Top 10 Benefits of Recycling

Choosing to recycle materials rather than toss them into a trash heap benefits everyone in ways that may or may not be easily identified. Some of those benefits apply directly to those who decide recycling is worth the time and effort, while other advantages only begin to appear over time. Either way you look at it, the benefits of recycling are sufficient for all of us to put in the effort. To help you get a better idea of the good that comes from recycling, here are ten key benefits to consider.

Minimizes the Need to Create More Landfills

The time for dumping everything into landfills is long over. During the last five or six decades, the number of dumping grounds and landfills has increased at a frightening rate. Every acre of land that’s converted into a dumping ground translates into less room for affordable housing, schools, parks, and farming. The bottom line is that something must be done to reduce the number of landfills found around the country and the world.

This is where recycling and waste management come into the picture. Sorting discarded materials into what can be recycled and what has to be destroyed by incineration or other methods reduces what ends up in landfills. Slowing the filling of those spots means there’s no need to create new ones as rapidly as we’ve done in the past. The result is that the land can be used for more productive and essential purposes as well as raising concerns about groundwater contamination.

Slows the Consumption of the World’s Natural Resources

There was a time when it seemed as if the world’s resources were more than adequate to support humankind. Some still cling to that idea and even point to resources that can be replenished over time. The problem with that mindset is that in many parts of the world, humanity is consuming renewable resources faster than nature can replace them.

Recycling centers collect materials that can be broken down and used in the production of new products. That helps to ease the demand for using natural resources that are already near breaking points. Over time, this will mean that more of what the world has to offer is preserved rather than destroyed.

Reduces One Contributor to Air Pollution

While not all materials can be recycled, stepping up the effort can help reduce the amount of pollution that’s created. One example has to do with the use of incineration. It will be around for a long time and is necessary up to a degree. What we can do is reduce the amount of materials that end up having to be incinerated by recycling what we can.

Simply put, responsible recycling means less air pollution. Think of what that means for people who have respiratory ailments or certain types of allergies. Now think of what it means for you and your loved ones who don’t presently have any type of respiratory condition or allergy. Even with a healthy set of lungs, breathing in clean air rather than polluted air helps to minimize the risk of all sorts of conditions developing in the years to come.

Protects Nature

The ecological balance of the planet is important to all people whether they recognize it or not. By protecting forests, deserts, wildlife, fresh and saltwater, as well as all of the other natural elements of our planet, humans contribute to the task of keeping the world habitable for all living things. Given the amount of waste that humanity is capable of creating in a single day, taking steps to reduce waste becomes one of the most effective things that we can do.

See simple home recycling as one way to help protect nature and the environment. While what an individual can do may not seem like a lot, multiply that effort by the actions of hundreds of millions of other people around the world. It will soon become evident that what’s done in homes and workplaces everywhere will ultimately preserve nature and allow it to thrive.

And Helps the World Heal

Recycling is effective in terms of reducing the need to consume more of what nature has to offer. It also provides the opportunity for the world to heal from what humankind has done. It’s possible today to find modest examples of what choosing to recycle can do in terms of allowing nature to reclaim areas that were damaged due to excess consumerism. By stepping up and recycling more, we would expedite the healing and make the world a better place for everyone.

What happens when the world heals? Forests proliferate, waters run cleaner, and wildlife can thrive. That in turn benefits the production of crops on farms, creates more spaces where people can connect with the natural world, and restores more life balance. There is no downside to the world healing from what has been done since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution and through the mad years that have followed.

Requires Less Energy

Here’s something that many people don’t realize: recycling uses less total energy than manufacturing new goods. The methods used to break down recycled materials are not just kinder to the environment; they also require less energy to prepare them for other uses. There’s also the matter of time to consider, since it often takes less of it to prepare recycled materials than to work with raw materials. That’s important in a world where fossil fuels are still one of the most common ways to generate energy for production and other purposes.

Promotes a Lifestyle of Reusing and Repurposing

Choosing to incorporate recycling into your lifestyle does not mean adopting an attitude of scarcity or having to do without. All it means is creating a mindset that focuses on doing more with less. It can mean instead of tossing out a broken piece of furniture, the materials are recycled in the production of something new. You might even find that it’s possible to reuse most of an old beadboard to create shelves that grace a wall. Maybe old pallets harvested from a closed manufacturing facility can provide the materials for bed platforms or seating in the back garden.

Along with motivating creativity, reusing and repurposing can make it easier to live a more comfortable lifestyle while spending less money. That frees up cash reserves to use for other things, including education and travel.

Encourages the Use of Domestic Materials

The efforts of many waste recycling services ensures there are materials closer to home that can be used for manufacturing new products. In an era when it’s become more common to purchase materials from international locations, this has the potential to save time and decrease the expense involved with many manufacturing settings. Thanks to those factors, it’s possible to sell new goods for lower prices and enjoy better positioning within the marketplace. It also means that consumers get to buy what they need while spending less.

Creates More Local Jobs

Recycling is big business in many areas. In fact, it has the potential to work in all sorts of settings. It’s not just big cities that can be home to recycling facilities. Smaller towns and communities may also be potential sites. Along with the facilities comes the need for people to work in them.

Demand for more facilities happens when more consumers are willing to turn in more of what they no longer need. There has to be people who come around to collect recyclable materials. Someone has to sort and qualify whatever is brought into the facility. Others are needed to operate the machinery used to break down the materials while there are more people who prepare them for shipment to manufacturers who put the recycled materials to good use.

Through it all, a recycling facility means more jobs in the local community, which translates into more people with money to spend in local businesses and preserve the financial stability of the community. No one would argue against that.

Sets an Example for Future Generations

Children learn a great deal from the generations that went before them. They see and follow the examples set by adults they admire. Unfortunately, they can also learn bad habits and attitudes from the adults around them. That’s why setting a good example is so important.

It is up to us to teach our children about recycling, why it is important and the benefits to the human race and to our planet. Recycling isn’t just to better our planet right now, but also to preserve it and our natural resources for future generations. By instilling the importance of recycling in our children now, we provide them with something powerful to pass on to their children.

We have the opportunity to break destructive cycles of creating hordes of waste, and instead, learn to reduce, reuse and recycle. Gone For Good is a green waste reduction and recycling company that focuses on repurposing, reusing or recycling people's unwanted items in order to reduce the amount of trash that goes to the landfill.

Gone For Good offers curbside pickup, full clean outs, furniture and junk removal services throughout Denver, Boulder, Ft. Collins, Seattle and the surrounding suburbs and communities. Many of the items collected are offered for sale at highly discounted prices at the Gone For Good Thrift store. For more information visit www.goneforgoodstore.com/ or contact us at (720) 594-2292.