BENEFITS OF RECYCLING
You may have heard about recycling, but have you ever thought the role recycling can
play in protecting and conserving natural resources and the environment. It is time that every
nation, every global citizen takes a proactive and active role in protecting mother earth. For
sustainable development, it is important to change how we treat the environment. Growing
industrialization has caused devastating effects on the environment and extension the climate
(Sidique, Lupi & Joshi, 2010). Companies indiscriminately dispose wastes and end up polluting
water, land and air. The corporate social responsibility initiatives of these companies have little
or nothing to conserve, protect or advance the environment (Welford, 2016). As a result, there
are deafening calls and incessant campaigns for companies to adopt green technologies (Bonelli,
2018). Green living involves the reuse of products, conservation of resources and recycling of
products. All citizens including corporate citizens have a duty to embrace green living especially
recycling given the role it plays in conserving the environment (Tierney, 2015). As a strong
advocate of green economy, I feel companies need to do more recycling. Recycling is beneficial
to the environment and climate since it reduces pollution, eases the pressure to consume raw
materials and helps mitigate the threat of climate change. In this speech, I will discuss the
benefits of recycling to the environment and the climate.
Recycling waste products appreciably reduces environmental pollution. Recycling helps
to reduce not only domestic pollution but also industrial wastes. Domestic wastes necessitate the
management of landfills. Since most industrial and municipal wastes are dumped in landfills,
recycling can help reduce the demand for landfills (Bonelli, 2018). Materials dumped in landfills
produce numerous emissions such as methane and hydrogen sulfide which are key air pollutants.
Landfills also impair with the quality of air as gases originating from these landfills contaminate
the air and make it smell bad. Emissions from landfills also mix with rain water causing acid rain
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BENEFITS OF RECYCLING
which has deleterious effects on human health but also stability of ecosystems and biodiversity
(EPA, 2016). Hydrogen sulfide gas which originates from landfills threatens respiratory health as
it cases various diseases and conditions such as irritation and cancer. Recycling industrial and
municipal wastes can help achieve green living aspirations and make the environment safe for all
living organisms. Additionally, recycling reduces the pressure on raw materials. Raw materials
found in the earth are finite and hence exhaustible. It is thus imperative to consider economical
and considerate utilization of the available resources for sustainability. It is evident that,
recycling reduces profligacy and promotes optimal exploitation of resources.
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BENEFITS OF RECYCLING
References
Bonelli, J. M. (2018). Environmental Protection, Work, and Social Inclusion: Formalizing the
Recycling of Urban Solid Waste in Buenos Aires. Latin American Perspectives, 45(1),
91-107.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), (2016). Recycling Basics. Retrieved from
https://www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics
Sidique, S. F., Lupi, F., & Joshi, S. V. (2010). The effects of behavior and attitudes on drop-off
recycling activities. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 54(3), 163-170.
Tierney, J. (2015). The Reign of Recycling. New York Times. October, 3. Retrieved from
Welford, R. (2016). Corporate environmental management 1: systems and strategies. Routledge.