Green Green Green

When was the last time you wrote something wrong and decided to throw away your paper but you didn't even bother to look for a recycle bin? When you walked down the streets on campus and you tried to throw away a can of Coke you just finished, where was the recycle bin? Don't worry because there is a solution.

Luckily for many of us who are really lazy to recycle, the single-stream technology is growing in many American paper mills. The single-stream technology solves the problem when there isn't an extra recycle bin around because it allows people to put all their waste in one-single container instead of separating waste into many different containers --one for paper, one for cans, another one for plastic, etc. Later, when these one-single containers arrive at the plant, waste will be sorted by screening devices that separate fiber waste that is needed from the others.

So how is recycling beneficial to us?

1. For every ton of paper we recycle, 17 trees are saved and 50% less water is used. 2. On top of that, a ton of paper that is recycled, we don't produces an extra 3.3 cubic yards of waste in national's landfill.

Did you know that according to American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA), in year 2007, only 56% of all the paper products was recycled? Though this number may seem to be descent, it can definitely be improved, especially with this single-stream technology. (AF&PA aims to recover 60% of the papers Americans consume by the year of 2012.)

Single-stream technology has existed for a while, but it has not been implemented widely because it's expensive! Yet, it did become popular until the last 5 years or so as people started to really worry about global warming, and of course, the number of green active environmentalists grew rapidly. As a result, more awareness and, therefore, more money is invested in this technology. Waste Management Recycle America --for people who don't know this company, this it the company that sends out those BIG green garbage trucks with WM logo on them -- states that single-stream technology has increased its company's recycled volume from a range of 30% to 100%.

Today, 30% of WM's 105 mills uses this technology. Let's hope the implementation of this technology continues to grow, which I believe it will, since people are becoming lazier than ever. :)