Only 21% of residential recyclable materials are properly disposed.
Last year 79% of these materials were not recycled, according to a report by The Recycling Partnership, an independent organization that is focused on improving the current recycling system.
According to the report, around 40% of households don’t recycle. Not every community has access to recycling, but this is not the case in Los Angeles.
According to L.A. Sanitation, Los Angeles has the largest curbside recycling program in the country. Their website also contains a detailed list of items that can be put in the blue, curbside bins.
Commonly used packaging, such as cardboard boxes or plastic mailing bags, will often have one of four labels. These labels usually have the website How2Recycle.info next to them. Most of the labels tell consumers what is commonly recyclable, what needs to be dropped off in stores, what needs to be checked locally and what is not yet able to be recycled.
Further information can be found via the How2Recycle.info website, including local store drop-off locations.
A lack of public trust can also lead to a decrease in recycling. If people don’t think that their bottles or plastics are being recycled, they are less likely to continue the practice.
Pierce College could help increase this trust by holding various workshops. These could include discussions about different types of plastics, glasses or papers, and how they are/can be recycled. Other workshops could demonstrate how to reuse or repair common items instead of disposing of them.
These repair workshops could help increase the lifespan of certain items, including clothing. This could lower the chance that worn-out clothes get thrown in a landfill, instead giving a second life to them. By reusing clothes, students could lower their unnecessary consumption of mass produced clothing items.
Pierce could also increase the amount of recycling bins around campus. To make it easier for students and staff, the bins can have a simplified guide printed on them as to what goes in them, such as Cal State Northridge does.
Recycling is key to helping the environment, so Pierce should do more to educate about its benefits.
