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A Word About Recycling

A Word About Recycling

Sunday, April 18, 2021

With Earth Day again coming up this week, let’s talk a little more about it. Going back to last year, it should be noted on that previous Earth Day, over 8.5 million people joined an Earth Day Live livestream and over 100 million people took action for the planet with volunteerism, civic action, teach-ins, and more. This year, in the broadcast site mentioned below, it is hoped they can reach millions more worldwide — and you can be part of it.

As we have now learned, climate and environmental literacy will be a core pillar of Earth Day 2021’s Restore Our Earth theme. To be a part of it, just tune in to the broadcast on April 22 at 11 a.m. CDST.

Since the first Earth Day in 1970, three billion students have graduated from high school or equivalent worldwide without the fundamental skills and critical thinking necessary to effectively steward the Earth. Core leader in this effort feel too many of our national leaders have stranded them by failing to educate them on the interplay between the environment and their own lives.

They believe too many of these leaders of tomorrow have not been adequately prepared for them to participate in their communities. (But then again, with everything that is happening in today’s world, it is hard to prepare them for everything!)

The Earth Day staff believe that through global climate literacy, students can be inspired with a reverence for the planet… that moves them to act for the environment. By weaving respect for the natural world into all aspects of education, hopefully a shared commitment from our youth to act on behalf of the planet can be developed, not just for politics nor profit.

That’s why Earthday.org is spearheading a campaign to have compulsory, assessed climate and environmental education with a strong civic engagement component in every school in the world. They’re busy securing commitments from 30+ countries to demand action. They have enlisted over 500 organizations representing 275 million individuals to add grass-root voices to the call.

(Unfortunately, I can’t help but believe that many such efforts, including columns such as this, are ‘Preaching to the Choir’ so to speak. Only those interested in recycling will take time to read it whereas most non-recyclers have other priorities… and we all have priorities.)

Switching subjects, although we are behind in our monthly report of what citizens recycled at the local Green Guy Recycling Services drop-off site, here are the amounts for March:

Metals - 2,677,754 lbs.

Cardboard - 313,150 lbs.

Paper - 95,070 lbs.

Glass - 22,010 lbs.

Plastic (bottles/jugs) - 7,347 lbs.

Monitors (TV/Computer) - 9,362 lbs.

Electronic items - 2,418 lbs.

Used oil - 2,635 gallons

Used oil filters - 600 pieces

Tires - 460(Vehicle)

They also took in a number of printer cartridges, rechargeable batteries, Styrofoam peanuts, and reusables. (Thanks for info, Maria.)

We should all be proud of these amounts, even with the virus still affecting our lives, and that taken in by curbside recycling and other local drop-off sites.

San Marcos Record

(512) 392-2458
P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666