At the first mention of environmentalism, recycling is often one of the first things that comes to mind. It’s well-known that recycling has numerous benefits for the environment, but it’s not always apparent just how it makes a difference for the planet. Read on to discover six major benefits of recycling that help to create a cleaner, safer and healthier world.

1. It Conserves Resources

The planet’s natural resources are in limited supply, so when new goods are generated from these limited resources, it places a great deal of strain on the environment. Recycled goods, particularly those made using the planet’s resources, reduce the demand for the extraction and use of existing resources as well as the demand for more goods to be manufactured.

From large-scale aircraft recycling to smaller-scale paper and cardboard recycling, every time a product or object is recycled and reused or given a second life, it eliminates the need for new resources to be pulled from the earth, chopped down, mined or extracted from the natural world. 

2. It Slows Landfill Growth

A large number of items get tossed in the trash only to end up in a landfill, where they are less likely to decompose safely and naturally due to the sheer amount of trash that accumulates there. This can result in unsafe conditions for nearby ecosystems, as well as the generation of harmful greenhouse gases that have been linked to climate change. 

Recyclable goods such as non-biodegradable plastics and other manmade materials only clog landfills and may take over a century to break down. When these materials are recycled, however, they’re kept out of landfills–which both saves valuable space and gives other materials a better chance at entering a natural decomposition process. 

3. It Preserves Worldwide Ecosystems

Factories, landfills and human-driven transit all impact the earth’s delicate ecosystems in harmful ways. Production and manufacturing processes are notorious for their contribution to local pollution, from runoff that ends up in nearby water systems to poorly discarded waste that clogs up the forests, rivers and oceans of the world. 

As well, the growing, harvesting and extraction of new materials robs the planet and its inhabitants of the necessary resources they need to survive. The more that is recycled, the less damage, both in destruction and pollution, there is to sensitive ecosystems that cannot sustain such interference and remain healthy. 

4. It Saves Energy

Manufacturing plants, shipping fleets and transportation methods are incredibly energy-intensive which is not good news for the environment thanks to harmful fumes and the depletion of natural resources in order to generate the electricity necessary for production and transportation. 

At-home recycling, in which goods are reused for multiple purposes before eventually entering the community recycling systems, is the best course of action. However, even municipal recycling systems place significantly less pressure on the energy grid. Materials such as aluminum require nearly 90% more energy to produce as opposed to recycle, so any efforts to give these materials another form is a win for the environment.

5. It Reduces Greenhouse Gases

A significant portion of greenhouse gases comes from the processing and sourcing of new materials for production purposes. The release of both carbon dioxide and methane, two of the most detrimental greenhouse gases, is responsible for trapping heat and contributing to a thermal imbalance in the earth’s atmosphere, and both of these gases are emitted in large amounts when new goods and created and distributed. 

6. It Creates Green Jobs

The future of the world rests on the development of green jobs that seek to clean up the world and create better and more sustainable ways of life. An increase in recycling would boost the sustainability sector in terms of employment opportunities. The more green jobs there are, the more investment and funding these initiatives are likely to see, and the more people can work on the front lines of the global eco-revolution and take a personal interest in the betterment of the world around them.