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Recycling

Recycling. How much does recycling save?. (All data from Earth 911 ) Aluminum Energy: Saves 95% vs. virgin aluminum Reduces pollution by 95% 1 lb. Recycled aluminum = 4 lbs. Bauxite ore “ Enough aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our commercial air fleet 4 times every year. ”. Glass

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Recycling

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  1. Recycling

  2. How much does recycling save? (All data from Earth 911) • Aluminum • Energy: Saves 95% vs. virgin aluminum • Reduces pollution by 95% • 1 lb. Recycled aluminum = 4 lbs. Bauxite ore • “Enough aluminum is thrown away to rebuild our commercial air fleet 4 times every year.”

  3. Glass • Energy: Save 50% vs. virgin glass • 20% less air pollution; 50% less water pollution • 1 ton of 50% recycled glass saves 250 lbs. of mining waste

  4. Paper • Energy: Saves 60% vs. virgin paper • 95% less air pollution (each ton saves 60 lbs of air pollution); • 1 ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees and 7,000 gallons of water

  5. Plastic • #1-#7: All recyclable in theory • #1 and #2 most commonly recycled • International demand / market for #1 • 1 ton recycled saves 30 cubic yards of landfill space • AND saves energy equivalent to 5,774 KWH/ 16.3 barrels oil / 98million BTUs • Allen recycles #1-#5 and #7 NOT #6

  6. The Evils of Bottled Water

  7. The Top 10 Reasons to Think (Hard!) Before Choosing Bottled Water:

  8. #1: The majority of water bottles are NOT recycled! • 38 billion bottles a year -- or $1 billion worth of plastic -- are thrown away • About 3 out of 10 are recycled • 2,500,000 bottles are used every hour. - 750,000 recycled - 1,750,000 NOT recycled

  9. #2: We spend billions on fresh water we already have while others have none at all. • Turning water into a commodity / privatizing water delivery • Spending billions on bottled water for some rather than safe water for all • A minimum of 1 in 6, or 1 billion, people does not have access to safe drinking water • 3,000 children per day die from diseases related to lack of safe water • http://vimeo.com/19517658

  10. #3: Wastes water and energy to bottle water. • On average, it requires 3 liters of water to make 1 liter of bottled water. • Requires electricity to run machinery to make, move and fill bottles. • Created 2.5 million tons of CO2 in 2006.

  11. #4: Extracting water threatens community water supplies. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cucVKZj-c00

  12. #5 Reusing the bottles is not a great idea. • NOT because there’s anything dangerous about the plastic itself. • Readily develop bacterial contamination (very hard to clean properly). • Not durable--have to be replaced fairly often. • Better to get a reusable bottle--Polycarbonate (#7) or HDPE (#2).

  13. #6: Water bottles are made from oil. • Approximately 2.5% of the petroleum used in the United States goes into making plastics. • The United States uses 17 million barrels per day (2007 est.) • That’s 46,575 barrels per day to make plastics

  14. #7: Plastic usually does not get recycled over and over. • Glass and aluminum can be recycled indefinitely. • About 20% of the fiber is lost in paper recycling (so it can be recycled repeatedly but not indefinitely). • Most recycled plastic bottles are not made into new plastic bottles and are made into materials (PVC pipe) that cannot be recycled. “Down-cycled”

  15. #8: Bottled water is bulky, heavy, and transported--sometimes a VERY long way. • We move about 1 BILLION bottles around by fossil-fueled vehicles in the US every day -- 8+ pounds / gallon. (Fishman) • Anheuser-Busch “CarbonNeutral” certified water . . . from Iceland?

  16. #9: Bottled water is MUCH more expensive than filtered or tap water. • We spent $15 billion in 2006, $16 billion in 2007 (Fishman) • 2002 figures: • Tap water: $0.0015 / gallon • Filtered water: $0.13 / gallon • Bottled water: $1.27 / gallon $1.00 for 20 oz. in the vending machine!!!

  17. #10: Bottled water is not necessarily (or even likely) any “better” than tap water. • EPA sets tap water standards • FDA sets bottled water standards • “based on” EPA standards • Not applied if water locally produced and distributed • Aquafina (13%) and Dasani (11%)--tap water • Repeated taste test results--most people can’t tell the difference. • http://www.5min.com/Video/Is-Bottled-Water-Better-Than-Tap-Water-517123207 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3QBZac3MSY

  18. The Next Three R’s: • Rethink -- in many cases, we don’t make changes that could have a significant impact NOT because they are too hard, but just because we don’t think about what we might do differently. • Remark--don’t preach, berate, belittle, or brag; just raise awareness of what else is possible. • Relax--do what you can, do it by choice not by default, and know that every little bit helps

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