Mandatory Recycling in the USA - Essay Example

Running Head: RECYCLING SHOULD BE MANDATORY IN UNITED E S Recycling Should be Mandatory in United E s School ENG 112 CompositionProfessor Aug 10, 2008 Introduction The main purpose of this study is to convince the readers that there is a need for the Americans to make recycling mandatory. In the process of justifying the need to obliged the people to recycle waste products, significant reasons related to the fact that recycling: (1) saves our natural resources; (2) creates job for Americans; and (3) saves space of landfill will be thoroughly discussed. Thesis Statement Recycling Should be Mandatory in United Estates. Recycling Saves Our Natural Resources In general, the process of recycling of waste water through the use of technology increases the availability of our water supply for future use. Aside from increasing our water supply, the fact that recycled water goes through several treatment processes enable us to have sufficient supply of disease-free drinking water which is commonly caused by microorganisms and other contaminants. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008) In the process of treating the waste water, we are equally preserving the nature of our global freshwater ecosystem. Aside from increasing the availability of water supply and protecting our freshwater ecosystem, there is also a need to recycle paper products. In general, recycling used paper could enable us to preserve the availability of trees. This is primarily due to the reasons that recycling of used papers could make us save as much as 250,000,000 trees from being cut each year to supply the printing of newspapers printing in the United States. (AmeriFlow Recycling Inc., 2008) Aside from protecting the trees from being cut, we are also protecting ourselves from environmental hazards that are directly related to global warming, hazardous waste, loss of rain forests, acid rain, and the thinning of the ozone layer (Pennsylvania Department fo Environmental Protection, 2008) and natural calamities such as drought, flood, landslides (Trivedi, 2008). Air pollution that coming from the process of burning fossil fuels is one of the common factors that causes acid rain. (U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1999) In other words, electric utility plants are among the major sources of emitted sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide that are present in the atmostphere. As explained by Science, global warming and the nitrogen oxide present in the acid rain could cause negative impact on the environment aside from declining the annual crop yields due to the presence of flood caused by typhoon and/or prolonged hot season that often leads to the growth of new pesticides and fungicides. (Hampton, 2008; Union of Concerned Scientists, 2006) For this reason, income from agricultural activities becomes lesser. On the other hand, the thinning of the ozone layer could cause human beings to suffer from skin cancer and other related health detriments. (The Daily Galaxy, 2007) Aside from causing serious damage on agricultural products, acid rain could also severely damage our natural sources of water such as lakes and streams. (U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1999) Given the fact that trees absorb water from the ground, there is a higher chance that trees and other plants would die caused by high amount of acid found in the ocean, lakes, streams, rivers, and water reservoir. For this reason, forest degradation is most likely to occur. Aside from damaging our natural resources, the harmful chemical elements that are present in acid rain could also shorten the life span of buildings and houses. As a result, people suffer from the economic consequences of having the need to repair, reconstruct, and restore the strength of the building foundation. Recycling Creates Job for Americans Making recycling mandatory create job opportunities for people. Based on the report of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2008), roughly 1.1 million individuals have been employed by recycling industry. As a result, recycling contributes a lot in keeping the unemployment rate in the U.S. low. Some of the jobs created by the recycling industry are in different fields (e.g. accounting, manual labor, etc), presenting opportunities to each individual helps us reduce poverty. (Lucius, 1996) The recycling industry presents a significant amount of work force, making a great effect in the country’s economy. (City of Fort Collins, 2008) Aside from creating more job opportunities for the professionals and non-professional workers, implementing the need for recycling would encourage more people to establish their own business out of establishing their own recycling plant or recycling center. Since recycling help preserves the mother nature, people who are working behind the agricultural sector are the ones who could gain economic benefits from the environmental preservation. Since crops will be more protected from natural calaminites, more people would be encourage to invest their time, money, and effort on farming. Recycling Saves Space of Landfill Roughly 1 billion trees worth of paper is being used up each year in U.S. (AmeriFlow Recycling Inc., 2008) Even though the study that was conducted by Ebreo & Vining (2001) concluded that waste reduction behavior of each individual does not necessarily mean that the person aims to recycle waste, it remains a fact that recycling reduces the needed space for landfill. Basically, non-biodegradable materials such as paper, plastic, steel, aluminum, foodscrap, and glass containers that are thrown away each year occupies too much space in the U.S. landfill area. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2008) For this reason, the U.S. government could extend the projected lifespan of our existing landfills. (City of Fort Collins, 2008) Conclusion There are a lot of social, health, economic and environmental benefits associated with making recycling mandatory in the United States. In line with this matter, the U.S. government could make it possible for people to be able to live in a clean environment that offers a lot of business and job opportunities. Americans should be more educated with regards to the importance of recycling. To make it easier on the part of the U.S. government to implement recycling, the government should requiring each individual to segregate waste materials straight from our home. References AmeriFlow Recycling Inc. (2008). Retrieved July 31, 2008, from Recycling Facts: http://www.ameriflowrecycling.com/recycling_facts. City of Fort Collins. (2008). Retrieved July 31, 2008, from Why Recycling Matters: http://www.ci.fort-collins.co.us/recycling/why_recycle.php. Ebreo, A., & Vining, J. (2001). How Similar are Recycling and Waste Reduction? Environment and Behavior , 33(3):424 - 448. Hampton, T. (2008). Retrieved July 31, 2008, Science Journal – Acid Rain: http://www.wgbh.org/cainan/article?item_id=876482. Lucius, A. (1996, July 1). RECYCLING: Recycling Program Creates Jobs, Alleviates Poverty. Retrieved August 9, 2008, from Waste Age: http://wasteage.com/mag/waste_recycling_recycling_program/. Pennsylvania Department fo Environmental Protection. (2008). Retrieved July 31, 2008, from The Benefits of Recycling: http://www.dep.state.pa.us/dep/deputate/airwaste/wm/recycle/FACTS/Benefits.htm. The Daily Galaxy. (2007) Retrieved July 31, 2008, from The Ozone Hole – It’s Still There & Needs Help: http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/09/the-ozone-hole-.html. Trivedi, R. (2008). environinfo.org. Retrieved August 23, 2008, from Disaster Management: Contingency Action Plan: http://www.environinfo.org/disaster.htm Union of Concerned Scientists. (2006). Retrieved July 31, 2008, from Global Warming has Negative Impact on Great Lakes Agriculture: http://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/global-warming-has-negative.html. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2008). Retrieved July 31, 2008, from Frequent Questions about Recycling and Waste Management : http://www.epa.gov/garbage/faq.htm. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2008, March 24). Retrieved July 31, 2008, from Water Recycling and Reuse: The Environmental Benefits : http://www.epa.gov/region09/water/recycling/. U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (1999, April). Retrieved August 23, 2008, from JumpStart - Earth Science: Environmental Effects of Acid Rain: http://www.sciencemaster.com/jump/earth/acid_rain.php Waste Age. (1996). Retrieved August 9, 2008, from Recycling: Recycling Program Creates Jobs: http: wasteage.com/mag/wate_recycling_program/. Read More