There are a million reasons to recycle. Recycling can save money, increase efficiency and help save the environment. If you are an environmentalist, you already know about recycling, and how responsible people recycle whenever they can. People unfamiliar with recycling should know that recycled products save money. Recycling means producers can skip a step of production and pass the savings onto consumers.

Recycling is good for the Earth!!

As California marks twenty years of the biggest bottle and can recycling program in the country, consumers have an even greater incentive to recycle.  Starting on January 1, 2007, residents will get more cash back for their aluminum, glass and plastic beverage containers.  Assembly Bill 3056, signed by the Governor on September 30, 2006 raises the amount of California Refund Value (CRV) consumers receive at recycling centers to a nickel for containers less than 24 ounces and a dime for containers 24 ounces and larger.

Plastics play an important part in everyday life, and many of the plastics we use are recyclable. Plastic bottles are commonly recycled in communities across the U.S. Plastic bags are widely recycled at grocery stores and in some municipal drop-off centers, and a growing number of communities are recycling wide-mouth containers. Americans are currently recycling about 4 billion pounds of plastics annually - but we can do better. Plastics are a valuable resource that can be made into everything from carpet, clothing and building materials to new bottles, bags and containers.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 33 percent of the municipal solid waste stream (MSW) is made up of paper and paperboard products. Paper makes up the largest portion of the municipal waste stream and is also one of the most recovered materials.
If measured by weight, more paper is recovered for recycling than all glass, plastic and aluminum combined. Not yet satisfied, the American Forest & Paper Association has set a goal of 60 percent recovery by the year 2012. It will take your help to get there.

Electronics can contain lead, chromium, cadmium, mercury, beryllium, nickel, zinc and brominated flame retardants. Properly reusing or recycling electronics prevents these heavy metals and other toxic materials from potentially hurting our health.
Recycling recovers valuable materials (precious and other metals, plastics, and glass) from old electronics that can be used to make new products. As a result, we reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce pollution, save energy, extend the life of landfills, and save resources by extracting fewer raw materials from the earth.