Have you ever wondered why we recycle in the first place? Is recycling really that important?

Well actually, it is! I think that recycling is one of the greatest and easiest activities humans can do in order to preserve the Earth for as long as possible.

Some of the negative effects of not recycling often are processes such as greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere, toxins being leached into the soil and groundwater, and increasing the rate of plastic pollution in oceans.

When plastic isn’t recycled properly, it ends up in landfill. Since plastic takes a very long time to decompose, fungi, bacteria can’t decompose the plastic as fast as they would break something else down. Because of this, plastic emits greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide and methane. These gases are released into the atmosphere and then trap any solar energy emitted from the sun. That is why it can be unusually hot at times. This is also known as global warming. Which is very harmful to the earth. And to us.

Another thing that not recycling negatively effects is the soil and ground water. There are some plastics that are chlorinated, or a more often used term, contain “BPA”. That chemical, if not recycled, will leak into the soil and ground waters, and contaminating it, causing the growth of plants which provides our oxygen, to be stunted.

One more thing that is pretty well known, but still dismissed more often than not, is the plastic pollution crisis. Mainly in the water. Not only do the harmful chemicals from the plastic leak into the water, contaminating it, but it also harms the marine life in the ocean. The marine animals eat the plastic thinking it’s food, but end up dying from it instead, leading to a decrease in animals and biodiversity.

As you can see, all of there are negative results of not recycling and will only get worse with time. Some of the things you can do pertaining recycling is:

• Have two separate bins. One for trash and one for recycling (and one for composting)

Some of the things that can be recycled are:

• Christmas trees
• Paper
• Plastic (no caps from bottles; those go into the trash)
• Aluminum cans
• Glass

Want even more information on how you can save your environment by recycling? Visit the Vision Z Podcast on all music and podcast platforms and on Instagram, @vision.z.podcast