Recycling Programs at VNC !
We must walk the walk we talk!
For years the VNC recycled aluminum cans collected from members and
supporters. We also recycled our own cardboard and newspapers.
Now we have taken another step in the right direction and added to the list
of recyclables that you can bring in to the VNC:
- Aluminum Cans
- Used household batteries (AA, AAA, D and such)
- Plastic bottle caps (from any plastic bottles such as soda bottles, etc)
- Empty ink cartridges (from computer printers, fax machines, etc)
- Plastic grocery sacks
appropriately. There are four yellow containers sitting next to the aluminum
can recycling bin in the exhibit hall. Just drop them off and you will help the
environment by keep these items out of the landfills!
So, why the bottle caps you ask?
The Biology Club at the STC Mid-Valley Campus also collects them and we
will recycle ours with them. Why make such a fuss over those? For the past
few years a news story has emerged from a remote corner of the Pacific
Ocean. Bottle caps are just a small part of the mess but this is a start.
Here is an excerpt from the following web page:
http://ecology.com/ecology-today/2008/08/14/pacific-plastic-waste-dump/
There is a huge plastic waste dump site in the Pacific Ocean that is twice
the size of the continental United States. It is estimated that 10 percent
of the world’s plastic waste finds its way into the sea and slowly but surely
most of it ends up in the Pacific Ocean.
Sea currents transport the waste into ocean “dead zones,” large areas of
water that are slow moving circular currents which trap debris into one large
constantly moving mass of plastic. This mass of plastic is slowly being
broken down into a plastic dust that marine wildlife mistake for food. Small
fish consume tiny bits of plastic as if they were normal plankton. Those fish
are then consumed by larger species and the plastic contamination moves up
the food chain.
The UN Environmental Program estimates that over a million seabirds, as
well as more than 100 thousand marine mammals, die every year from
ingesting plastic debris.
So please help us make a difference!
