1. Recycling Basics for Public Health Professionals
Birgit Shanholtzer, MA
PhD Student
Public Health Epidemiology
Walden University
Dr. Rebecca Heick
Good day everyone. My name is Birgit Shanholtzer and I am a PhD student at Walden University. Today I would like to speak with you about the importance of recycling. I am speaking to you public health professionals at the Bureau for Public Health because you can help protect the environment. Protecting the environment is just one of the many ways to improve the health of the public.

2. Overview Climate change and public health Benefits of recycling
How to start a recycling program
Today I would like to speak with you about climate change and educate you about the relationship between climate change and public health. I would also like to inform you about the benefits of recycling and how recycling can impact climate change. Finally, I will give you some examples about how to start a recycling program here at the Bureau for Public Health. I hope at the end of this presentation you will feel empowered to make some changes in order to help improve the health of the environment in which we all live. I would also like to offer myself as a resource to you in the future to help you create a recycling program.

3. Climate Change and Public Health
4 important things you need to know about climate change:
1. It is real
2. We are causing it
3. It is bad for us
4. We can solve it
Source: George Mason University. Center for Climate Change Communication. (2010). Available from
Point 1: Research shows that climate change is real and that it is happening at an accelerated rate. NASA recently released information confirming that the last year has been the hottest on record in the past 1000 years.
Point 2: Humans are causing climate change. Developed countries are pumping massive amounts of pollutants into the air from the consumption of fossil fuels. Industrial plants, automobiles, and airplanes are just a few of the ways that our world is becoming polluted. The United States is the worst offender followed by Asia and India. Climate change is resulting in increased ocean acidity, increased air and water temperatures, and melting ice caps.
Point 3: Climate change is partially responsible for increased health problems among animals, plants, and humans. Leaders from the World Health Organization and the American Public Health Association have publicly stated that human health will suffer with continued climate changes. Some specific examples include:
heat waves that kill people
extreme weather events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and mudslides that cause injury and death as well as exposure to infectious diseases and lack of access to food and water
reduced air quality that increases respiratory illnesses and asthma
Point 4: We can act to solve the climate change problem. Eating less meat results in less carbon dioxide released into the air. Carpooling or using public transportation also reduces that amount of greenhouse gases released into the air. We can become advocates for reducing climate change in our communities. As public health professionals we can lead by example. Instituting a recycling program here at the Department of Health is a great way to lead by example.
Before I walk you through the steps in developing a recycling program, I want to give you some additional details about how recycling impacts the environment.

4. Benefits of Recycling
Recycling reduces the need for landfilling and incineration.
Recycling saves energy.
Recycling prevents pollution caused by the manufacturing of products from virgin materials.
Recycling decreases emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change.
Recycling conserves natural resources such as timber, water, and minerals.
Recycling helps sustain the environment for future generations.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency . (2010). Available from
Here are just a few of the benefits of recycling taken directly from the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s website. By recycling cardboard, plastic, paper, glass, and aluminum products those will not end up in a landfill or need to be burned which would release pollutants. Producing consumer materials from recycled materials saves energy and is often cheaper than using virgin materials. Recycling allows for virgin materials to remain and does not produce as much pollution as producing products from virgin materials. This also limits greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling also preserves virgin materials for future use. The next few slides will illustrate these points in more detail as specifically related to materials that can be recycled.

5. Benefits of Recycling Paper
Recycling newspaper can save 250,000,000 trees per year
The amount of wood and paper we throw away each year is enough to heat 50,000,000 homes for 20 years
Each ton (2000 pounds) of recycled paper can:
save 17 trees, 380 gallons of oil, three cubic yards of landfill space, 4000 kilowatts of energy, 7000 gallons of water
the 17 trees saved can absorb a total of 250 pounds of carbon dioxide from the air each year
Source: Recycling Revolution. (2010). Available form
Paper is the most common item recycled. Each person uses about 7 trees worth of paper per year which is about 1 billion trees for all of us. About 50% of the paper made is actually recycled. Additional information is contained on this slide about paper recycling. Some of these numbers are quite impressive. Saving millions of trees per year will also help clear greenhouse gases from the atmosphere million trees saved each year. Unrecycled paper could heat millions of homes. Recycling paper also saves oil and water used in processing of virgin materials.
While the Department of Health here does recycle paper, I would encourage you to again remind your employees of the importance of recycling all paper. Confidential information should be shredded then recycled.

