Megan Bellner, Sarah Painter, Abby Phillips, Taiylor Preston, Ronni Royer

May 3, 2016
Recycle Now
The global population is currently using resources at a rate sustainable for two billion
people. The world population is 7 billion and growing. We are depleting earths resources at an
exponentially growing rate, endangering the future of the next generation. As a global population
we must make a concerted effort to change the direction we are moving. We must take advantage
of every opportunity we have to reduce our waste. Our most promising option is recycling. By
recycling a single run of the Sunday New York Times we would save 75,000 trees. Schools in
particular are among the biggest culprits for generating waste; every year nearly 900 million
trees are cut down to provide materials to schools in America alone. American schools need to
take initiative and start recycling right now, in order to put America and the rest of the world
back on the track to maintaining a sustainable rate of resource depletion and a healthy earth.
Recycling has roots very early in American history. The first recycled paper
manufacturing process was introduced in 1690 at The Rittenhouse Mill in Philadelphia. Almost
two hundred years later recycling picked up popularity across the Atlantic, in London, England,
when the salvation army began mass collecting, sorting, and recycling household waste. Calling
themselves the Household Brigades, they employed impoverished citizens to help. This highly
successful project came over to the United States into the 1890s. As America turned into the
twentieth century, recycling advocates picked up steam. In 1904 the first American Aluminum
can recycling plants opened in both Cleveland, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois. Between 1916 and
1918, due to the war, the country experienced mass shortages in raw materials. To cope with the
needs of wartime the government started a huge recycling campaign, for the first time making

recycling a united cause across the entire countrys population; and they had a lot of success.
Again when World War II started in the 1940s the recycling campaign again made it to the
forefront, new technology now allowing nylon, rubber, and many metals to be recycled. In 1964
the all-aluminum can came out, a huge step towards saving tons of waste as now the entire can
could be recycled. In 1965 the Mobius loop became a symbol for recycling, as a result of an art
contest to raise environmental awareness. Environmental awareness was once again brought to
the forefront when earth day was made a national holiday for the first time in 1970. It is now
celebrated by 192 countries every year on April 22nd.
Since the 1970s America has taken many steps to show more awareness and create a
more positive future for earth. In 1981 Woodbury, New Jersey became the first U.S. city to
mandate recycling. In 1988 the number of curbside recycling programs in the U.S. reached an
outstanding 1,050. Two years later McDonalds joined the campaign to reduce waste when they
stopped using styrofoam containers in their stores. And by 1992 the number of United States
curbside programs in America grew to 5,404. By 1996 we were recycling at a rate of 25%
according to the EPA. Just last year, in 2015, California enacted a statewide ban on plastic bags
in grocery stores. The graph below shows the trends in recycling from 1960 to 2010. The red
represents discarded paper, blue recycled paper, and white total paper waste.

As shown, the recycled paper has been consistently increasing since the 1960s. Additionally, just
recently (since 2000) the discarded paper and total paper waste trend has reversed, and started to
decline. The campaigns for recycling have had a lot of success in recent decades, but in order to
make earths resources sustainable for generations to come we must drastically increase the
current rate of improvement.
Paper is the most common form of waste from schools, making up over a quarter of their
trash. Recycling paper has developed into an efficient process. After gathering the paper, it first
has to be sorted and grated. It is then taken to a paper mill and slushed into pulp, so that
contaminants can be removed. Inks then have to be moved, in order to create paper that is purely
white. After the pulp is cleaned and de-inked, it can be made into paper by nearly the same
process as it was the first time.
To further our study of recycling and pinpoint its effects right here at Westerville North,
we took a survey of students who recycle. The graph below shows the number of students who
recycle when bins are readily available and it is easy, students who take the time to recycle all
recyclable waste, and students who do not recycle at all.

Recycle always

Recycle when it is easy

Recycle never

II (2)

IIIII IIIII IIIII II (17)

IIII (4)

As the table shows, students are very willing to recycle when it is convenient for them. The
biggest problem this poses is during lunch. In the Westerville North cafeteria there are trash bins
at the end of every single table, but the cafeteria is completely absent of recycling bins.
Therefore, the biggest and most important step we as a school could take towards saving our
planet is very simple, offer recycling bins where they are not. In addition to the cafeteria we lack

easy recycling in the football stadium, softball and baseball fields, and gymnasium; all of the
spots that hold the largest concentrations of people at a time. This is inexcusable. We must take
on the responsibility of doing our part to save the planet, and it starts with one simple step at a
time. This is no small matter, what we do to our planet now will affect generation after
generation, our kids, grandkids, and so on. So lets take the step, lets do our part, and lets move
into next school year a cleaner and more proactive school. Lets recycle now.