Recycle Today! Tomorrow Might Be Too Late.
By Servando Sierra
The trash bin is overflowing again! Have you noticed how often we have to take out the trash to the containers? It’s crazy, right? Every time we buy something we are producing waste. Does it make sense?
If you are one of those thinking “I’ve got to do something!”, but you don’t know where to start, I have good news for you. You have already started. Your commitment is the first step!
What Is Recycling?
We might think that the concept of recycling is the same anywhere in the world. Well, definitions are pretty similar, but they are not exactly the same.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA), recycling is the process of collecting and processing materials that would otherwise be thrown away as trash and turning them into new products.
The European Environment Agency (EEA) defines recycling of waste as any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. It includes the reprocessing of organic material but does not include energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations.
So, Waste to Energy facilities are outside of the recycling range according to the second definition.
Why Is Recycling Important?
Supposedly, the times of “Earth is so big that it can take anything” are gone. We all know today that unless we take it seriously, we will end up surrounded by plastics and other wastes.
According to the World Wildlife Fund, more than one third of natural resources in Earth were consumed in the last 30 years. And the consumption rate is increasing, causing that we are literally taking more from the Earth than it can provide.
According to the World Bank, we create more than 2 billion metric tons of municipal solid waste (MSW) per year worldwide. This figure could almost be doubled by 2050. Around 40% of this waste is not properly managed, causing all kind of environmental problems, air quality deterioration and water pollution.
Read on . . .
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About Servando Sierra
After having my first child I started to ask myself what I could do to make my baby’s and other’s life better. And then, all became clear. We all can make this world a little bit better every day. We all deserve it! That is how the first idea of Fresh Big Bang came to my mind.Let’s do this together! Let’s lead a Positive Tendency!