After driving alongside of the road looking for what could possibly represent Public Health, we stumbled upon Morris Bridge Park here in Tampa. In addition to the great view of wildlife and the already agitated meter man, something else grabbed our attention as soon as we entered. The object was none other than a recycling bin. We chose to place our “ This is Public Health” sticker on this detailed recycling bin here in the park because for one, parks are a common place where people participate in activities. They are an important aspect of our ecological system and this recycling bin in particular builds awareness to aluminum recycling. The bin we chose to place our sticker was appealing to us because it looked different from a regular recycling bin, making it more likely to be used by the public.
Besides being responsible for packaging, aluminum has other uses that most people aren’t aware of. For instance, aluminum use varies from airplanes, trains, and power lines to being used in construction, building, and even household items. These things are made possible because of the qualities that aluminum offer: being electrically conductive, ductile, low in density and resistant to corrosion. When you recycle aluminum, that same can is able to be processed and back on the grocery shelf as a new can, in as little as 60 days. Cans aren’t the only things that can be classified as recyclable aluminum as well. Other types of aluminum, such as gutters, car components, and lawn furniture can also be recycled.
Economy wise, recycling aluminum is much cheaper and easier than going straight to the source. The aluminum can recycling process saves 95 percent of the energy needed to produce aluminum from bauxite ore. That’s impressive! Imagine that a company makes a ton of aluminum cans from ore using 229 BTUs (British Thermal Units) of energy. That same amount can be produced from recycling aluminum cans using only 8 BTUs of energy per can. Since aluminum is technically considered to be a non-renewable resource, meaning that the supply is limited and can eventually be depleted, there is more need to recycle what aluminum we do have left in hopes to prolong this valuable resource. Besides, we as a nation use over 80,000,000,000 aluminum soda cans every year. Fortunately for us, there is no limit to the amount of times aluminum can be recycled. An aluminum can that is thrown away will still be a can 500 years from now!
Kudos to this group! I believe you chose a wonderful public health issue. I recycle whenever possible (when bins are accessible), however, I didn't know the benefits are to such an extent! I truly hope more people across the globe will consider the advantages and put recycling to use.
ReplyDeleteWow! I haven't seen one of those recycling bins in ages. The last time was in elementary school and they were blue. Once I seen your post, I realized many don't recycle as much as they use too. I know I'm guilty! Recycling bins should not only be placed in parks but they should be placed more at schools and neighborhoods. Recycling waste materials turns into vaulable resourses. When we recycle, we will protect the environment by conserving energy and water and helping to reduce air and water pollution. GO GREEN!
ReplyDeleteGreat work guys and girls. Recycling is definitely a public health issue when you consider the amount of pollutants added to our environment from mining operations. You are indeed correct that aluminum, like every other element, is technically non-renewable. I won't go into specifics, but suffice it to say that it takes billions of years to generate the amount of elements and minerals we have in our Earth, and we simply can't wait that long when we need things like aluminum today for many of the different products we consume.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all of the statistics you provided - I LOVE stats such as these! It's so amazing how much energy we are saving by recycling our aluminum canes and I'm impressed that it only takes about 60 days to reuse after they've been recycled. I also love the little recycling man, I'm almost 24 and I think it's adorable so I bet it's doing wonders with the younger population. Being aware of our resources and the energy it takes to harvest/utilize them is definitely an area of Public Health we need to focus one, great job you guys!
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