It’s the least wasteful time of the year! Well, only if everyone in the whole wide world recycles.
Held annually on March 18th, the day aims to encourage awareness of the “rapid pace at which our natural resources are being used” through the foundation’s #RecyclingHeroes competition, blog, and media.
We understand the six natural resources that are fundamental for our existence - oil, coal, natural gas, sand, metals, and stone, but as the environmental movement expands day by day, there seems to be the seventh resource. Recycling. The difference that defines the border between the other six primary sources and recycling is the limit of its quantity. For the six resources, the more we deprive of them, the more it runs out. We are utilizing these resources without any thought of replacing them as a solution and to quote the foundation, ‘Once they are gone, they are gone forever.’ However, like how Mother Earth gave us life, recycling gives us a solution. It can be the Seventh Resource. It can be used again and again, without depleting.
“That’s why we must think again about what we throw away - seeing not waste, but opportunity.”
The last decade has only escalated into a climate emergency, the rise in melting ice caps and warm temperatures, and a heavier climate crisis. As a result, climate change is already becoming a harsh, daily reality to groups like the MAPA (Most Affected People & Areas) and the minorities. With issues like the Global Trash Crisis, we can understand that the people least responsible for the climate crisis will most likely be the one who has to suffer the consequences.
And so, in 2018, meant to be held annually on every March 18th, there came Global Recycling Day. With the purpose of uniting the world together to put our planet first, the day aims to ‘recognize and celebrate the importance recycling plays in preserving our precious primary resources and securing the future of our planet.’ The mission is simple, with there being two aims. Firstly, the day is to inform world leaders that an integrated approach to recycling requires immediate attention, and to not dismiss it as anything less than a global issue. Secondly, to ask the people that when it comes to resources and the goods around us, ‘to think resource, not waste.’
So, on this day, let’s explore the benefits of recycling presented by the Global Recycling Foundation:
→ Recyclables (our Seventh Resource) help combat climate change by saving over 700 million tonnes of carbon emissions.
→ Every year, recyclables help to balance carbon emissions produced by the aviation industry.
→ Processing recyclables can hire 1.6 million people worldwide alone, creating many job opportunities.
→ In the next 10 years, the global GDP is expected to exceed 400 million dollars from the yearly contribution of the recycling industry.
→ Annually, 20 million dollars is invested into creating jobs in the recycling industry.
→ In order to conserve our planet’s resources, the Seventh Resource can help provide 40% of our raw material needs.
As it is expected to be the least wasteful time of the year, let’s try to contribute to the recycling movement, shall we? Through small actions like recycling old items into art or reducing your waste, it is still an impactful act for Mother Earth. Reading this article to the end is already considered an act as it shows that you care and you are already making yourself aware. It’s a small seed to start with.
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