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Amanda Lee Gunnell

Professor Brandon Alva
English 2010
April 22, 2017

We can make a difference, the grassroots approach to protecting the planet.

Ever since I can remember I have cared about the environment. From

the time I was a little girl I have felt like I was blessed with deeper

understanding or empathy towards nature and since then, my passion has

only grown. When I was 8 years old I heard about global warming for the first

time. (Now known as climate change.) When I learned that our planet is

essentially a living organism and pollution would make her, in hippie terms

Gaia sick. I knew I wanted to do everything I could to help. I started turning

off lights to save on electricity, taking showers instead of baths and began

recycling cans and newspapers from my familys home.

Climate Change, is a threating effect caused by greenhouse gases

released from human activity. Creating harmful chemicals that raise our

planets temperature. Much of this is from growing economies and new

developments and technology. Our economy in America has been growing,

and with more wealth means people are buying more things and ultimately

means more waste. (Reynard Loki) More waste landfills will eventually run

out of space, causing them to release harmful chemicals and greenhouse

gasses from the landfill sites. Reducing waste saves space reduces air

pollution, it saves money and limits our need to need to make more products
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out of raw materials. Therefore saving rainforest. (Recycling is Important) An

average American creates 4 pounds of trash every day. And about 75% of

that is recyclable. If we choose to reduce, reuse, and recycle would we be

able to reduce emissions enough to make a change in climate change? Does

recycling really matter?

Well, we have all heard the facts, recycling 100 aluminum cans can

light your bedroom for TWO WEEKS!(Dosomething.org) Seeing that doing

something as simple as recycling your pop or beer cans can reduce emission

reminds you that even the littlest things can make a difference. And its

easy! People all over the world are stepping up to being zero waste

communities. In America over 87% of people have access to curbside or

drop-off paper recycling programs. In 2010 paper recycling has improved

over 89% sense 1990. (DoSomething.org) I can only imagine it getting

better.

I believe it is because today technology has given us the power

to see the effects our trash has had on the planet. We are seeing not only the

effects on the environment but on the people and animals that inhabit it all

over the world. And it is very real. With news stories and the media, more

and more people are waking up and wanting to do something about it, but

why do some people still not care?

It is not just about climate change, Americans alone create 200 million

tons of garbage each year, and although a lot of that is collected and
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dispersed in landfills, huge amounts end up on the side of the roads and in

the oceans where curious animals ingest this garbage and are unable to

digest it causing blockages, injury and even death. (Rocha) Although

recycling wont keep all extra trash and waste out of the oceans, it does help

reduce waste and has a huge positive impact on the environment. Recycling

uses less natural resources and protects wildlife by reducing the need to

damage forests, wetlands, rivers and other essential ecosystems which are

home to life we care about.(Socrra)

Some critics of recycling argue that recycling causes more damage to

the environment than just placing trash in landfills. I would argue that

although some emissions are released from factories processing recycled

goods, recycling requires far less energy, uses fewer natural resources and

keeps waste from piling up in landfills and blowing off into oceans than

creating new goods does. (Soccra) However more pollution from recycling

may be released more locally, recycling operations create more pollution in

areas where more people are affected. Recycling newsprint actually creates

more water pollution than making new paper: for each ton of recycled

newsprint that's produced, an extra 5,000 gallons of waste water are

discharged.(Tierney)

Optimistically Ive learned that millions of homeowners recycle basic

materials like cardboard, paper, plastic and aluminum every day. But, the

EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we

only recycle about 30% of it. In 2011 the EPA reported that 32 million tons
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of plastic waste was generated in the United States. Only 8% of plastic was

recovered for recycling. (Wynne) So, why home recycling? You may think

that by putting your plastic items in a bin marked with a recycle symbol

helps it avoid the landfill route, but you could be wrong. It only means it has

the potential to be recycled. (Dawn).

Those facts were heart breaking and made me feel very disappointed

and discouraged in my efforts to make the world a better place. Maybe it

doesnt make a difference. As good as it makes me feel to recycle at home,

we have to realize that we are a small percent to the bigger picture here. I

began to think of the large factories and corporations that produce massive

amounts of waste while manufacturing products and the massive amounts of

disposable and single use products they are creating. Without companies

support in recycling we make no mark on the 92% of plastic still ending up in

landfills and oceans.

With this new information I started noticing the accessibility of

recycling in my city, my work place and in my school. I currently live in Salt

Lake City, Utah, so compared to the green movement in California, I would

say we have a far way to go, but I am still impressed by the accessibilities to

recycling with my home pick up service and free glass recycling drop off

spots at local parks.

My school however, is ahead of the game and even has a small place

for people to properly recycle old batteries, I was impressed. But that is sort
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of expected for me at a college. People who attend higher education tend to

have a higher awareness and concern for the environment.

