From
Trash to Treasure
Ever heard the expression
"One man's trash is another man's treasure"? It means that some people
enjoy reusing items that other people have thrown away.
Recycling
at MUSC Reduces Greenhouse Emissions
Recycling
at MUSCReduces Air and Water Pollution.
In
2003, recycling reduced overall air emissions by 24.9 tons excluding CO2
and methane and reduced waterborne waste by 4.2 tons.
By decreasing the need to
extract and process new raw materials from the earth, recycling can eliminate
the pollution associated with the first two stages of a products development:
material extraction and processing. Mineral extracting and processing pollute
the air, land, and water with toxic materials, such as ammonia, carbon dioxide,
carbon monoxide, methane, and sulfur dioxides. Recycling reduces, and in many
cases eliminates, these pollutants.
By
reducing air and water pollution and saving energy, recycling offers an important
environmental benefit: it reduces emissions greenhouse gases, such as carbon
dioixide, methane, nitrous oxide and chlorofluorocarbons, that contribute
to global climate change. Recycling and composting reduce greenhouse gas
by (1) decreasing the energy needed to make products from raw materials,
(2) reducing emissions incinerators and landfills, which are the largest
source of methane gas emissions in the U.S., and (3) slowing the harvest
of trees, thereby maintaining the carbon dioxide storage benefit provided
by forests.
Recycling
at MUSC Conserves Natural Resources
By
recycling over 990 tons of paper last year, MUSC saved 20,878 trees. MUSC
reduced the need for 90 tons of iron ore, coal, and limestone by recycling
over 45 tons of metal.
By using recycled materials instead of trees, metal
ores, minerals, oil and other raw materials harvested from the earth, recycling-based
manufacturing conserves the world's scarce natural resources. This conservation
reduces pressure to expand forests cutting and mining operations.
We
have to be forever diligent in our recycling efforts. In 2000, U.S. residents,
businesses, and institutions produced nearly 232 million tons of Municipal
Solid Waste, which is approximately 4.5 lbs of waste per person per day,
up from 2.7 lbs per person per day in 1960. This trend is likely attributable
to a strong economy since economic growth has historically led to increase
in waste generation.
This
data is taken from MUSC's Solid Waste and Recycling Diversion Report 2003
and fed into the National Recycling Coalition's Environmental Benefits
Calculator.
