Princeton NJ Home Improvement Articles

AMERICA RECYCLES... Do you?

In honor of American Recycles Day, November 15, here are some facts and figures about recycling in the U.S. It's easy to do your part to help save the Earth's vital, yet finite, resources! Waste and recycling statistics from the Clean Air Council.           44% of "purified" bottled water started out as municipal water and 76.5% of these spent bottles end up in landfills. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Fill up a reusable bottle with your own well or  municipal water.       20 aluminum cans can be recycled using the same amount of energy as creating just one can with virgin ore. Aluminum can be recycled forever without losing quality! WHAT YOU CAN DO: Keep recycling those cans!          Just 10% of over 140 million cell phones retired in 2007 were recycled, but recycling all of these retired cell phones would power 18,500 homes for a year! WHAT YOU CAN DO: Click here to learn about electronics recycling programs in your neighborhood.      30,990 tons of food scraps were discarded in 2008, composing 18.6% of all materials going to landfills or incinerators. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Start a composting pile at home. Better yet, use it to fertilize your garden!        Approximately 68% of restaurants had recycling programs in 2011. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Urge restaurants and other businesses to recycle when you stop there. Carry bottles and other recyclable items out with you and recycle them at home!       Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, an extra million tons of waste is created each week. WHAT YOU CAN DO: Most greeting cards and wrapping paper can be recycled with other paper products!           There are many other everyday objects that can also be recycled. Click here to find out where you can recycle anything from tennis balls to old vehicles!