6. Benefits of Recycling Cardboard
Amount of landfill space saved by recycling one ton of cardboard?
9 cubic yards
Source: Planet Green. (2010). Available from
Another waste product produced in an office setting is cardboard. Office supplies such as paper is often delivered in cardboard boxes as well as other office supplies. Here at the Department of Health, this cardboard is put out for trash collection. By recycling cardboard, landfill space is made available for other types of trash that are not recyclable.

7. Benefits of Recycling Plastic
Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour
Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1,000,000 sea creatures every year
Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator
Source: Recycling Revolution. (2010). Available from
Plastic recycling is also an important way to contribute to environmental health. While the Department of Health does not recycle plastic, the vending machines here in the building do dispense beverages in plastic bottles. All of those plastic bottles can be recycled. Included on this slide are a few facts about plastic. Have you all heard about the trash islands floating in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans? These are largely composed of plastic.

8. Benefits of Recycling Glass Recycling one glass bottle:
run a 100-watt light bulb for four hours or a compact fluorescent bulb for 20 hours
causes 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution
How much carbon dioxide is not released into the atmosphere each time a metric ton of glass is used to create new glass products?
315 kg
Sources:
Recycling Revolution. (2010). Available from
Planet Green. (2010). Available from
Similar to plastic, some of the beverages in the vending machines here are dispensed in glass bottles which can be recycled. A glass bottle in a landfill would take 4000 years to decompose. As you can see from the information displayed on this slide, the savings from glass recycling is immense. The energy saved by recycling only 1 glass bottle can power a light bulb for 4 hours. It also reduces air and water pollution.

9. Benefits of Recycling Aluminum Recycle one aluminum can
run a TV for three hours
equivalent of a half a gallon of gasoline
Recycle one pound of aluminum
run a 60-watt light bulb for over a day
Recycle for one year
heat and light 18,000,000 homes
What is the fraction of energy it takes to recycle aluminum versus mining and refining new aluminum? 5%
Sources:
Recycling Revolution. (2010). Available from
Planet Green. (2010). Available from
Aluminum from beverage cans, house siding and gutters, window frames, lawn furniture, and cars can be recycled.
Aluminum can be recycled over and over again.
Aluminum is so durable that a soda can in a landfill will last for hundreds of years.
The savings from recycling are enormous. A few examples are provided on this slide. As with glass, recycling just one aluminum can saves enough energy to run a TV for hours. A pound recycled can run a light bulb for 24 hours. Do this for a year and provide energy for millions of homes.
Keep in mind that aluminum foil and Hershey Kiss wrappers are also recyclable.
Recently, the county recycling center has begun accepting electronic equipment for recycling.
Based on the information concerning the benefits of recycling, I would encourage you to begin a recycling program. I would next like to give you some steps to follow to begin a program.

10. How to Guide Develop a recycling guide for employees
Purchase and set up recycling containers for plastic, glass, and aluminum in the break rooms on each floor.
Ask for a volunteer from each floor to head up a floor recycling committee.
Each recycling committee volunteer takes collected recycling to county recycling site each week using state vehicle.
Encourage office directors to purchase only recycled office supplies.
When developing a work site recycling program, it is important to first educate employees about the benefits of recycling. This education can include the specific information I gave you earlier. Feel free to use that information as you wish. A small monetary output will be needed in order to purchase recycling bins. I would suggest placing recycling bins in each break room in the building. Separate containers for plastic, glass, and aluminum should be used. The next step would be to establish a recycling committee on each floor or alternatively, each office within the Department of Health. A team leader should be designated for each floor or office committee. Members of each committee will be asked to volunteer to use a state vehicle to take the recycling to the county recycling building each week. The county recycling building is located less than a mile from this building. Allowing employees to use work time for these efforts will make it more likely that employees would volunteer for this program. As a final step, please encourage office directors to purchase recycled office supplies.

11. Resources
City of San Jose. recycling
Recycle at Work.
Recycle Now.
Wake County, North Carolina. k.htm
I have listed a few other guides for recycling at work. Let’s look at each of these briefly. Each follow the same basic steps.

12. References
George Mason University. Center for Climate Change Communication. (2010). Available from
Planet Green. (2010). Available from
Recycling Revolution. (2010). Available from
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010). Available from
I hope you have enjoyed this presentation and that you will consider beginning a recycling program at the Department of Health.
You can make a difference.
You can begin reversing climate change.
You can lead by example.
Thank you for your time.