E-WASTE

Due to planned obsolescence and fast growing technology, Americans scrap about 400 million units per year of consumer electronics. The EPA estimates that only 25% of electronics are recycled. Because E-waste contains toxic chemicals as well as valuable metals, its disposal is particularly problematic. Some "recyclers" ship e-waste overseas where it is dismantled under horrific conditions. You can be part of the solution by finding certified recyclers and rejecting the idea of planned obsolescence. Repair and upgrade technology before discarding and buying new. Avoid buying from manufactures that offer cheap short lived products that are difficult to repair.

Certified Electronics Recyclers

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CORKS

Even though corks are environmentally friendly, it takes a long time for them to be decomposed and to renew. This is why many countries have turned to recycling them instead of simply throwing them out. Plastic corks used to be used as well, but when this problem arose, natural corks began to be used for about 80% of the 20 billion bottles of wine produced each year.

PLASTIC BOTTLE CAPS

Did you know that bottle caps have to be recycled separately from plastic bottles? They're made from #5 plastic, while the rest of the bottle is usually #1 or #2. This results in the two different plastics having different melting points, and more often than not, these bottle caps end up discarded. Over the last thirty years, over 20 million bottle caps were discovered during beach cleanups. These small plastics pose a huge threat to the wildlife, and it's imperative we find ways to resolve this. You can donate bottle caps to your local Whole Foods participating in Gimme 5.

PLASTIC

- Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the Earth 4 times
- Americans throw away 35 billon plastic bottles every year
- Only about 25% of the plastic produced in the U.S. is recycled
- More than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans each year
- Plastic bags take 20 years to decompose in the ocean , plastic bottles take 450 years and 600 years for fishing lines
-Plastic kills 1,000,00 sea creatures a year
-Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles a year

BRITA FILTERS ARE AN ITEM MOST PEOPLE DON'T THINK TO RECYCLE.

-textile waste (shoes and clothing) account for about 5% of the solid waste stream

-25 billion pounds of textile waste ends up in land fills each year

-it is estimated that 300 million pairs of shoes are thrown away each year

-the average shoe can take any where from 25-40 years to decompose

shoes are an item that not many think about to recycle but there are many options in terms of recycling shoes the Nike reuse a shoe program allows one to bring in shoes to a Nike store for them to be turned in to courts for sports. The Soles4souls program also allows for a person to ship shoes to be donated and used again by people in need.

https://soles4souls.org/get-involved/give-shoes/

https://www.nike.com/help/a/recycle-shoes

Shoes

TREES, WOOD, AND PAPER RECYCLING

Each ton of recycled paper can save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, and 7000 gallons of water
Recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times would save 75,000 trees
The amount of wood and paper thrown away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years
The average American uses 7 trees a year in paper, wood, and other products made from trees. This amounts to 2,000,000,000 trees per year
Approx. 1 billion trees’ worth of paper is thrown away every year
With all the paper wasted each year, a 12 foot high wall of paper could be built from New York to Los Angeles.
Every tree produces enough oxygen for 3 people to breathe