English

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Ho Yuen Leung

Dr. Nivens !

ENGL 2113–X10!

November 17 2016!

Recycling Is Good for the Environment!

Recycling is good for the environment. In fact, recycling is very important to the world in

we live today. For a long time, people have treated the earth carelessly. Now is the prime time to

change, not only the way we do things, but the mentalities of everybody. We need to change the

way we treat the environment, if we care about future generations. Modern industrialization has

caused devastating effects on the environment, especially through improper disposal of wastes.

Recycling should start from our homes. In essence, we need to look at the whole idea of

recycling as a means of reducing, reusing, and recycling wastes. Those against recycling may

argue that it is not good for the environment citing for instance that modern incinerators could

well be used since they release very few pollutants (Tierney,2015). Eco-conscious countries have

adopted modern incinerators rather than recycling. However, it is indisputable that recycling

eliminates the need to build enormous landfills, reduces pollution, controls emission of

greenhouse gases, saves energy, and substantially reduces pollution. Recycling is necessary for

the environment because it makes our environment clean, conserves energy and also reduces the

consumption of fresh raw materials in manufacturing of new products. Recycling is good for the

environment because it reduces pollution and reduces the need to process raw materials. !

Melissa Nivens� 11/25/16 4:47 PM Comment: Your!citations!are!in!APA,!but! your!source!list!is!in!MLA!

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Recycling reduces pollution. Recycling eliminates the need to construct landfills. Solid

waste material dumped in landfills is known to produce methane gas which is an air pollutant.

Recycling helps reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills, as well as the amount of

dirt that is found along road sides, in bodies of water and air. Landfills also produce a lot of

hydrogen sulfide gas. This gas is smelly and unpleasant and is a serious threat to health and

biodiversity. Hydrogen sulfide gas is responsible for problems such as respiratory problems and

cancer. Recycling waste materials reduces the amount of emissions from incinerators and

eliminates the need to fell trees. Notably, living trees can absorb a lot of carbon dioxide. The

more recycling is done, the less processing plants operate. This means there will be less emission

of greenhouse gasses and subsequent pollution of water and land is minimized (USEPA, 2015).

Recycling helps improve the quality of air because it demands less power. The power used in

collecting, sorting, processing, and shipping waste materials is less than that needed to mine

refine, process, and transport raw materials to industrial users. This means less fossil fuel is

burned, hence less emission of green house and polluting gases. For this reason, recycling plays a

significant role in mitigating the threat of climate change.

Recycling reduces the need to process raw materials. The earth’s resources are finite and

exhaustible. For instance, metals and fossil fuel reserves cannot be replenished by nature within

our short lifetimes. This means if we excessively extract the limited resources, then less will be

left to sustain our needs, as well as those of the future generations. Recycling waste materials

reduces the demand for fresh raw materials; this includes the trees that will be grown for

harvesting and the underground extractions. Recycling recovered scrap materials rather than

processing raw materials reduces the mining practices needed, as well as the need to fell trees.

This helps conserve the environment. Recycling normally reduces the amount of raw materials

Melissa Nivens� 11/25/16 4:45 PM

Melissa Nivens� 11/25/16 4:44 PM

Melissa Nivens� 11/25/16 4:44 PM

Melissa Nivens� 11/25/16 4:46 PM

Comment: Word!choice!

Comment: Cite?!

Comment: Word!choice!

Comment: recovers!

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needed, and thus our forest reserves can be saved (USEPA,2015). Our forests provide many

resources such as herbs for medicine and wood for fuel, paper, and furniture industries among

others. Thus, recycling reduces deforestation. Recycling, in addition, ensures the scarce materials

that we have are not wasted.!

In conclusion, recycling will always have countless environmental benefits irrespective

of the era we live in. We live in a world where natural resources are increasingly becoming

depleted at an alarming rate. The problem is aggravated by frightening deforestation.

Consequently, an ever-increasing amount of waste are produced every second, meaning the

significance of recycling can never be underestimated. Recycling waste is good for the

environment because it lowers the amount of water pollution, land pollution, and air pollution by

minimizing extracting processes, mining and processing of new resources, and the rate of

deforestation. Recycling also conserves resources and thus ensures sustainable development so

that some resources will be available for the future generations.

Melissa Nivens� 11/25/16 4:48 PM Comment: you!should!use!the!first!word!of! your!source!entry!here!

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Works Cited

"Recycling Basics." United States Environmental Protection Agency USEPA”. 16 Nov. 2015.

www.epa.gov/recycle/recycling-basics. Accessed 16 Nov. 2016.

Tierney, John. "The Reign of Recycling." New York Times. October 3 (2015).

