America Celebrates Recycling Today

Today is the 12th annual American Recycles Day, encouraging people to throw less trash into landfills in an attempt to reuse more of the acceptable recyclables.

America Recycles Day was first celebrated in 1997 by the nonprofit group, Keep America Beautiful. The group helps to commemorate the initiative of preserving our environment by supporting more than 2,000 grass roots events across the country that include recycling drives of electronics, paper and other goods, according to a USA Today article.

 According to the article, recycling has increased dramatically in the United States from 7.7% of the total waste stream in 1960 to 17% in 1990 and about 33% this year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But there is so much more that can still be done.

"Recycling is the easiest thing that any individual can do to reduce his or her carbon footprint, save energy and protect natural resources," said Matthew M. McKenna, president and CEO of Keep America Beautiful.

Recycling is an easy yet effective fix to helping preserve our environment one step at a time. In honor of the day, USA Today offered their readers six additional steps beyond just separating your trash into the proper containers. They include: buying recycled products, purchasing durable, long lasting goods and reusing items by repairing them, donating them to charity or selling them to reduce waste. They also suggest, to use products more than once when possible, reducing packaging by buying in bulk and by composting (another form of recycling).

So if you don’t already make it a habit, next time you go to dispose of a plastic or glass bottle, reconsider that the receptacle you throw it in has more influence than just the bucket you put it in, but rather an effect on the future of our environment.

Stefanie Mosca is a Web editor for TMCnet. Previously she worked as a freelance copy editor for Digital Surgeons LLC. She holds a master's degree in journalism from Quinnipiac University and a bachelor's degree in communication from the University of New Haven. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Stefanie Mosca