From junk mail to old juice jugs, there might be numerous discarded items in your home that a recycling center will accept. By separating plastic, paper, glass, and aluminum goods from the rest of the trash, you’ll play a part in protecting the environment. To understand the importance of recycling, learn how it will reduce your carbon footprint here. 

3 Ways Recycling Benefits the Environment

1. Preserve Non-Renewable Resources

Many household goods are made of non-renewable natural resources. Trees, for example, are cut down to make paper and minerals are mined to create metals. Once these resources are gone, they will “take longer than a person’s lifetime to replace.” Products made of non-renewable natural resources are sorted and broken down at recycling centers to produce other goods. This will help protect the limited natural resources still available in the environment for future generations. 

2. Protect the Ozone Layer

Less energy is used to make new products from recycled goods than from virgin materials. This means that oil- and coal-burning, heavy-duty machinery won’t be used as often to ore for raw resources, which will reduce the level of harmful emissions that enter the environment and deteriorate the ozone layer. The same is true for manufacturing, too, so by utilizing recycled goods to produce new items, air pollution from factories and other production facilities will be cut down. 

3. Save Wildlife

When not taken to a recycling center, bags, bottles, can separators, and other items made of plastic can end up in storm drains and contaminate waterways. Pollution in rivers and oceans disrupts the ecosystem by killing fish. You can keep trash out of the water by recycling. 

To protect the environment in the aforementioned ways, contact the professionals at 3R Recycling. The Cincinnati, OH-based recycling center offers convenient drive-thru service. You can also arrange for a representative to pick up and haul away your recyclables. To learn more about the onsite recycling services, call (513) 771-4002 or visit the center online for details.