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RECYCLING . Todd Anderson Jeff Wong And Drew Peterson (Who Abandoned Us!). RECYCLING: Why It Matters. Recycling is necessary to control waste disposal problems, such as conserving space in landfills and preventing more pollution. Recycling reserves our natural resources for the future. .
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RECYCLING Todd Anderson Jeff Wong And Drew Peterson (Who Abandoned Us!)
RECYCLING: Why It Matters • Recycling is necessary to control waste disposal problems, such as conserving space in landfills and preventing more pollution. • Recycling reserves our natural resources for the future.
Recycling Statistics (Faults) • Although the US recycles twice as much as it did a decade ago 72% of our waste still ends up in landfills. • US is the world’s largest trash producing country, at 1,609 pounds per person per year, creating 40% of the world’s waste. • Decomposing statistics: Banana Peel: 3-4 weeks Paper Bag: 1 month Cardboard: 2 months Wool Sock : 1 year Tinned Steel Can: 50 years Aluminum Can: 200-500 years (Recycling takes just 6 weeks) Disposable Diapers: 550 years Plastic Bags : 20-1000 years Plastic Jug: 1 million years Glass : 1-2 million years Styrofoam: 1+ million years
Recycling Statistics (Improvements) • Nearly half of the paper used in the USA is now being recycled into new paper products. • The largest category of recycled paper goods was newspaper at 89% and corrugated cardboard is recycled 72% of the time. • Three cubic yards of landfill space are saved for every ton of paper recovered for recycling.
Reasons for Poor Recycling Normal Reasons: • Lots of people do not know what is recyclable and what is not. • Inconvenient • Lack of public recycle spots • Pest Concerns • Messiness • Extra work (moving bin to the road) School Reasons: • Do not know what can be recycled and what can’t • Inconvenient • Lack of recycle bin
The Project: What’s Been Done • Main Project Goals: Implement better outdoor, quad, and hallway recycling within the school. • Try and get a better trash to recycle bin ratio: one bin for every two trash cans. • Raise Awareness: Created posters for hallways.
Recycling in Our School • Trash Analysis: Investigated how much recyclable material is throw away rather than recycled or reused. • Data: Taken from a sample of seven classroom trash bins there was an average of 25 (recyclable) material and 36 pieces (unrecyclable) material. • Trash to Recycle Bin Ratio: Took a count of the number of trash bins in the F Wing, D wing, library, office and quad compared to the recycle bins. • Data: 85 trash cans to 35 recycle bins • No Recycling in the quad and only one recycle bin in the hall. • The only Place in the school with more recycling than trash was the Library!
FUTURE GOALS Awareness: • Print and post posters • Design and create large recycle banner for cafeteria • Speech to advisor groups. • Take a survey to find out how many people know all the things that can be recycled. Implementing Recycling Bins: • Work to gain more recycling bins and have the ratio of the bins to trash cans be closer to 2:1 • Take more data on which areas of the school gets more recycling and why.
Bibliography (For Statistics) • http://www.environment-green.com/More_Recycling_Facts_and_Statistics.html • http://www.greenhq.net/united-states-recycling-statistics.html • http://www.treehuggerusa.com/recycle/United-States-Recycling-Statistics.html