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/the-reign-of-recycling.html.

Accessed 16 Nov. 2016

Vaughn, Adam. "Why Is Recycling Important? You Asked Google - Here's the Answer." The

Guardian. 11 Nov. 2015.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/nov/11/why-is-recycling-important-

google-answerAccessed 15 Nov. 2016.

Essay!Grading!Guidelines! !

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Grading!Criteria!for!Essay!Assignments! Assignment!

Possible!Points! Earned! Points!

! W2! W3! W4! W5! ! Plagiarism!and!the!use!of!quotations! All!text!copied!from!another!source!must!be!placed!in!quotation!marks!and!correctly! cited!and!referenced.!If!you!copy!text!without!putting!that!text!in!quotation!marks,!you! will!receive!a!zero!for!the!essay.!!If!this!happens!twice!in!the!course,!you!will!receive!an! F!for!the!course.!If!you!submit!an!essay!that!previously!was!submitted!by!another! student,!you!will!receive!an!F!for!the!course.!

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Formatting! Document!has!the!following:! • header:!last!name!and!page!number,!aligned!to!right! • first!page!identifying!information:!your!full!name,!my!name,!class/section,!date! • title!that!reflects!the!topic!and!your!thesis! • file!name:!last!name!followed!by!assignment!#!(e.g.,!Smith!W2)! • file!saved!as!Word!Document!

1! .5! .5! U! !

Introductory!paragraph! The!first!paragraph!in!the!essay!introduces!the!reader!to!the!essay!topic!and!is!at!least! 7U!10!sentences!in!length.!At!the!end!of!the!introductory!paragraph,!the!thesis!is!stated! and!underlined.!(Do!not!start!the!introductory!paragraph!with!your!thesis.)!The!thesis! takes!a!clear!stand!on!the!assigned!topic.!The!amount!of!quoted!text!in!the!paragraph! does!not!exceed!20%!of!the!text.!

n/a! 2! 2! 2! 2!

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Two!body!paragraphs! Each!body!paragraph!begins!with!an!underlined!topic!sentence.!Each!topic!sentence!is!a! clear!reason!in!support!of!the!thesis!that!you!underlined!in!the!introductory!paragraph.! (Thesis!and!topic!sentences!are!not!the!same.)!Each!topic!sentence!is!followed!by!a! paragraph!that!is!at!least!7U10!sentences!in!length.!The!paragraph!includes!explanations,! examples,!paraphrases,!and!quotes!from!your!readings!that!support!the!reason! underlined!as!the!topic!sentence.!At!least!1!reputable!source!is!cited!in!each!body! paragraph!(i.e.,!you!do!not!only!use!personal!experience!or!knowledge).!The!amount!of! quoted!text!in!any!paragraph!does!not!exceed!20%!of!the!text.!The!body!paragraphs! offer!a!thorough!analysis!of!the!issue.!The!body!paragraphs!end!with!a!tie!back,!or! reference,!to!the!topic!sentence!of!the!paragraph!and/or!the!thesis.!

4! 5! 6! 4! 4!

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Concluding!paragraph! The!final!paragraph!of!your!essay!wraps!up—or!brings!to!a!close—the!essay!and!your! argument.!No!new!reasons!are!introduced!or!developed!in!the!conclusion.!The! concluding!paragraph!is!at!least!5U7!sentences!in!length.!The!amount!of!quoted!text!in! the!paragraph!does!not!exceed!20%!of!the!text.!

n/a! 1! 1! 1! 1!

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Sentences! The!essay!uses!complete!sentences!that!are!organized!into!standard!patterns.!

2! 1! 1! 1! .8!

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Mechanics! The!essay!demonstrates!adherence!to!Standard!Written!American!English.!

2! 1! 1! 1! .5!

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References! A!minimum!of!2!authoritative,!credible!online!sources!are!used!to!support!your! argument,!at!least!1!source!in!each!body!paragraph.!Each!quote!is!introduced!in!the! text:!you!let!the!reader!know!in!advance!whom!you!are!quoting!and!the!context!of!the! source.!All!sources!are!correctly!cited!in!the!text!using!parenthetical!citations!where! needed,!and!each!source!is!included!in!a!Works!Cited!or!Reference!section!at!the!end!of! the!document,!following!either!MLA!or!APA!style!guidelines!(see!course!textbook).! Sources!are!not!cited!in!the!paper!with!an!Internet!addresses!(URLs),!nor!is!a!URL!used! as!the!only!reference!information!at!the!end!of!the!document.!

1! 1.5! 1.5! 1! .7! !

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Total! 10! 12! 13! 10! 9!

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