The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants all people living in the United States to learn about the benefits of recycling common household and workplace items. On their website at http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/conserve/tools/iwarm/index.htm is a fun and easy to use calculator called iWARM that helps you to see the energy benefits of recycling. For example, did you know that recycling an aluminum beverage can rather than landfilling it saves enough energy to operate a 60W incandescent lightbulb for 4.3 hours, or to operate the equivalent compact fluorescent bulb for 20 hours? Wow! If you consume a few cans of any beverage every week and recycle, that’s the equivalent of one compact fluorescent bulb being on almost constantly!
In additonal to cans, the calculator will also help you to estimate the energy benefits of recycling rather than landfilling the following products:
- Aluminum cans
- Metal coat hanger
- Steel cans
- Glass bottles
- Gallon plastic (HDPE) milk jug
- Gallon plastic (HDPE) detergent container
- Plastic grocery bag
- Plastic (PET) bottles
- Corrugated cardbox
- Weekly magazines
- Catalogs
- Daily newspapers
- Printer paper
- White business envelopes
- Paperboard Cereal boxes
- and much more!
WasteCare Wants You to Remember: Recycling saves energy and saving energy saves money! Make an effort to recycle at work and home and dispose of your waste in a compliant, efficient manner.