Recycling

aluminum pull tabs

I have a friend from college whom I noticed was always keeping the aluminum pull tabs of the softdrink cans she’s drinking. I asked her once why she was doing that and she answered that the pull-tabs are made into wheel chairs. I asked her if the wheel chairs can support the weight of a person if they are made of Coke pull-tabs. I forgot her answer.

I remember that incident with my friend today because of the recycling facts about aluminum that I was researching. I didn’t know that the Coke pull-tabs are not actually glued together to make wheel chairs. They are instead melted and recycled. I really didn’t know that all things that are made from aluminum can be recycled.

This information is amazing. How come I didn’t know that? I didn’t know that softdrink cans can be recycled for indefinite number of times and the quality will not decrease. But even so, why do companies of softdrinks still manufacture new beverage cans? Why don’t they just recycle them all?

It’s very easy to say but here in the Philippines where college graduates like me who don’t know that aluminum cans are recyclable, it can be difficult to put into action. How can we act if we didn’t know we had to act on it? We really need more people to educate us on greening. But I think there are a lot of Filipinos who have already initiated aluminum recycling programs in the country. One is the program being supported by my friend that makes wheel chairs out of the aluminum pull tabs of softdrink cans.

I didn’t know that we can make not only wheel chairs but also cookware, bicycles, cars and even airplanes (whattt!!!) from recycled aluminums. Recycling just ONE aluminum can can save energy which can power a television for 3 hours (what!!!). If we recycle all the aluminum cans of the softdrinks that we consume, the energy saved can power the fluorescent bulbs of millions of homes every year. These recycling facts are just astounding.

I wonder if there are other initiatives in the Philippines that promote the recycling of aluminum cans and other aluminum products. If I had known this, I would’ve collected all the aluminum cans that I, my family and friends have been drinking. If I had started collecting aluminum cans since college, I would’ve already made hundreds of elders and disabled people in my country happy.

It’s just so amazing how one little thing (collecting aluminum cans and recycling) can make a big difference. It’s just amazing. But amazement is just the start. What can I do about it? What can we do about it? Where do we go if we have collected all those aluminum cans? Where are the recycling centers of aluminum cans in the Philippines?

Questions can start a revolution. Green revolution I mean.

Why is Recycling Important?

why is recycling important

Even if going green is the path most people are going to today, there are still others who ask, “Why is recycling important?” They say that the earth is very big and it can take care of all our wastes, so why do we have to recycle? They say that it’s a waste of time to separate wastes. The only thing that is important is that the garbage gets out of their homes and then the government can deal with the garbage problem.

Recycling is important because sooner or later the garbage that you threw away will return back to you in the form of contaminated underground water, floods, high cost of fuel and risks to your health.

Recycling is done to reduce the amount of waste in our landfills. These landfills emit chemicals that leak into our water systems underground. Recycling will help us prevent having toxic water coming out of our shower or our faucets.

Lands that used to be forests are converted into landfills because we throw out a lot of garbage. The trees that prevent flash floods are being cut down to accommodate our garbage. Every year hundreds of thousands of people are affected by flash floods all over the world. We can reduce that number by reducing our waste by recycling.

If we don’t recycle and put recyclable garbage to the landfills, the factories will use up fuel to manufacture new stuff. We know the law of supply and demand—as demand increases, the supply and price increases. If we recycle, we will reduce our national demand for fuel and this will help keep the fuel costs down.

The garbage may be out of our house but they can still pose serious bad effects to our health. The garbage in the landfills increases the release of toxic gases into the air that we breathe. If we recycle and reduce our waste, we will have less harmful chemicals in our air.

One of the simples and most important in our effort to go green is recycling. Recycling is important because it reduce the wastes that go to our landfills. Reduced waste means less floods and less pollution. If we recycle stuff, we conserve energy by not having to manufacture new stuff and we help reduce the cost of our fuels. Why is recycling important? Recycling is important because it can help ensure our survival in this planet.

Recycling Facts about Aluminum

Why is Recycling Important?

Recent Posts

Philippines Green Movement

Search