Kaylah's Exploration 6

In the "Our Moral Footprint" Vaclav Havel talks about the climate and human interaction.  I thought it was interesting how he compared the United States and Europe's debt to the way that the humans influence the climate.  He said that "Nature is issuing warning that we must not only stop the debt from growing but start to pay it back."   He is telling us that we can't just go around and do as we please because there will be consequences.  I also like the pendulum metaphor.  Once the climate is altered there is no going back.  It will not return to it's "original position" after a certain period of time.  The decision to alter the climate through technology is a moral choice that people will be forced to make and it could potentially mess up the climate altogether.

Recycling is important because it is good for the environment.  Waste has a huge negative impact on the natural environment.  Because of the waste, there are harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses being released in the landfill sites.  Recycling helps to reduce this pollution.  It also helps save energy.  When making products from raw materials, huge amounts of energy are used, so with recycling less energy is used which helps to preserve natural resources.  Eventually not recycling will effect more than just the environment and the animals in the community.  The landfill sites are filling up fast and are going to start effecting the cities and the people living in them.  Therefore, by recycling the financial expenditure in the economy will be reduced and we will be able to preserve natural resources for future generations.  If every city requires people and places to have a recycling bin more people might recycle.  If the product is available, more people are likely to use it.  A strength of recycling is obviously that it helps save the environment and communities.  A weakness is that it has the potential to waste money.  If people don't decide to recycle, then all of the money that was spent to perform a route and make the bins would have gone to waste.  Overall, recycling reduces the need for raw materials and requires less energy making the environment a better place.
            
http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/importance.html