Ecology

Assignment 2: Recycling, Reducing, and Reusing

In the Working Ahead section in Modules 1, 2, and 3, you were informed to collect items to be recycled and log a journal of these items. You were also instructed to select either Module 2 or Module 3 to collect these items.

Your assignment in this module is to submit your weeklong Recycling Journal, along with an analysis of your recycling efforts and an examination of the recycling process.

Be sure to examine what you have recycled in your chosen week and estimate how many grocery sacks of material you recycled—try to estimate the size. Results showing who recycled the most material will be posted by your facilitator in Module 5.

For this assignment, complete the following:

Part 1

Review your Recycling Journal for the week you selected. Write a report that covers the next two parts of this assignment.

Part 2

Based on what you identified as recyclable in one week and using this data, estimate how much garbage your entire locality or city could prevent sending to the landfill. Include the following:

• What is the total population of your community? You may use reliable Internet resources to identify this information.
• If everyone in your community recycled as much trash as you did for one week, how much garbage could your area recycle? To calculate this number, you can use your number and multiply it by the number of people in your community.
• How much trash could your community save in a year? To calculate this number, multiply the weekly estimate for your community by the number of weeks in a year.
• Do you think your community recycles enough? How can the US Government place more importance on recycling?

Part 3

Examine the process of recycling. Include the following:

• Explain how recycled material is reused.
• Describe what happens to recycled cans, bottles, and newspapers after they go to the recycling bin.
• Examine the impact you have on creating renewed resources from these recycled items.

Support your statements with appropriate examples and scholarly references.

Write a 4–5-page report in Word format. Submit the report, along with your recycling journal. Apply APA standards to citation of sources.