Recycling is one of the easiest things we can do to keep our planet beautiful. It’s as simple as throwing a bottle into the blue bin instead of the trash bin. But it’s amazing how many people simply don’t do it. I’ve actually had people tell me it’s just too much of a bother. Really?

Recycling Isn’t Difficult

Recycling is not rocket science. It’s not something that’s hard to do. Just set a recycling bin next to the garbage bin and when it comes time to throw something away, if it can be recycled, stick it in the recycling bin instead. It seems like a very small effort to expend. Especially if it means it’ll keep something out of a landfill.

It’s a bit ironic actually, that when there is talk of a landfill coming to a particular neighborhood, often times the ones who are fastest to complain and shout the loudest are the ones who don’t even recycle. Naturally few people enjoy having a landfill in their backyard. There’s the unsightly appearance, the noise made by the machines creating the landfill, the bad smell and the prospect of lowering property value, not to mention the possibility of destroying the drinking water supply. However, for those who don’t recycle, do they really even have the right to complain?

All That Trash Has To Go Somewhere

A landfill is, in its simplest explanation, a hole in the ground filled with bags and bags of trash. Where do these bag come from? From the all the things that people throw away. According to the EPA, Americans alone created 251 million tons of trash in 2006. That’s a lot of bags of trash. People who recycle generally have fewer trash bags than those who don’t. As such, isn’t it a bit hypocritical for people who can’t be bothered to recycle, to complain about a landfill in their back yard, when they’re the ones adding the most to that very landfill?

Recycling gets easier every day. Many places that take garbage bags also take recyclables, conveniently labeled as paper, plastic and glass. Different places take different types of plastic, which are readily identifiable by the numbers on the bottoms of the containers. (It may require a call to the local recycling center to find out what numbers they will take).

In cities, recyclables can be by left by the road to be picked up like garbage. Most people are familiar with the recycling centers in grocery stores that give back a nickle for bottle returns. In fact, some states are even raising the cent return for bottle deposits to encourage recycling of these items.

No Excuses

There is really no excuse for not recycling. And there’s certainly no point in people complaining about the inevitable garbage landfills if they refuse to recycle. Simply put, if there’s a garbage dump coming to their neighborhood and they don’t like it, they should consider how much they’re contributing to it before they start moaning about it.

Nothing can ever really be “thrown away” because the trash has to go somewhere eventually. But every little thing recycled is one less piece of trash. Bottom line is, if people don’t recycle now, then they shouldn’t complain later. Because the easiest way to prevent a landfill is to stop creating trash to fill up a landfill. And the easiest way to do that, is to recycle everything you can. 🌎

By Amber Reifsteck, The Woodland Elf

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