Every three months, Americans discard enough aluminum to completely rebuild every single commercial airplane in America. The average American discarded fourteen and a half pounds of aluminum packaging last year, and almost three and a half pounds of aluminum foil (That’s not even counting aluminum cans). Tossing out one aluminum can takes as much energy as pouring out half that can’s volume worth of gasoline. Most people do not realize how strong aluminum is- four six packs can hold up the weight of a 4,000 lb. aluminum car. The aluminum that is wasted is sent to landfills. With such an abundance of it in landfills, some landfills incinerate extra aluminum.

Great news: recycling aluminum will not only avoid the harmful pollution caused by incinerating it, but it will also make aluminum a renewable resource that we will not run out of. An aluminum can you drink out of will look the same 200 years from now, so essentially we have an inexhaustible amount of aluminum in circulation right now. If we continue to recycle, we’ll never run out or have to mine more ore.

Good news: The sustainable and eco-friendly process of recycling is already in effect and widely used by many people in the world. Over 50% of the aluminum produced is recycled. Although that is half of the total amount produced being recycled, it is still only half. Raising awareness and educating consumers about the benefits of recycling can increase this percentage. This is demonstrated through the significant increase in the amount of used beverage containers (UBC's) recycled between the years 1972 and 1998. In 1972, 24,000 metric tons of these UBC’s were recycled. By 1998, this number had risen all the way up to 879,000 metric tons. Those used aluminum cans can be recycled and back on a grocery store shelf as a new can in as little as 60 days! (1)

So, exactly how much of a difference does recycling make in comparison to simply tossing out an aluminum can? Making new aluminum cans from used cans takes 95% less energy, and 20 recycled cans can be made with the energy needed to produce one can using virgin ore. Also, recycling one aluminum can saves enough energy to keep your television running for three hours, or a 100-watt bulb burning for almost four hours. Incredible, right? Well that’s not all. Last year, 54 billion cans were recycled, saving energy equivalent to 15 million barrels of crude oil- America’s entire gas consumption for one day. Just from recycling!

Personally, we have learned so much from taking AP Environmental Science and researching the recycling of aluminum cans. In an effort to be a part of the step in the right direction and to “Reduce the Harm,” we now take time out of our day to recycle the aluminum cans we drink from. Since we have realized it is just as easy to throw a can into a recycling bin as it is to throw it into a trash bin, we figure, “Why not?” It has come to our attention that we have been a part of the wasteful and ignorant group of people who are destroying our planet, and we can’t help but feel guilty when we realize we are being too lazy to help out a little. We now see that taking 2 minutes out of our day to find a recycle bin at school, or out in pubic, isn’t too much work. Making tiny adjustments to our everyday lives that hardly, if at all, alter our lifestyles isn’t too much to ask for. Are we all really that busy? That lazy? We are! This is something that we must change! Let us stop being so selfish and get out there! Do our part! Make a difference! REDUCE THE HARM!

Literature Cited:

(1) "Aluminum Can Recycling - Recycling Facts and Figures." Novelis: Novelis home page. Novelis Corporation. 04 June 2009 <http://www.novelis.com/Recycle/EN/Employees/Library/Recycling+Facts+and+Figures/>.

(2) "Recycling Facts -." A Recycling Revolution. Environmental Protection Agency. 04 June 2009 <http://www.recycling-revolution.com/recycling-facts.html>.

(3)Saint Louis County Resourceful Schools Project. "Resourceful Schools - Fun Facts." The Saint Louis County Resourceful Schools Project. 02 June 2009 <http://www.resourcefulschools.org/facts.html>.