The Significance of Recycling

This piece of work is one of my students’ essay writing tasks. I asked for their permission to publish their writings on this blog. Their essays consist of various themes and topics. Please enjoy.

 

By Natalia Wongso

Earth’s population has been growing exponentially for the past decades. More and more people inhabit the Earth. More people means more waste produced. According to a research done by the Center for Sustainability and Commerce, one person produces approximately 1.2 kilograms of waste a day. If this situation continues and there is no measure taken to treat it, soon enough waste ratios to human will be higher. For several years coming, recycling programs have been in talks. Recycling is the act of processing used materials (waste) into new, useful products. Recycling is considered central in fighting this problem with waste.

There are actually many recycling alternatives available, but most people are not aware of them, or they may have known about those alternatives but are indifferent enough to overlook them. People may not be well informed about this, but the impacts of not recycling are a pressing issue, one of them being the soil contamination. Some materials cannot be completely decomposed by themselves, and thus leave behind certain chemical substances that contaminate the soil. Contaminated soil is problematic as it affects things around it, such as plants which grow on it, animals that feed on said plants, even human who consume these plants and/or animals. Another impact is air pollution. Untreated waste could emit dangerous substances to the air along with unpleasant odour, which can cause respiratory problem if inhaled. However, among all those impacts, greenhouse effect is probably the most dangerous one, as it causes the global warming.

Other than to avoid problems related to untreated waste, the act of recycling also comes with various incentives. A well-managed recycling program, for example, needs people to work on it and therefore, it creates job. Buying and using products made from recycled materials are also economically advantageous because they are cheaper. If recycled materials are more widely available and used, the use of raw materials can be reduced significantly. By doing so, human can conserve natural resources. The decrease on usage of raw materials also helps with energy saving because it takes a huge amount of energy to process raw materials.

Problem regarding waste and the impacts of not treating it are urgent matters and they need immediate attention. A lot of people are still oblivious of it. Therefore, a structured recycling program needs to be implemented by the government of each country at the soonest possible. Human race is racing with time in this matter. Information regarding waste, recycling programs, and their importance ought to be made known to all citizens so that we can all deal with it together as one.