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Let's Talk Trash
The average family of four generates about three tons of trash each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. That's more than four pounds of trash per person per day. We may take our trash bin to the curb each week, but we often don't think about where that trash goes. If you recycle your water bottle, reuse plastic grocery bags or buy food in bulk to reduce packaging, then you are doing your part to help the environment by saving landfill space and potentially creating new uses for your trash. Recycling is the process by which materials that would otherwise become solid waste are collected, separated or processed, and then reused or returned to use in the form of raw materials or products. It is one important way to reduce the amount of trash headed to landfills. "We have limited resources," says Gloria Hardegree, executive director of the Georgia Recycling Coalition. "There is valuable garbage that can be considered resources." She says that we need to begin to think of trash as what it can provide when we recycle. Choosing between digging a mine and recycling an aluminum can, the obvious environmental-friendly solution is to recycle, she adds. "If we bury it in a landfill, it will do no good for us anyway," says Hardegree. Americans have been recycling for decades, but the new push to "Go Green" has industries, communities and individuals trying to develop new uses for recyclables. What Do Georgia Families Throw Away? Too much, say the environmental experts. A 2005 statewide study conducted by Georgia's Office of Environmental Management gathered landfill samples around the state to identify what is being thrown out and how much of that can be recycled. Georgians threw away nearly 2.6 million tons of recyclable material, according to the waste characterization study. That's about 40 percent of all waste that is thrown in Georgia landfills. The EPA estimates that about 75 percent of what Americans throw away could be recycled. "Everything that is recycled in the local
programs stays in Georgia," says Karen
Vickers, program coordinator for the Office
of Environmental Management. "It's made into
an entirely new product. We need to feed the
industry, and it is more economical."
For some Georgia communities, recycling common household products has taken a creative twist. Clarke County was the first community to undertake a recycling program for plastic bags, the kind used by grocery and retail stores. The county teamed with Trex, a manufacturer of composite products made from recycled plastics and wood fibers. The collected bags were shipped to Trex. The company used the materials to make composite lumber benches, which were donated to the community's zoo, explains Vickers. New products, like the new compact fluorescent light bulbs, which save energy, contain trace amounts of mercury, says Vickers. IKEA and the City of Atlanta have made disposing of this hazardous material easier. Anyone can take residential quantities of these bulbs, sealed in a plastic bag, and drop them in a designated bin at the IKEA store in Atlantic Station. Carpet manufacturing in Georgia also gets
a boost from the recycling that families do,
says Vickers. Recycled plastic drink bottles
make their way to Dalton where companies
like Mohawk recycle the plastic for use in
manufacturing new carpet. This type of
carpeting is stain-resistant and has longer
durability thanks to the recycled plastics
used, adds Vickers. In Atlanta, Waste Management plans to sponsor a free citywide Electronics Recycling Day later this year, while this spring the Office of Environmental Management kicks off its new initiative, Away From Home. The program brings recycling containers to many community events like fairs and festivals to encourage families to recycle no matter where they are. In small ways, families can step up their current recycling efforts. Recycling materials, which can be made into new products, reduces the amount of waste generated at home and simultaneously gives parents and kids an active role in helping the environment. Experts say that recycling is just one way that families can become more environmentally responsible. Paper or Plastic?
Georgia's 2005 study found more than 7 percent of trash in area landfills contains plastic film - the very ingredient found in bags at grocery and retail stores. On the flip side, Americans use about 10 billion paper bags a year, according to the American Forest and Paper Association. Neither is a very good option when it comes to what to put groceries in, say environmental experts. Whole Foods will soon ban plastic bag use in its stores and instead encourage use of the stores' canvas tote bags for shopping. Grocers like Kroger and Publix want shoppers to recycle their plastic bags. "We are encouraging people to take the plastic bags back to the grocery and recycle them there," says Hardegree. The bags are recycled by Trex to produce composite lumber. And if you just can't do that, consider buying one of the store's canvas tote bags for groceries. They cost less than $1 and can be reused, adds Hardegree. New Recycling Book Targeted to Kids A new children's book available on Earth Day, "William is Going Green" by James Martin II and James Martin III, tells the story of William the garbage truck, a green, eco-friendly cartoon on a mission to make the planet a safer and cleaner place to live. The adventures of William and his friends - hybrid garbage trucks, each with individual recycling duties - teach kids how to recycle bottles, cans, paper, plastic and toxins, and help families learn new ways to go green. Printed with eco-friendly materials, the book is geared to kids ages 3-8. $14.95. www.williamthegarbagetruck.com |
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