WA - 8

Recycle. Who knew such a small word could impact the lives of so many. Make the extra effort. The world isn’t going anywhere so your actions now will severely affect our future. Recycling isn’t only going to affect those around you. It also plays a major role in your future as well. There is no skill involved to recycle. Anyone can recycle.

Many things can be recycled. If you have any question about whether or not it is a recyclable, just look on the bottom of the container. As companies are becoming more and more aware of the benefits of recycling, the more and more products they distribute they can be recyclable. Many shoe boxes and food containers are becoming recyclable. Recycle those empty beer cans. Recycle those cardboard beer holders. Glass containers are being used when plastics are not needed. All glass is 100% recyclable where as many plastics are not.

How many times have you traveled around campus and seen those red cups lying all over the front yard of sororities or fraternities? I am guessing the answer for most of you is, more than once. How many times have you walked out the front door of your sorority and been amazed at the mess? I am guessing the answer would still remain, more than once. I believe there is a time to have fun, as well as respectful to those around you. Your sorority is not the only house on the block. Recycling your cups and containers will make everyone happy and better our future. And you won’t have any more of those “this is a mess” moments you’re probably used too. Recycling has become increasingly easier, due to the city’s efforts of creating recycling centers located around campus.

Recycling also saves space for those non-biodegradables in landfills. Non-biodegradables take more time to decompose. If landfills are being overtaken by non-biodegradables, there will soon be a shortage of landfills. When there is a shortage of landfills, the waste begins to sneak its way to various other locations and eventually begin to seep into our oceans and water sources. Recycling reduces the risk of having too much non-biodegradable waste and not enough landfills. Recycling produces less waste and is easier to maintain. Recycling furthermore saves many natural resources that are increasingly being used up. Recycling also reduces the amount of energy needed to produces certain non-biodegradables. If we reuse them, we won’t rely so much on foreign production. Plastic, many of it is made in China, they have different health regulations and so we decided to use their lack of knowledge to our advantage. We need to stop using foreign countries to do the dirty work for us.

I know you may think this is a lot of work for little improvement. But every little piece of effort can go a long way. It will make better for our generation and the generations to come. Please recycle. Let’s not leave our next generation the job of correcting our mistakes.