What's your Green Contribution?

We’re all used to hearing the saying, “Every little bit helps,” and it certainly does, but do you know how much exactly? I mean, does it really matter whether or not you throw the one can of soda you drink a day in the trash? Well allow me to hit you with some knowledge.  That can will take 80 to 100 years to decompose.  That seems like a pretty long time to me, especially since 36 billion of them were landfilled last year. Recycling just one can conserve enough energy to run a television for three hours. That’s just a drop in the bucket compared to a glass bottle which takes 1,000,000 years to decompose. Literally, a million years! To put that into perspective, the Great Pyramids were built in 2,900 BC. That’s less than 5,000 years ago.

Americans throw away 4.6 pounds of trash every day, more than any other country,  1.5 pounds of which is recyclable materials. If you work in an office environment, that number is probably much higher. Unfortunately, paper and cardboard make up a staggering 73% of materials in the landfill.

So whether it’s a soda can, the newspaper or the empty toilet paper roll, reconsider putting it aside until you can recycle it. It might be a hassle, but those couple sodas a week translates to 156 cans a year, all of which will outlive us in a landfill. So whatever your contribution may be, just remember, every little bit helps.

Not sure where you can recycle near you? Log onto http://earth911.com/ for more information.