Yesterday, Nov. 15, was the 14th annual America Recycles Day. It recognizes the progress being made in recycling the country’s waste and the work yet to be done. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that Americans generated 250 million tons of municipal waste in 2010, of which about 34 percent was recycled or composted. The U.S. disposes enough trash each day to fill 50,000 garbage trucks with 18,000 pounds of trash in each. By reducing, reusing, and recycling, the U.S. can put resources back into use, rather than disposing of them. For example, recycling one cell phone saves enough energy to power a laptop for 44 hours.
In addition, adopting sustainable materials management practices can help minimize waste and help the country conserve energy. It examines the life cycle of materials and products to identify ways to consume fewer natural resources, decrease the waste going to landfills, and create economic opportunities.
Among sustainable materials management practices are designing products that use fewer toxic constituents and reusing products. On the federal level, a task force led by the EPA, Council on Environmental Quality, and General Services Administration have released a strategy for responsible electronic design, purchasing, management, and recycling. In addition, the EPA has challenged other federal agencies to reduce their environmental impact by pledging a 5 percent reduction goal in two of six areas: waste, electronics, purchasing, energy, water, and transportation.
To learn more about reducing, recycling, and reusing your waste, see:
http://www.epa.gov/
