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Essay On Recycling Should Be Mandatory

1097 Words5 Pages

Should Everyone Be Required to Recycle?

Recycling is one of the easiest and simplest ways for people to have a positive impact on the environment we live in, yet Recycle Across America states that U.S. recycling levels are only at 21.4%. This number is low even with recycling being integrated into many schools and workplaces because recycling isn’t enforced. It all depends if someone wants to recycle or not. If everyone was required to recycle, imagine the tremendous effects it would have on the earth. After examining the environmental and economical effects of recycling, research shows that recycling should be mandatory because it conserves natural resources, saves energy, and reduces pollution caused by waste.
One of the biggest impacts that recycling has is conserving natural resources. According to Joanna Poncavage, recycled paper supplies about one-third of the materials used to make other U.S. paper products. Believe it or not paper can be recycled 4-7 times before the fibers need to be mixed with new ones (Ray). Joanna Poncavage also writes, …show more content…

Given the fact that there are just under 10,000 different municipal recycling plants operating around the U.S. that all follow different rules (“In the Bin”) this is a valid issue. The easiest way to solve this problem is to integrate recycling into more school systems and workplaces in order to inform people about the benefits of recycling and to teach them how to recycle. “Many Americans say they would recycle more if they had better information about what to recycle, particularly for plastics. Forty-six percent say they are more likely to recycle when they know that an item is recyclable, as opposed to when they are unsure.” (New Survey). All it takes to inform people are some simple signs and teaching them when they are young. It’s not that hard to make a few signs and put them up above recycling

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