Mandatory Recycling In America

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It seems that every time one turns on the television they hear about something dealing with the environment, from global warming to pollution. It is a constant a reminder that what people do has a consequence to our planet. Recycling is a way Americans can have a positive impact on the planet rather than a negative impact that they are always hearing about. While some people do recycle, not enough is being done. We need to have more people recycle to have a better effect to the planet. This is why states need to have mandatory recycling to not only better the earth, but to lessen our need for natural resources, reduce the amount of actual “trash” we put in landfill, and to help our economy by the creation of new jobs through the recycling…show more content…
4). By reducing the amount of oil needed to produce products, the United States could become less dependent of foreign oil. Another reason states should enforce mandatory recycling is to reduce the amount of trash the American people put in landfills. With the average American throwing away around four pounds of trash a day, 1,460 pounds of trash a year, the trash is starting to add up. With the current population in the United States being 307,898,367 (U.S. Census Bureau), this means Americans throw away 449,531,615,820 pounds of trash a year. If Americans are producing this much trash, where are they putting it all? They’re piling it up in landfills. According to the article, “Landfills: Hazardous to the Environment,” the United States has 3,091 landfills in use right now as well as over 10,000 landfills that are not in use (par. 1). When one man heard about these numbers, he decided to do something about it. Dave Chameides went on a one year project to reuse, recycle, and compost everything he could. At the end of the year, he only had 28.5 pound of trash (365 Days of Trash). That is difference of 1,431 pounds of trash to the…show more content…
3). Finally, the United States should have mandatory recycling to help boost the economy through the creation of new jobs. By having mandatory recycling, it would create new jobs for all the parts of the recycling system. Jobs would be created in obtaining the recycled items, sorting and separating of the recyclables, also with the actual recycling of the materials, and finally the transportation of the recycled materials to the appropriate plants for reuse. Along with the recycling system, construction jobs would also be made readily available since in most rural areas in the United States there are not any nearby recycling centers for the recyclables to go to. As well as construction work being made available, more law enforcement would be needed to help implement the mandatory recycling project. All in all, Americans are constantly hearing about different environmental problems from the things they read to what they see and hear on the television. Most of the environmental problems Americans hear about are very negative, including pollution or global warming.

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