Recycling As A Simple Way To Prolong The Longevity Of Our Earth

Last year, 100,000 marine creatures, and roughly 1 million seabirds indulged on a tasty treat. This delicacy came from us humans, and was tragically the last thing the animals would ever eat. Even worse, this is just documented plastic related deaths, this doesn’t include all the poor suffering and diseased animals out there in the world choking on a bag or stuck in a 6 pack plastic holder. Furthermore, we humans live on this planet too… It is now believed that there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that polluted mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometre litter the deep sea (Parker 1). This is our doing but it doesn’t have to be that way. Shoppers worldwide are using approximately 500 billion single-use plastic bags per year (Sangha 1). This is equivalent to roughly 1,000,000 plastic bags worldwide every minute, or yearly 150 per individual (Sangha 2). Devastatingly enough, this number continues to rise. When we choose not to recycle, we create an increase in pollution, overflowing landfills, and destroying natural habitats/harm animals.

Limiting pollution helps protect our natural environments. This may seem like a hard task to take on, but it’s simple; recycle, reduce, and reuse. Obtaining materials has a negative effect on our environment. Drilling for oil and other mining options pollute the air we breathe. Also, our wildlife habitats are changed or damaged, heavy energy use is required, and fossil fuels are combusted. In turn, this creates global warming which we all try to pretend isn’t a pressing issue on our planet Earth. Scientists have predicted the temperature increase in water bodies is a result of global warming. This causes lower amounts of dissolved oxygen in bodies of water. Living organisms within the aquatic environment affected perish inturn. Marine animals are affected by plastic trash waste on a daily basis, although recycling offers a simple and easy solution. The EPA estimates that more than 100,000 marine mammals die each year from ingestion or entanglement with floating plastic debris (Dinesen 1). When we recycle, we keep the harmful waste away from other animals and ourselves. It makes a huge difference for how easy it is to do. This results in a healthier and cleaner environment for everyone. All of us living organisms live on it and share it, so why should we pollute it and treat it poorly. Our Earth has been great to us, we have no reason to trash it and not take care of it.

When we recycle, we cut down on the use of landfills which is crucial. Landfill usage peaked in the 1980s, when Americans sent almost 150 million tons of garbage to landfills each year (Grabianowski 1). 100 million tons of trash are dumped into landfills each year still. Today’s modern landfills are more sanitary than previous ones, but who enjoys living next to a giant trash can. Space is scarce in heavily populated areas, and filling the open space with the needed landfills isn’t the best option. We can manage our space better, and use this land for more important or useful things if we just recycle, reduce, and reuse. Our landfills are overflowing, and we are running out of places to put the trash. Sadly enough, it ends up in the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean that contains an estimated 80,000 metric tons of plastic inhabit within the patch, totalling an astoshoning 1.8 trillion pieces (Sue 1). We now have large garbage patches that span across our oceans. This should be something everyone needs to be aware of. We have enough trash floating in one spot to cover the state of texas. Overflowing our landfills creates harmful and rancid smells which are associated with non-biodegradable trash such as styrofoam, batteries, etc… Our landfills can be kept under control if each of us were to recycle, reduce, and reuse for starters . Today, recycling efforts in the United States kept 32 percent of waste from landfills, preventing more than 60 million tons of garbage from ending up in landfills (Parker 2). Recycling is the start in turning this 32 percent into 100 percent. Overfilling our landfills is easily preventable and something we should all try to avoid doing. We will benefit from clean beaches and the aquatic life will benefit from a clean habitat.

Our natural habitats and resources are destroyed when we don’t recycle, reuse, and reduce. Our Earth can not handle the current rate of destruction in which it is experiencing. This waste has serious harmful and negative effects on habitats. These materials are inorganic, implying that bacteria cannot break them down. Instead of disposing, recycling, and reusing, these substances are much better options (Sangha 3). Oil that is recycled can be turned into different grades of oil opposed to drilling more and increasing pollution. Things such as tissue paper can be made from recycled materials such as paper waste. Instead of throwing these materials away and harming our Earth, we can turn them into something else and reuse our materials.

In conclusion, when we choose not to recycle, we create an increase in pollution, overflowing landfills, and destroy natural habitats/harm animals. This planet is our home and where we will spend the rest of our lives. Recycling helps save innocent animals and many organisms from perishing due to pollution. We can recycle our plastic and glass stopping our trash islands from polluting our oceans. These negative effects will eventually destroy our planet, but recycling offers a simple way to prolong the longevity of our Earth. Recycling takes little to no effort and compliments us with a healthy and clean planet.