IntroductionEnvironmental science is concerned with the global impact of human activity on the planet. Indeed, at the dawn of this new century, close to 25 percent of the earths usable water is contaminated. In addition, during the last hundred years, we have increased the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, by burning fossil fuels, such as coal and petroleum and in so doing we have increased the amount of gases in the atmosphere. The result is that more heat is trapped in the system, increasing the global temperature by 1 C (about 1.8 F). Because the earth is a closed system, these issues are of major concern to environmentalists. As the Gaia Hypothesis states it, we are sustained by a single living system, meaning that we rely on it for our survival, in which all the parts are interconnected and everything we do affects it globally. For instance, as more heat is trapped in the atmosphere, the temperature increases, affecting precipitation, the rain becomes acid, which in turn affect our food production and our fresh water supply, ultimately it affects all the living system on the planet. Basically, in such a system there is no away in throwing away, hence, over the last decade people and companies started being aware of it and therefore acknowledged the need to recycle.II.RecyclingRecycling refers to collecting and reprocessing resources into new products. The resources on earth are not all renewable, and recycling means that we could create systems where wastes become resources again, which is called closed-loop recycling.Recycling paper involves removing its ink, glue, and coating and reconverting it to pulp that is pressed again into new paper. This process brakes down some of the paper fibers, requiring addition of some new pulp to maintain paper strength. III.Recycling at American UniversityTen years ago the District of Columbia mandated recycling programs for schools and colleges, at this time tough, only te...
