Putting Our Waste Into Perspective

Waste By The Numbers

We all know that recycling is good for the environment and an easy way to live a green life.

This is the time of year for holiday and New Years Eve parties. When cleaning up, it might seem easier to just discard of all the trash.  Sorting through recyclables doesn't matter all the time, right? It's fine to take just a few days off?

When committing to a green lifestyle, it is important to take every opportunity you can to promote sustainability. Taking one day off of recycling might seem like not a big deal, but in the long-run, the effects can be devastating to our natural resources.

Consider these figures:

Did you know that many items that CAN be recycled make the the top 10 list of items most likely to be thrown in the regular trash or even just discarded on the ground and later found in our oceans?

Plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans, and paper bags can all be recycled!

When improperly discarded, these products make their way into one of our most precious resources: our waterways. Beforehand, they sink into our soil and pollute the ground full of chemicals.

And if you think that throwing a plastic bag on the ground really doesn't do much damage, consider this graphic:

A plastic grocery bag can last at least 10 years in the open, just degrading into the ground. A tin can can last 50 years! Plastic beverage holders that once contained your soda can last 400 years in the water!

This holiday season, still commit to your green lifestyle.  Every time you recycle, you are lessening the repercussions of disposing these products improperly.

  

Grady Management, Inc. was founded in 1965 and continues to provide full service residential, commercial and consulting real estate firm in the greater Washington and Baltimore metropolitan area. Learn more about Grady Management on our website or Facebook page.