I’ve had a banner week, I’ve got to admit it. First, I read that we’ve recycled more garbage than thrown into landfills for the first time ever in this country. Go, U.S.A! According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Americans generated 1.6 million fewer tons of garbage in 2005 than in 2004 and one-third of it was recycled. That’s awesome considering Americans only recycled 10 percent of waste in 1980. The EPA’s goal is to increase recycling to 35 percent next year and they’re banking it’s just a question of educating the public. The target areas for increased recycling are computers and electronics. Your local waste authority can tell you how you can dispose of them properly.
Then I get the news that Al Gore has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his work to educate the world on the impact of global warming. The fact that he is sharing it with the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) just strengthens the message—this is a global issue, one that impacts people, populations, and habitats worldwide. This is fantastic! Now, if we can just keep up the forward momentum, house by house, community by community, we can really start to turn the tide on our waste management practices and local impacts on global warming. Hey, our recycling efforts in ’05 already amounted to our saving the equivalent of 11 billion gallons of gasoline. Now that’s what I call making an impact.
Credit: USAweekend.com
