arts from damaged or discarded cars are repaired and reused, reducing the amount of automotive components sent to landfills. Laundry products are also being packaged in reusable plastic bottles and small, refill packages of concentrated product -- helping to reduce packaging waste. Plastics can also help conserve energy in your home. Because of the superior insulation properties of plastics, vinyl siding and windows help reduce energy consumption and lower your utility bills. Vinyl windows, for instance, can save the average homeowner between $150 and 450 each year on heating and cooling costs compared to other types of windows (Franklin Associates, 7). Yet another important way to conserve resources is to recover the energy value of products after their useful life has ended. One such method involves combusting municipal solid waste (MSW) or garbage in waste-to-energy (WTE) facilities. Modern energy recovery facilities burn MSW in special combustion chambers, then use the resulting heat energy to generate steam and electricity. This process can reduce the volume of MSW to be landfilled by as much as 90 percent (Environmental Protection Agency, 7).Plastics have become an integral part of our lives. Assuring that they will always be available should be a national and worldwide priority. I believe that together, the efforts to use the earth's resources more efficiently, when combined with those of industry and business can help to minimize our impact on the planet. Wherever it makes environmental and economic sense, we should try to recover the value of discarded materials, using a combination of options including reuse, landfilling, energy recovery through combustion, and recycling. Our standard of living depends on our success at this endeavor....
