April is National Recycling Month

By Jeff Krueger

Did you know that April is National Recycling Month?  National Recycling Month was created in 1989 by President George Bush.  The purpose was to reform America’s solid waste management.  At the time, the United States produced 160 million tons of solid waste each year as available landfill space became increasingly scarce.

On average, Americans are producing more that 200 million tons of garbage each year.  Per person, this averages out to over four pounds of trash every day and about 1.5 tons of solid waste per year.  Over 75% of this waste is recyclable but only about 30% of it is recycled.

With spring cleaning in full swing and Earth Day on April 22, is there a more perfect time for National Recycling Month?

The benefits of recycling solid wastes:  1. Helps preserve our limited landfill space;  2. Reduces the need to extract resources from their natural environment; 3. Prevents the pollution of such removable efforts; and 4. Saves energy and provides a less expensive alternative to landfills and incinerations. 

See complete article in this week's issue of the Springfield Advance-Press.