Would you like to help to reduce the grip that foreign nations and terrorists have on us? It's simple and it's free (mostly free). Recycle. That's it. Recycle.

Every recycling action we take reduces the need for purchasing foreign energy sources and foreign raw materials. The less we buy from abroad, the less dependency we have on foreign countries. The less dependency we have from far away places, the less vulnerable we are to the malicious actions of terrorists - and the actions of foreign nations. (Can you say 'oil embargo'?)

Recycling is important. Every day the majority of Americans make decisions about recycling - and reusing - materials. That can goes into the recycle bin; those newspapers go to the Boy Scouts shed in the parking lot at the grocery store; scrap office paper goes to a box in the lunchroom, and so on. That's good, but we as individuals and as a nation need to do much more.

So... in this recycling-conscious world, which material is most likely to be recycled? Paper? Plastic? Pop cans?

Steel is the material that, on the industrial scale, has been recycled for the longest time. In the USA, 4 times as much steel (by weight) is recycled as is the combined weight of aluminum and plastic. 71% of steel taken out of use - for example, wrecked cars - is recycled to make 'new' steel. More 'new' steel is produced from recycled steel than is produced from iron ore. Reason #1: cost. It's less expensive to re-use scrap steel than it is to process ore into iron, and then iron into steel. [ Main source of the above tidbits: National Geographic Films' "The Science of Steel." ]

Need to keep warm? Goose down had long been the the 'gold standard' for insulation in clothing (winter jackets,etc). Nowadays the geese can keep their feathers. There is a material for insulation that beats down every which way. It's lighter, has (pound-for-pound) better insulating qualities, isn't affected by getting wet, and costs less. The material: recycled plastic milk jugs.

Aluminum recycling has been done on a wide scale for for more than a generation. For 35 years or more many states have imposed a "deposit" fee on pop cans. The consumer pays 5 or 10 cents extra per can when purchasing canned goods. Then stores and recycling centers pay that same 5 or 10 cents per can to whomever 'returns' the can. It's a good thing, too. It costs the aluminum smelter 90% less to make 'new' aluminum from recycled post-consumer waste (pop cans) than to use aluminum ore. Besides the cost, there are at least 3 more advantages to recycling aluminum goods:

• National security. That's right, national security. Aluminum is vital to our way of life, and to our national defense, yet nearly 100% of aluminum ore is imported from outside the USA. If we don't recycle aluminum, and therefore use imported ore, foreign nations and terrorists can cripple parts of our economy (and defense) by cutting off the supply of bauxite (aluminum ore).
  
• Trash dumps. Our solid post-consumer waste (the stuff we throw away) has to go somewhere. The usual is the 'landfill' - the 'dump.' Landfills are, well, filling up. In my county, the solid waste disposal organization no longer uses a local landfill, because it is, well, full. The county collects trash, puts it in trucks, and hauls it to a larger collection facility a long distance from here - at great expense in labor AND in precious. ever-scarcer fuel. That larger 'dump' loads our trash onto railways, where a train hauls it to another state - and pays to dump it there. We're not alone in this. New York City and its environs haul much of their trash hundreds of miles by barge. My point: if we recycled more stuff, then less stuff would be hauled away and buried - wasting money, fuel, and land.
  
• Energy. That 90% less cost mentioned above: a lot of that expense saving is in the form of less energy - electricity - consumed. Less electricity used at the aluminum smelter means more electricity available for other purposes, meaning lower costs to the consumer, and less fuel (coal, natural gas, and petroleum) that has to be bought and transported from far away places. Besides, it's no secret that energy supplies have become an issue of national security.

Everything mentioned above for aluminum applies to

• glass bottles for beverages. The same process - charging 'deposit' fees for pop bottles and beer bottles - occurs in many states.
  
• steel, paper, plastic, and many more recyclable materials
  

Recycling is a win-win-win-win-win proposition for America and Americans. Of course, foreign nations and terrorists would prefer that we don't recycle. No doubt they wish I wouldn't write persuasive articles about the topic. Tough.

Find out more at Recycle America! and at your local recycling center.

Labels: alternative energy, aluminum, coal, electricity, glass, milk jugs, national security, natural gas, paper, recycle, steel, terrorists