Recycling Bins

After one week of observing some problems related to recycling in AGU, I have realized that although AGU provides us with recycling bins all over the campus, we still do not use them efficiently. We know that recycling has a good impact on the environment, however, have we ever thought about how the world would be without no one to recycle?! Mountain of garbage all over the world, landfills everywhere. So in this topic, I will talk briefly about two of the most used materials -for us as students- and the environmental impact of not recycling them.

1. Plastic:
Did you know that plastic bottles need 450 years to decompose? Imagine the chaos if everyone -population of 7.7 billion- throws a bottle a day thinking that it is only one bottle!

Moreover, according to a study published in Nature Climate Change: “Recycling all plastic waste would reduce carbon dioxide equivalent emissions (ecological footprint) to 4.9 gigatons in 2050.”

2. paper:
Paper is one of the most consumed materials. Unlike plastic, the paper does not need much time to decompose. However, not recycling paper means that more trees will be chopped down to produce it. And as we all aware of, cutting trees results in Increasing Greenhouse Gases, Loss of Habitat, and many more.

So is it time to start separating your trash yet?!