaches the garbage could be recycled. This would also reduce the methane gas being emitted into the atmosphere from landfills.
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It is estimated that most landfills contain one third recyclable packaging material, all of which could be recycled.
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Approximately 75% of the waste generated in the United States alone could be recycled. Only roughly 30% is currently being recycled.
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More than 21 million tons of food is wasted each year in the United States. If that food were to be composted it would reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the same extent as removing 2 million cars from the roadways.
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Recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy that a TV could be powered for three hours.
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It takes 70% less energy to recycle paper than it does to create paper from raw materials.
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Roughly 80% of a vehicle could be recycled as opposed to sending it to a junkyard.
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On average, each person produces about four pounds of garbage each day. That equals 1.5 tons of solid waste each year.
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