” (Pendleton). The worker also said, “The problem now is the landfill situation, I think this one is going to stick” (Pendleton). By 1991 thirty-nine states and hundreds of local governments have passed laws or solutions requiring the purchase of recycled paper. According to Henry Miller, vice president of a paper mill said, “By volume, thirty-eight percent of solid waste in a landfill is paper and cardboard” (Pendleton). That paper and cardboard, if recycled could have produced that much paper or other products and it would have cleared up thirty-eight percent of many landfills across America. One major way to get people involved with recycling is the environment perspective. Not only would the landfills be cut down the environment gains a lot by having people recycle. So what do the states do to keep the environment clean? They enact laws against litter and waste. One way is the state requiring the deposit on beer and soft-drink bottles and cans (Prichard 8A). In those states, millions of bottles and cans that once were left on beaches, tossed in rivers and parks or thrown along the highways are being taken back to stores instead for a refund. A twenty-year old student from Michigan said, “Throwing away cans is like throwing away money to me” (Prichard 8A). These state laws must be working if people have this attitude towards recycling cans and bottles. States with deposit laws have found that providing consumers with an incentive to return bottles and cans is one of the simplest, least expensive ways to clean up litter and reduce trash going into costly landfills (Prichard 8A). Researchers have found this way of reducing landfills and encouraging recycling very worth while. In New York that passed a refund law, mainly due to all the liter and trash people throw in the city’s parks and streets. The amount of trash going into landfills from the city of New York City alone reduced by 550 t...
