Do you recycle? If the answer is yes, what is your reason? Some people recycle out of a sense of duty, while others do it because they care about the environment and want to leave a smaller footprint. Sometimes there's an incentive involved, like a reduced cost for waste management or some sort of rewards program. But really, what are the best reasons to recycle?
Recycling saves landfill space.
This is the most obvious fact about recycling because just about everyone knows that when things are thrown into the garbage, they end up in a landfill. Further, while recycling is sorted into different types of recyclable materials, garbage is not sorted into recyclables. Landfills are not sustainable: they create methane, which is 21 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and they leach harmful substances into the soil and groundwater.
Recycling makes new things from old.
When you recycle, your glass bottles become new glass bottles, and your plastic bottles become carpet, clothing, auto parts, and new bottles. Aluminum cans can be recycled nearly indefinitely into new aluminum cans, and steel cans are used to make steel products like car parts and construction materials. Paper can be recycled into new paper, and some types of paper can be recycled as many as seven times.
Recycling saves our natural resources.
Creating new paper and cardboard means using trees. Plastics are created from oil, metals from rocks, and glass from sand. When we recycle, we don't need to chop down, extract, or mine more raw materials for things we use every day, because we make them out of things we've already used. According to the EPA and other reputable sources, one ton of recycled paper saves 17 trees, one ton of plastic saves 16.3 barrels of oil, one ton of aluminum saves four tons of Bauxite Ore, and one ton of glass saves one ton of mixed limestone, soda ash, and sand.
Recycling saves energy.
Creating new items requires obtaining raw materials, transporting them, and processing them. Every step of the way, energy is used that could be saved by recycling.
Recycling prevents pollution.
By using recycled materials in place of virgin materials, we're able to circumvent environmental damage caused by mining, drilling, and harvesting. In fact, the production of recycled paper causes 74% less air pollution and 35% less water pollution, using recycled cans instead of producing aluminum cans from extracted ore produces 95% less air pollution and 97% less water pollution, and recycling and remanufacturing are produce 194 times less greenhouse gas emissions than landfilling and manufacturing from scratch.
Recycling creates jobs.
The recycling industry creates more jobs than the auto industry, providing jobs for collectors, sorters, processors, designers, manufacturers, scientists, researchers, and administrators. In fact, for every job at a landfill, there are ten jobs in recycling processing and 24 jobs in manufacturing that's recycling-based.
Recycling shows that your business has a conscience.
People want to do business with companies that have a green image. When you recycle, you not only reduce the impact of your projects on the world around you, but you boost your reputation in an eco-conscious world. Recycling and repurposing help curb the effects of things like mining and deforestation, which are environmental concerns, especially for construction companies.
At Brackenbox, we make an effort to use recycling bins for as much of the waste processed in our facilities as possible. A family owned and operated business, we are members of the CMRA Construction Recycling Association, and we're committed to doing our part to sustain the environment. We've been serving customers in Chicago for over a decade, providing not only dumpsters but also heavy equipment, professional recycling, and demolition services. We offer same day delivery, competitive pricing, commercial dumping, and prompt, reliable service. For a complimentary estimate or to learn more about all, we have to offer, call us at (708) 339-4100, or contact us through our website.
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