Currently, about 25% of the garbage in the U.S. is recycled, but experts estimate that 65% of our garbage could be recycled. Recycling options vary by city or county, but most areas collect office paper, cardboard, magazines, newspaper, aluminum, plastics, glass (colored or clear), steel, yard trimmings, tires, batteries, and building materials.
Use this chart to get a better idea of what and why you should recycle. Then check out Earth 911 to find out where to send your recyclables. For a printable copy you can post on the fridge, click on Why Recycle?
What |
Why |
Where |
|
|
What It Makes |
What It Saves |
|
Aluminum |
New aluminum cans |
Uses 95% less energy to make a can from recycled materials than from virgin ore |
|
#1 PET Plastic (Bottles for soft drinks, water, juice, liquor, cough syrup, tennis balls and cleaning products) |
New plastic containers, sweaters, shoes, luggage, upholstery, and carpeting, fiberfill for sleeping bags and coats, and fabric for T-shirts and tote bags. |
Manufacturing bottled water uses over 1.5 million barrels of oil per year. In one year, that’s enough oil to fuel 100,000 cars |
|
#2 HDPE Plastics (milk and laundry detergent bottles) |
New bottles or plastic pipe. |
47% of all plastic bottles used in the U.S. are HDPE |
|
Newspaper |
Newspaper |
If all our newspaper were made from recycled paper, we could save about 250,000,000 trees each year! |
|
Corrugated Cardboard |
Chipboard, boxboard (i.e., cereal boxes), paper towels, tissues, and printing paper |
Uses about 75% less energy to make cardboard from recycled materials than from virgin pulp. |
|
Steel Cans |
New steel cans |
If we recycled all of our steel cans we would save 144 kilowatt hours of electricity, 63 pounds of coal, 112 pounds of iron, and 5.4 pounds of limestone. |
|
Glass |
New glass jars and bottles and fiberglass insulation.
|
Using recycled glass to make new glass requires 40% less energy than making it from virgin materials. |
|
Paper |
New paper, molded packaging, compost and kitty litter. |
Paper products make up about 35% of the trash in the U.S. (the largest single sector of waste.) |
|
Stop Catalogs with the Click of a Mouse
Reuse and Recycle Your Old Magazines
Serve Up Some Eco-Friendly Pizza
E-Cycling: The Green Parent’s Guide to Disposing of Electronic Gadgets
Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle Toilet Paper and Paper Towel Tubes
Where To Donate Your Old Stuff
Test Your Trash Can I.Q.
Recycling 101