Recycling in my home is a must.  Everyone knows “the rules” and our set-up is simple, but if you’ve ever wondered about the wonder of recycling and if your efforts are well worth the effort, then take a look at these facts I discovered via Earth911 and you’ll see why it matters…

(… it matters… it really, really matters…)

• Aluminum cans – more than 50% of cans are recycled and once placed in a recycling receptacle, they are often back on store shelves as a “new can” within 60 days!  Because of its durability (and the efforts of many), approximately two-thirds of aluminum ever produced is still in use today!

• Glass – it can be recycled indefinitely!  80% of recovered glass is turned into new glass containers with a turnaround time of about 30 days!

• Magazines – only 20% ever gets recycled.  What a waste!  They can’t be recycled into new magazine paper but they ARE recyclable – they get turned into newspaper, paperboard and writing paper.

• Newspaper – it’s incredibly easy to recycle and the 24 billion newspapers circulated worldwide annually(!) can be recycled right back into another edition to hit the newsstand!

• Plastic bottles – only 2 out of every 10 plastic water bottles is recycled… and Americans buy about 28 billion water bottles each year.  The interesting thing is that 96% of plastic bottles produced are “recycle #1 and #2”… and these are absolutely recycled everywhere!!!

• Paper – approximately 40% of solid waste in the US is paper products!  I wrote a post dedicated to all the things you need to know about paper recycling (since it seems to be the one with the greatest potential for confusion!), so check it out here!  But without question, RECYCLE IT!

I honestly think that NOT recycling is inexcusable.  An estimated 75% of Americans have curbside recycling and most of the remaining majority has at least some access to a recycling facility.

If you ever doubted your recycling efforts… don’t.  If you ever thought about short-cutting recycling… don’t.  If you haven’t started a dedicated recycling effort at home… DO!