This document discusses the importance of recycling and its benefits. It provides statistics showing that Americans generate a large amount of garbage each year, but only a small portion is recycled. If recycling increased, it could significantly reduce the number of trees cut down for paper and the amount of plastic waste. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is discussed as a major trash hotspot weighing over 700,000 tons, mostly from land-based plastic pollution. Recycling helps protect animals from harm from ingesting or getting trapped in trash, and keeps garbage out of waterways. The document calls the reader to action to start recycling and reducing waste to help the environment.

1. Recycling Project
By Scott Westman and Ian Ammerall

2. A Quick Question...
Have you ever realized you may be responsible for this?

3. A Quick Question...
Or this? The truth is, there’s a good chance you have contributed to this
happening.

4. General Garbage Facts
● Americans generate 251.3 million tons of garbage per year
○ Surprisingly, of the 251 million, 35% of the garbage comes from either schools or businesses.
○ Of this amount, only 33% gets recycled.
● As a lifetime average, Americans will throw away 600 times their body weight
in trash
● Keeping garbage off the ground and in the recycling bins produces much
cleaner groundwater

5. Paper Facts
● Average American uses 7 trees worth of paper a year
○ 680 pounds of paper
● To produce each week’s newspaper, over 500,000 trees must be cut down. If
humans would recycle their paper, this would drastically reduce the amount
of trees that must be cut.
○ If all newspapers were recycled, around 250,000,000 trees could be saved each year!!
At newspaper recycling
plants, old papers are made
into cubes (left) and then
re-rolled by machines (right).

6. Plastic Facts
● 25 million plastic bottles are thrown away every hour
● Over 7 billion pounds of non-recycled plastics are made every year
● Only 7% of plastics made are recycled after use
● Recycling plastic conserves energy
○ Saves double the energy saving plastic as it does to burn
The East Hamilton trail has more than
its fair share of plastic lying around

7. Trash Hotspots: Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch
● Weighs in at over 700,000 tons of trash
● Nearly 80% of trash came from land-based activities
● Marine animals at at high risk from the trash
○ Some mistake plastics for food
○ Others can get stuck in fishing nets and never get back out
● Most of the trash is not biodegradable
○ Breaks into smaller and smaller pieces rather than dissolve

8. Animals Being Harmed by Poor Recycling
Decisions
It only takes one plastic bag
not being properly disposed
of to kill an innocent animal.
Humans think, “Oh what’s the
big deal?” when it comes to
recycling. Humans are often
times the downfall to animal’s
lives.

9. Animals Continued… Marine Life
An otter struggling to help a nearby
suffocating family member.
Animals many times mistake the
garbage for food...

10. Positives of Recycling
● Recycling is very beneficial to not only humans and animals, but the world we
live in.
● By recycling, it keeps large amounts of garbage out of landfills which at times
can leak into many ponds, streams, lakes, etc.
● In addition, the air humans breathe will be much cleaner and safer.

11. Call to Action
Do you think it’s fair for the environment and its animals to be treated in such an
inhumane way? If so, enjoy destroying your own planet. But if not, start
contributing in any way you can to solve this issue. Start recycling, buying reusable
goods, and cutting down on unnecessary waste. If everyone participates in some
fashion, there will be a positive outcome. It’s never too late to make a change for
the better.

12. Works Cited
Http://science.howstuffworks.com/trash
https://www.bc.edu/offices/sustainability/what-you-can-do/know-facts.html
http://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
http://midcityscrap.com/2012/08/7-reasons-why-you-should-recycle/