Materials

We believe that we live in an abundant world, and that everyone can have all that they need, and more. We believe that we do not refuse many materials that are commonly used today. We believe that we use more materials than we need to, and could easily reduce the amount. We believe that we do not reuse all that we can. We believe that we do not recycle all that we can. The combined impact of the four statements above is very bad for the earth, and all of us who live here.

Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth. [Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ encyclical, par. 21]

The saying, “reduce, reuse, recycle” has been around for 25 years, and great strides have been made in some aspects; but we still have a lot of work to do. For example:

• Americans use 100 billion plastic bags per year, yet only 1 – 3% of plastic bags are recycled. The rest go to landfills. This is shocking!
• Plastic bottle recycling has grown to over 30% in the last 25 years, but we still are a long way from 100%.
• Aluminum can recycling has reached a fantastic 67%, but seems to have peaked. Why it is not 100%?
• For clothing and textiles, the estimated recycling rate is only 15%.

“Americans use 100 billion plastic bags per year, and the average American family takes home almost 1500 plastic shopping bags per year. The bags are used for an average of 12 minutes, but take 500 years to photo-degrade, and even then the particles absorb toxins. Only 1 – 3% of plastic bags are recycled.” [Quotes summarized from: Single-Use Plastic Bag Facts, Center for Biological Diversity]

We can individually and collectively do something about this. The mechanisms are in place. We just need to use them whenever we can. For example:

• Carry your groceries home in reusable boxes or cloth bags.
• Carry a reusable water bottle.
• Recycle plastic bottles and jars, and aluminum cans.
• Donate unneeded clothing.

The impacts of plastic bag waste are staggering, for example:
– One-third of leatherback sea turtles have plastics bags in their stomachs
– 100,000 deaths/year among sea turtles and other marine mammals
– $4 billion in higher food prices, to allow retailers to cover the cost of the bags
– 12 million barrels of oil/year is used to make the bags [Single-Use Plastic Bag Facts, Center for Biological Diversity]

“The overall U.S. recycling rate for plastic bottles in 2015 was 31.1 percent, down slightly from 31.7 percent the previous year,” [Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) and the American Chemistry Council (ACC) in the 26th Annual National Post-Consumer Plastics Bottle Recycling Report.]

“Aluminum beverage cans are once again the most recycled beverage packaging type in the United States with an industry recycling rate of 66.7 percent in 2013” [the Aluminum Association, Can Manufacturers Institute (CMI) and Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI)]

We support Goodwill of North Georgia, the Sandy Springs Recycling Center, St. Vincent de Paul Georgia, and leading recycling companies such as Waste Management and Garson & Shaw.

“Textiles are 100% recyclable. Yet, we still reclaim only 15% of all discarded clothing.” – [Garson & Shaw website]