The biggest shock to me was my work place. No recycling at all, not

even for paper. I work at a mental health hospital downtown and the amount

of waste is mammoth. We use single use items for almost everything and all

of our charting is on paper. Patients can stay anywhere from 3-60 days and

are given plastic toothbrushes, plastic shampoo, conditioner and deodorant

bottles. We throw away thousands of paper med cups a day and only use

disposable plates and silverware in our cafeteria. They create so much more

waste and have the opportunity to recycle so much more than I do in my

home. So I decided to contact my CEO and ask why we dont have recycling.

I asked my CEO Kreg a few basic questions. We discussed that his

thoughts on recycling are positive, but that he doesnt have a strong opinion

on the matter either way, he mentioned that his wife is the one who does the

recycling at home and said I wouldnt consider myself an environmentalist.

He also confirmed that we do not have recycling at all at the hospital, the

only place is in medical records where an employee has brought in her own

trash can and labeled it recycling for paper and plastic. When we started

talking about if it would be easy to have recycling and if it would cost money

for us to recycle he said yes, Its too complicated and would take much

more work to do it properly then to not do it at all. Being a mental health

hospital I understood his concerns. People are usually unstable and having all

the sharp objects in one place, is probably not the best idea. He also
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mentioned it would be more work for the staff and he would have to pay for

an entire different pick up system. It was not worth it to him as a CEO. He

didnt identify any financial benefits from recycling but, he agreed he had

heard of green initiatives before and didnt appear to be interested at all.

From what I observed recycling is not worth it to this company because it

would take more time, and cost more money, not to mention the person in

charge has no passion behind it.

That is yet another example of people following the American pattern

of convenience and price. I see why it would be so much work, but if we are

all citizens of Mother Earth, then shouldnt we all be doing our best to protect

her?

To look for hope, I reached out to my friend Darin who is the owner of a

local music venue in Down Town SLC and my hope was restored. I had

noticed that they hvae a great recycling program and was interested in the

motivation behind it. When I asked what Darins personal views on recycling

where he answered, It is probably the single most important thing we can

do locally to affect things globally Sigh, I am not alone. Little things really

can make a difference. Darin mentioned that they have had recycling since

the beginning but it hasnt always been easy, you have to keep up on staff

to make sure things get put in the right place, etc. Also, The State Room

does pay an additional cost for a mixed use dumpster and does pay more for

a separate account for glass. When I asked if there were any benefits or tax

breaks to his business from recycling he simply joked not that I know of,
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besides Karma. Clearly this business owners personal beliefs influence his

business decisions. He also mentioned he feels like the patrons like it a lot

and he feels like they in turn respect the business more. When I mentioned

how the hospital I work at doesnt recycle in conceded in the fact that a lot of

people weigh saving money over the effects our trash has on the

environment.

After interviewing these two business owners and comparing the facts,

I dont think people recycling at home will ever be able to make a big enough

difference to protect the planet and reduce climate change. If other business

owners like Kreg are not willing to take the extra time to recycle at home,

they are not going to take the time to create programs at their place of work.

If large companies continue to choose convince and price over the

environment, millions of more pounds of waste will end up in the landfills

never having the opportunity to be recycled. The biggest way we can make

an impact is by demanding more recycled goods from manufactures and

large companies like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and Wal-Mart. If these companies

have public pressure to protect the environment and use renewed sources, it

could decrease the need for using new natural resources and help protect

our environment. Also if you are a grassroots person who is passionate about

climate change and the environment, you can take your efforts a little bit

bigger. Start a recycling program at your workplace or office, research green

initiatives and pass them to your CEOs. Remember, recycling is the biggest

thing you can do locally to effect things globally. You can influence the future
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of recycling by influencing your work place. I find that it comes down to a

moral choice and most companies make decisions of ease, space and cost,

but remember that the planet matters too. If most recyclable waste comes

from large companies we have to show them a way to have a bigger impact

on how companies make those choices. Change comes from within, keep

recycling at home, inform the people around you and choose to support

companies that follow green what companies to support based on their

ethics. You too can make a difference because yes, recycling matters.

"Recycling is Important." Recycling Guide. N.p., 14 Feb. 2008. Web. 16 Feb.

2017.

"Recycle Across America, Standardized Recycling Labels." Recycle Across

America, Standardized Recycling Labels. N.p., n.d.

Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

"In the bin." The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 22 Apr. 2015. Web.

16 Feb. 2017.
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"11 Facts about Recycling." DoSomething.org | Volunteer for Social Change.

N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

"Improve Recycling." Improve Recycling | Keep America Beautiful. N.p., n.d.

Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

"Top 10 Reasons to Recycle." SOCRRA. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Tierney, John. "Recycling Is Garbage." The New York Times. The New York

Times, 29 June 1996. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Wynne, Dawn. "Is Teaching Children to Recycle a Waste of Time?" The

Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 11 Sept. 2013. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Reynard Loki / AlterNet. "If Recycling Doesn't Actually Help the Planet, Then

What Should We Do?" Alternet. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2017.

Dover, Sara. "Is recycling worth it?" CBS News. CBS Interactive, 26 Apr. 2013.

Web. 16 Feb. 2017.