By: Annaliese White
Look around the DH, and you will notice that the majority of the drinks offered are in plastic bottles. I am just as guilty as the next person, as I often raid the DH and grab numerous bottles of apple juice, chocolate milk, and gatorade. Although I am usually conscious enough to recycle them, not all people think before they throw away their plastic bottles. Next time before you go to throw away a plastic bottle, realize this: it takes over 400 years for that plastic bottle to break down in a landfill. That means that the plastic bottle in your hand, if you decided to throw it in the trash instead of recycling it, would lay in a landfill for over 400 years. Think of all those plastic bottles just taking up space and polluting the environment! In fact, a recent statistic in National Geographic estimates that only about 9% of all plastic produced ends up being recycled. This means that nearly 91% of plastic is left to fill up landfills. Instead of getting the drinks in the plastic bottles at the DH, try and use a reusable water bottle. However, if you do end up using a plastic bottle, remember the right way to recycle it, as some places may not accept plastic that is not recycled correctly.
Remember these steps when you go to recycle a plastic bottle:
- Empty out the bottle of any excess liquids and rinse it out
- Check with your local county to see if they allow the caps to be recycled with the bottle. (In Greenville you are allowed to leave the lid on recyclable plastics)
- Check the number of Plastic on your bottle, 1 & 2 are recycled in Greenville. Although Greenville does accept 1-7 plastics, 3-7 once reaching the processing plant are usually sent to the landfills.
- If you can, try and break down the bottle to reduce space in the recycling bin!
Although recycling might seem like a small choice, the outcomes of that choice hold a great importance. From that recycled plastic, items such as t-shirts, carpet, sleeping bags, pens, notebooks, and a lot more can be made from recycled material instead of using new raw materials! In fact, using the recycled plastic instead of new materials saves 66% of the energy that would have been used if the product were made from all new materials. Instead of laying in a landfill for centuries, wouldn’t you want that plastic bottle to continue on and have a new purpose?
Sources:
“How to Recycle Plastic Bottles & Jugs.” Earth 911, 13 June 2019, earth911.com/recycling-guide/how-to-recycle-plastic-jugs-bottles/.
LaFleur, Elizabeth. “Recycling in Greenville: You’re Doing It Wrong. Here’s How to Do It Right.” The Greenville News, 29 Aug. 2019, www.greenvilleonline.com/story/news/2019/08/26/recycling-greenville-sc-stop-doing-wrong-do-right-heres-how/1931140001/.
Parker, Laura. “A Whopping 91 Percent of Plastic Isn’t Recycled.” National Geographic Society, 1 July 2019, www.nationalgeographic.org/article/whopping-91-percent-plastic-isnt-recycled/.
“Solid Waste, Learn about Recyclables .” Www.GreenvilleCounty.org, Greenville County, www.greenvillecounty.org/solidwaste/LearnAboutRecycling.aspx.