Recycling in Howard County By: Elder Rodriguez

Argument Only 42.71% of people in Howard County recycle (Maryland, the Department of the Envionment). This rate is much too low. The people of Howard County need to recycle more. Photo courtesy of: monsite.com/rubrique,what-not-recycling- will-do, html

So What? If people do not recyle our county, state, country, and world environment can be negatively effected. Photo courtesy of:

Consequences of Not Recycling  Landfills are running out of space, so if we do not recycle, we could be surrounded by our own waste (Keep America Beautiful).  If paper is not recycled, then we could lose 850 million more trees a year (Keep America Beautiful).  There are already large "islands" of trash floating throughout the oceans. Currents collect it from around the world and it will continue to grow. Most of this trash is plastic which will not break down (Keep America Beautiful).  Americans use over 13 million tons of glass products a year, but only about 25% is recycled. That means almost 10 million tons are in landfills, waterways and the wilderness. Glass takes thousands of years to biodegrade (Keep America Beautiful). Photo courtesy of: /Household-rubbish-piled- military-bases-landfill-sites-run- space.html

Paper You Can Recycle (Department Of Public Works)  Drink boxes  Milk cartons  Newspapers  White or colored paper  Food and snack boxes  Hard and soft cover books  Greeting cards  Non-foil gift wrap  Catalogs and magazines  Junk mail  Phone books  Shredded paper  Three ring binders  Cardboard boxes Photo courtesy of: hp?option=com_content&view=articl e&id=1108:newspaper-circulation- plummets-more-than-10-in-only-6- months&catid=47:us- world&Itemid=53

Plastic You Can Recycle (Department Of Public Works)  Bottles  Tubs  Jars  Trays  Disposable cups  Plates  Flower pots  Toys  Buckets  Plastic grocery bags Photo courtesy of: /chris_jordan_plastic_bottles_2.html

Metal You Can Recycle (Department Of Public Works)  Aluminum and steel cans  Empty aerosol cans  Aluminum foil  Pie and cake pans Photo courtesy of: Can_Help/Sponsor_a_Presentation/Rec ycling_the_Rainforest.html

Glass You Can Recycle (Department Of Public Works)  Any color glass  Bottles  Jars Photo courtesy of: _06_01_archive.html

Howard County Recycling Efforts  In Howard County, they decided to give out over 71,000 recycling bins to the residents (Simmonsen, 2008).  The size of your home dictates the size of the bin you received (Simmonse, 2008).  Single family homes received a 65-gallon wheeled cart, townhomes with a garage got a 35 gallon bin, and townhomes without a garage recieved an 18 gallon bin (Simmonse, 2008).  All recycalabes can be put into one bin, this is called “single-stream recycling” (Simmonse, 2008). Photo courtesy of: / /supplement_your_recycling_in _howard.html?cat=57

Howard County Recycling on a Social Network  County-Recycling/ County-Recycling/  Become a fan on Facebook! Photo courtesy of: content/uploads/2011/02/facebook_l ogo.png

Room For Improvement  After 1 year of single stream recycling efforts in Howard County residences the recycling rate was 42.71% (Maryland, the Department of the Envionment)  They have not done another evaluation of recycling rates since.  This is a huge improvement from the 90’s where Howard County’s recycling rate was only 18%, putting them behind all of the other suburban coutnies in Maryland (Nelson, 1993)  Despite this, there is still room for improvement. The recycling rate could and should be higher.

Works Cited  "Howard County Department of Public Works: Recycling, Yardwaste." HCG Home Page: Welcome Message. Web. 19 May  Kab.org. Keep America Beautiful Inc. Web. 11 May  Nelson, Erik. "20% Goal near for Recycling But County Lags behind Others - Baltimore Sun." The Baltimore Sun. 05 Nov Web. 11 May

Works Cited (cont.)  Simmonsen, Derek. "County Pushes Recycling with Bins for Every House." Explore Howard. Howard County Times, 04 Sept Web. 11 May  "State, County, and City Recycling Rates." Maryland Department of the Environment. Web. 11 May