Landfills are overflowing, forests are disappearing, climates are changing and habitats for animals are being destroyed.

Yet people still ask themselves ‘Why should I recycle?”

“People should care because our resources are not unlimited,” Hayley Bundz, environmental engineering major and Students for Environmental Sustainability member, said. “Using energy uses our resources and eventually our resources will run out.”

There are millions of products that should be recycled, from that empty shampoo bottle to the empty tub of butter. Plastic in particular, according to Environment Health News, “currently accounts for approximately 10 percent of generated waste.”

Waste that could be avoided by reusing and recycling.

“It takes energy to produce new products especially if they are being created from scratch. If we conserve by reducing and reusing things, we will not use as much energy and therefore our resources will not be depleted as quickly,” Bundz explained.

There are many different ways to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Bundz said, “simple things like not leaving the water running while you are brushing your teeth and turning off the light when you leave a room are easy ways to help the environment.”

The United States Department of Energy states that the type of lightbulb used matters a great deal in relation to the energy consumptions of it.

The importance of recycling and the effects of not recycling are important to know. For the month of February, Wilkes Residence Life teams up with the resident assistants on campus to make sure every bulletin board contains some element of recycling.

Alex Harrington, resident assistant for UT12 said, “I feel like recycling is important because living in the twenty first century and especially being educated young adults in school, it’s our responsibility to make sure the Earth is kept clean for the next generation. It’s a duty for everyone to do their part to make sure that the future is a bright one.”