Give that plastic bottle a chance.

America Recycles Day was yesterday, November 15. RecycleSpot.org defines it as "a national campaign to raise awareness about the benefits of recycling and buying products made with recycled materials."

Millions of people across America took part in this day, many joining or hosting "recycling events."

Recycling has many benefits. Saving the environment (i.e. the ocean, animals, and trees), reducing the use of toxic chemicals and the need for landfills, saving money/good for the economy.

I'm not going to attempt to argue for all of it, but I will show how one small thing can make a great impact for good or bad.

So let's take the recycled plastic bottle, for example. You might think a plastic bottle can only be recycled into more plastic. Not true! Although many recycled plastic bottles are molded into "new" plastic shapes, like lawn chairs and CD cases, many of the bottles are cut down into little flakes, turned into fibers, and then used to make fabric. That fabric is then turned into various articles of clothing, such as, t-shirts, hats, and bags, or insulation for sleeping bags or bedding. Amazing isn't it? Take a look at the exact process of turning a plastic bottle into a t-shirt.

I was thinking about the comment my friend made in my last post, "Everything we have or make comes from the earth, and it's going to decompose back into the earth at some point." So I decided to research if what she said was accurate. The first article that appeared after I Google searched, "How long does it take a plastic bottle to decompose?" refuted my friend's statement. 450 years at least. That's how long most plastic bottles take to decompose. So if I throw a bottle on the ground, it would take 5 or 6 generations after me for that bottle to biodegrade. The article went on to say, "Bottles made with Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE) will never biodegrade."

I've only focused on one small aspect (plastic bottles) of recycling, but many other materials, such as paper, cardboard, glass, aluminum, etc., can also be recycled.

You don't have to wait until Nov. 15 next year to start recycling. Taking care of the world God gave us starts with each individual making a difference each day. So take time to recycle that plastic bottle because, after all, plastic bottles dream big too.