Recycling makes a difference not only for us today, but also for future generations. The fact about natural resources is that not all natural resources are renewable, meaning that when they are gone, they are gone for good. Through recycling, we can make the most of the natural resources we do have, without depleting reserves. As people worldwide are turning more and more to disposable packaging for their products, there is more and more waste being created. Some items, such as plastic, take many years to biodegrade, if they do at all. Without recycling, these products fill up our landfills, taking much needed space and making it uninhabitable.

Through taking used materials and making new packaging and products, the use of natural resources is greatly reduced. For example, the state of Pennsylvania’s newspaper recycling alone has saved an estimated 8.2 million trees!

One great benefit of recycling is that often a better product is created through recycled materials than through fresh natural resources. Tin cans, for example, get more and more refined through the recycling process. A better quality and more valuable, tin is created through recycling.

Recycling not only saves natural resources, but it also saves energy. As the cost of energy continues to rise, recycling is one of the best ways to conserve. Why is this? Well, fossil fuels are one of those non-replenishing resources and recycling takes significantly less energy then creating new materials, when you take into consideration the entire process, from gathering materials to transporting the finished product to the store. Not only that, but since the materials used in recycling have already been processed once, much less energy is required to recycle them.

Here are some practical examples. According to the Department of Environmental Protection, ever pound of recycled steel saves enough energy to light a 60-watt light bulb for a period of 26 hours! What about pop cans? Recycling just one can will save the equivalent amount of energy as that which is needed to light a 100-watt bulb for over three hours! That is truly amazing! Just by recycling one pop can! Imagine what would happen to our energy consumption if we recycled all of our pop cans!

Recycling reduces many of the harmful pollutants in our atmosphere. When industries use less energy, there are fewer greenhouse gas emissions released into the atmosphere, because less fossil fuels are burnt. Also, recycling reduces both air and water pollutants. Recycling helps the environment through removing fewer natural resources from nature.

There are many economic benefits associated with recycling. Recycling plants and services employ many people throughout the world. New products are being designed for recycling plants, which also help the economy. When businesses use recycled materials, they usually cost less, thus helping the business. The less landfills that we use, the more land is open for development and growth of business. Recycling makes a difference not only in the environment, but also in the business world. Recycling just plain makes sense! Why not get started today?

Michael Russell

Your Independent guide to Recycling

Date of Birth – 29th July 1981
Country – Spain
Team – Renault

Fernando Alonso’s father built him a kart when he was two years old and he started racing seriously when he was 13 years old. He won the Spanish cadet national kart title in 1994.

For more driver profiles and anything else on Formula One click here.

In 1996 he won the World Junior Karting title and he continued in karts for another 3 years until he moved into car racing in the Nissan Open series in Spain. He won the title at his first attempt and then moved into Formula 3000 backed by Telefonica.

He raced for Team Astromega, won the race at Spa and finished fourth in the series. He was signed to a management contract by Flavio Briatore and was soon named as a Minardi test driver. In 2001 he became the number one driver for the team.

After an impressive first season Fernando Alonso became the Renault test driver in 2002 with the knowledge that he would move into the race team in 2003. This did happen and he won his first G.P. in August at the Hungary race.

The 2005 Formula One Champion and the youngest ever. What’s in store for him next year and will Schumi and Kimi Raikkonen be able to mount decent challenges?

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