REASONS TO RECYCLE
We buy food, products for our personal use; however the products are aggressively packaged for freshness or convenience to make our lives simpler and better. The material used for packaging, most of the time, is taken from our earth; in its virgin form (some of its, components hopefully, have already been recycled once or twice).We use the product and then discard the packaging, the packaging is mostly, never re-usable in our homes and we throw it away. The packaging of course is more than likely recyclable and therefore can be broken down into its basic component and then re used to manufacture other packaging or products.
- Recycling is a necessity as we do not have an abundance of natural resources. Our consumption of products happens far too quickly for nature to naturally give us a supply.
- Recycling reduces the need for land filling and incineration .
- Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
- Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.
- Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water and minerals.
- Recycling reduces pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
The situation at home:
Well, it is estimated that landfill void space will run out between 4 – 16yrs ...a long way off? Well, not really. The life spans of our current landfills are as follows: 4 years for the Bellville South landfill, 8 years for Vissershok and 16 years for Coastal Park.
By land filling too much of our waste we are polluting the environment for generations to come and this is a serious matter. Although Landfill's are not full yet, the establishment of more landfill sites are on the cards, which means that eventually these sites will come under massive legislative scrutiny, it is our responsibility to safeguard the environment for the generations to come.
