| RECYCLE Be part of the pollution solution |
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Plastic bags cannot decompose. They release toxins if they are burnt or buried. A large percentage of these bags are never recycled. Many countries have banned their use. Ireland imposed a 15 cent tax on each plastic bag used at retailers, reducing their use by an estimated 90% in the first year! POLLUTION SOLUTION: Ask for paper instead of plastic. Bring your own cloth bags to carry home your goods. Put pressure on the local retailers and City Council to impose a tax on each bag purchased. This will surely get the consumers attention! GLASS Glass never wears out. It can be recycled forever, saving the natural resources used to make it initially. Recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100 watt light bulb for four hours. POLLUTION SOLUTION: Everyday, thousands of jars from store- bought products end up in the landfill. Consider storing your food in these jars rather than throwing them away. New lids for glass jars can be purchased at many grocery, hardware or department stores. SAVE THE TREES! Paper products make up the largest part (40%) of the world's trash. Americans use more than 67 million tons of paper per year, or about 580 pounds per person. Each day they generate enough paper to circle the world twenty times. In newsprint alone, they throw away the equivalent of more than 30 million trees. POLLUTION SOLUTION: Recycling one ton of paper saves: 17 trees, 6953 gallons of water, 463 gallons of oil, 587 pounds of air pollution, 3.06 cubic yards of landfill space and 4077 kilowatt hours of energy. JUNK MAIL 4 million tons of junk mail is mailed annually in the United States. The average American spends eight full months opening junk mail during a lifetime. POLLUTION SOLUTION: You can stop up to 75% of all national mailings by writing a request to the Direct Marketing Association, P. O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735-9008 CAN YOU DO THE CAN-CAN? Americans discard enough aluminum to rebuild their entire commercial air fleet every three months. Enough iron and steel is thrown away to continuously supply all the nation's automakers. More than 50% of a new can is made from recycled aluminum. POLLUTION SOLUTION: Recycling steel and tin cans saves 74% of the energy used to produce them. RAKE IT OR LEAF IT: An enormous amount of grass clippings, pine needles and leaves are sent to the landfill each year… not to mention the un-decomposable plastic bags they are collected in. POLLUTION SOLUTION: Keep the clippings in the yard; it is the best food and insulation for your trees and plants. If you MUST have a pristine yard, ask your local gardeners if they can use it. Or better yet, start using it yourself and growing your own veggies!
Each year, Americans throw away 25 trillion Styrofoam cups.If your lined up all the Styrofoam cups made in just one day, they would circle the earth.
parties, use glass mugs.
One gallon of used motor oil can contaminate one million gallons of water. An exorbitant amount of energy is required to process oil, not to mention the effects the oil industry places on the planet. POLLUTION SOLUTION: Recycle used motor oil at a local automotive store. Use alternatives to petroleum products.
• carpool • take the bus • walk • ride your bike • make one car trip for several purposes • drive slower on the highway - most cars are designed to get best gas mileage at 55 mph Be a part of the Pollution Solution and buy products made from recycled materials, whenever possible. |
Plastic Water Bottles Health Considerations
other drinks in plastic bottles. Although plastic is advantageous because of its weight and less likely to break if dropped, glass containers are by far a safer way to contain your drinks. If you choose to use plastic bottles, here are a few hints to keep in mind. If you taste plastic, you are drinking it. Freezing water in plastic bottles can result in leaching of dioxins. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of the bodies and are linked as one cause in the rise in breast and other cancers. Check the bottom of the plastic bottle for the recycling symbol. Most water bottles are packaged in #1 containers which are designed to be used once. Leaching can result when re-used. You would be better off to purchase plastic bottles that can be reused, such as #2 HDPE (High Density PolyEthylene or a #4 LDPE (Low Density PolyEthylene). Both of these tend to leach less, but can still leach toxins into your water if exposed to heat, such as sunlight. The lexan water bottles with a #7 on the bottom may leach Bisphenol A (BPA) which is a xenoestrogen, a known endochrine disruptor, which means it disturbs the hormonal messages within the body. Synthetic xenoestrogens are linked to breast cancer and uterine cancer in women, decreased testosterone levels in men and are particularly destructive in babies and young children. BPA has also been linked to Type 2 Diabetes. Most plastic baby bottles and drinking cups are made with plastics containing Bisphenol A. In 2006 Europe banned all products made for children under age 3 containing BPA. In 2007, a billion-dollar class action suit was commenced against Gerber, Playtex, Evenflo, Avent and Dr. Brown's in Los Angeles Superior Court for harm done to babies caused by drinking out of baby bottles and sippy cups containing BPA. Glass bottles are a much safer source for babies. Check the recycling numbers on all your plastic food containers. |
drinking? A leak of one drop per second wastes about 2400 gallons a year! The average American uses 150 gallons of water a day! Americans drink less than 1% of tap water used. The rest (99%) goes down the drain or is used to water our lawns. Each glass of water at a restaurant takes two glasses to wash it.
running while brushing your teeth. Turn off the faucet when brushing teeth or shaving. |
1. Recycling conserves energy and resources. 2. Recycling saves energy 3. Recycling helps preserve clean air and water. 4. Recycling helps save on landfill space. 5. Recycling can save money and create jobs.
while building a sense of community. The process is simple. Join a local online group where you can list any items you wish to find a new home for. Browse emails from others who are doing the same thing. Then make arrangements online to pick up or deliver your unwanted items. Visit www.freecycle.org for more information, to find a group in your area or to start your own group. |
The average American household generates 230 pounds of food waste per person per year. Together they represent 20 to 30% of the municipal waste stream. Composting is a simple, convenient, odor- less way to dispose of yard and kitchen wastes. It can be easier and cheaper than bagging these wastes and putting them in the garbage. With home composting, less garbage is sent to the landfill. Through composting, yard and kitchen wastes are converted into a valuable "organic" soil amendment that can be used with house plants, lawns, flower and vegetable gardens. Compost will build up the low levels of organic matter found in many soils and improve plant growth by adding nutrients. Composting saves money by reducing your need for commercial fertilizers. Composting also saves water by increasing the soil's moisture holding capacity. Composting is complete when you have a uniform dark brown, crumbly, earthy smelling product. |
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