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Get to know the Top 10!
Recycling is one of the most important things we can do to preserve our planet. On a daily basis, more than 100 million Americans participate in recycling used and old materials in their household and offices.
Are you one of them? Or are you trying to sort which items you can recycle and which ones belong in the compost or the garbage?
To help you out, the National Recycling Coalition has put together a list the top ten most important items to recycle.
#1: Aluminum. This is because aluminum cans are 100 percent recyclable and can also be recycled over and over again. Even better, turning recycled cans into new cans takes 95 percent less energy than making brand-new ones. So how about starting with all those soda and juice cans?
#2: PET Plastic Bottles. Americans will buy about 25 billion single-serving bottles of water this year, according to the Container Recycling Institute. Worse yet, nearly 80 percent of those bottles will end up in a landfill. Let’s put a stop to that. Making plastic out of recycled resources uses about two-thirds less energy than making new plastic. And because plastic bottles, more than any other type of plastic, are the most commonly used type, they are usually the easiest to recycle.
#3: Newspaper. This is a pretty obvious one, right? It seems like a no-brainer to set up a recycling bin next to your garbage can for newspaper and any other scrap paper. So why should we recycle paper? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, paper makes up about one-third of the all the municipal waste stream in the U.S. That’s a whole lot of paper, and since we know that recycling all that paper conserves resources, saves energy, and doesn’t clog up the landfills, there’s no reason not to do it.
Once you have those in place, let’s move on to the rest of our list.
#4: Corrugated Cardboard. Old corrugated cardboard (OCC) represents a significant percentage of the commercial solid waste stream. In 1996, the U.S. generated 29 million tons of OCC, or 13.8% of our municipal waste stream. Approximately 90% of that comes from the commercial or non-residential sector, the places where we work. So next time UPS delivers a big box to your office, be sure to break it down and recycle it. (After you’ve emptied it, of course.)
#5: Steel cans. Just like aluminum, steel products can be recycled over again without compromising the quality of the steel. We’re talking about steel cans, but maybe you have some steel auto parts or appliances ready for recycling too? More than 80 million tons of steel are recycled each year in North America, and recycling steel saves the equivalent energy to power 18 million households a year. You can learn more about steel recycling by visiting the Steel Recycling Institute website.
Read more: aluminum, computers, corrugated cardnboard, environmental protection agency, glass containers, magazines, mixed paper, newspaper, plastic bottles, recycling, reduce reuse recycle
Photo Credit: andyarthur
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246 comments
+ add your ownLet's go guys! It's a no-brainer!
thanks
I usually put out more recycling than trash each week. And I save harder to recycle items until I get to a facility that takes them.
We always do in my household. except computers... we haven't ever had to get rid of one
I have always recycled everything that I am able to in our district, and I always will! I have never understood people who think it is too much bother to wash up bottles etc - an added bonus is I hardly ever have to put a rubbish bag out. Its a small thing but feels good to do it! I just wish everyone would.
thanks
thanks
thanks for the info
We already recycle as much as possible of newspaper, plastic, metal .....the only things that end up in the garbage are items that don't have a revcycling code and food ......thanks for the reminder to keep us recycling as much as possible
I'm surprised to see paper so far up the list, or even on the list at all. Surprised too, to see the comment, "...no reason not to." It was from another Care2 article that I learned recycling paper usually expends more energy than it's worth (which is contradicted in this article), especially when paper is so easily composted. Additionally, with trash-to-energy initiatives, paper in the landfill would burn quite easily and release less toxins a lot of other waste. If you don't compost or live in a city with trash-to-energy initiatives (like most of us Americans), then sure, recycle it. But I would encourage everyone to set up a small compost bucket in their kitchen to return that wood pulp to the Earth.
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