This Earth Day, April 22, the focus is on facts: scientific facts we all need to know to help us be smarter about how we live and how we protect the world we live in and on. We’ve teamed up with Thompson Creek Window Company to bring you 10 important facts about recycling you need to know.

Recycling makes a big difference when it comes to saving energy and reducing the amount of trash we throw away. Knowing some real recycling facts can come in handy the next time you feel a little lazy and think, “What difference does it make, anyway?”

10 Recycling Facts That Will Make You Feel Good You Recycle

1)Recycling 1 aluminum beverage can saves enough energy to run a 14 watt CFL bulb for 20 hours (or a 60 watt incandescent, if you’re still using those things).

2)Don’t care about light bulbs? How about your computer? Recycling 1 can saves enough energy to power your computer for 3 hours. Think of it! That’s enough time to binge 2 or 3 episodes of your favorite series on Netflix.

3)Not into Netflix? No matter. Recycling that 1 can will still power 2 hours of your favorite sporting event. It can almost  get you through an entire football game or tennis match. It’ll definitely see you through to the 7th inning stretch of your favorite baseball team.

4)There is no limit to the number of times an aluminum can can be recycled. The phrase “over and over and over again” pretty much describes aluminum can recycling.

5)In addition to aluminum cans, here are some other aluminum items that can be recycled: aluminum siding and gutters; storm window frames; lawn furniture; foil; and packaging.

6)Every ton of glass that’s recycled results in saving more than one ton of the raw materials used to make glass in the first place, including sand, limestone, soda ash and feldspar.

7)Glass can be reused almost endlessly. Think about the Mason jar your spaghetti sauce came in. Once you empty it and clean it out, you can refill it with food leftovers, jam and other foods you preserve, craft supplies, pennies and other loose change, nails and other household tools, knitting needles, dried pasta and other foods in your pantry, etc. etc. etc.

8)Glass can be recycled into jewelry, like pendants, bracelets, and rings.

9)Glass can also be recycled into housewares, like drinking glasses, candle holders, chimes, pottery, lamps, and garden accessories, like statues, tiles, and pavers.

10)Glass is recycled into fiberglass insulation and new glass containers, too.

Though recycling programs vary from community to community, you can probably recycle glass and aluminum almost everywhere that has set up curbside pick-up or neighborhood recycling centers.

As Thompson Creek says, “Every item you toss in the recycling bin is one less item that ends up in a landfill.” It’s also one more bunch of resources you save for planet Earth, and that much more energy that doesn’t have to come from polluting fossil fuels like coal and oil.

Want more facts? Check out the entire Thompson Creek Earth Day Infographic here.

Note: Sponsors like Thompson Creek Window Company enable us to bring you the expert information you need to lead the greener life you want. We only collaborate with companies that meet our own criteria for environmental responsibility. As ever, our editorial opinions remain our own.

The post In Honor of Earth Day, 10 Recycling Facts That’ll Make You Feel Good About Doing It! appeared first on Big Green Purse.

Trashing televisions adds to the mountains of garbage people throw away every day. Plus, tossing your tv releases toxic chemicals into the environment. On average, a television contains four to six pounds of lead, plus mercury and cadmium – all dangerous heavy metals that can pollute our drinking water if they get loose (as they inevitably will if they’re just thrown into a landfill).

What’s the alternative?

* Convert it. If your set is still in good working order, get a converter box so you can switch the set to digital cable. Until July 31, 2009, you can redeem a free government coupon worth $40 to help underwrite the cost of the converter box.

* Recycle it. Check locally to see if your state has established e-waste recycling centers.  For example, Washington state has had 200 collection points open since January that collect old televisions, computers, and monitors for free.  Maine and Oregon have similar programs and many other states will soon.  TIA E-Cycling Center lists municipal and private drop-off locations by state.

* Give it back. The manufacturer or retailer of your television set may reclaim and recycle it.  The U.S. EPA has created a partnership called Plug-in to eCycling which lists companies that recycle old electronics.  Sony, Sharp, Best Buy, Panasonic, and Wal-Mart are among the participating companies. Check out their website to see if the retailer or manufacturer who sold you your TV is on the list.

Earth911 links to more local television recycling options.

The EPA estimates that 99.1 million television sets sit in homes, unused, across the US.  If you consider that each one contains 5 pounds of lead on average, that’s nearly 500 million pounds of lead that could potentially end up in the environment.  No wonder trashing your tv is now illegal in many municipalities.

by Katie Kelleher

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