Do We Care Enough about Recycling?

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

By Nagasiri Poluri

​To know how much the public is valuing recycling, I have researched in a prime area in Lisle for 1 hour. I researched the approximate number of beverage drink cups thrown in 1 hour. The data I have collected is 40 items. Though few stores use paper cups, some people are not recycling right, i.e they are throwing in incorrect garbage instead of the recycle dustbin. While some stores are still using plastic cups which are very harmful to nature. If people don't recycle right in this case using the wrong dustbins, the recycling machinery will be damaged and can cause delays. When they get mixed up, the value of the things that were sorted correctly reduces. In order to prevent it, using the right dustbins will help everyone to a great extent.

Some other stores were using plastic cups instead of paper cups. Though plastic cups are recyclable, they are not recyclable quickly and are a burden to mother nature. They take years to decompose, where their toxic chemicals disproportionately harm people, environment and the wildlife too!
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The straws used are also making a huge impact on the environment, and living beings. The paper straws are acceptable, but plastic straws, like plastic cups take an  eternity to decompose. They also sometimes are dangerous to aquatic life, because when they are not thrown appropriately, they get stuck in the wildlife’s noses and eventually die. There were thousands of cases where many turtles in the ocean died due to the plastic straws stuck in their nostrils. 
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To avoid all this tragedy, I humbly request everyone to be responsible and recycle right.