| Can crushers a fun, easy way to save environment |
| Written by Henry Johnson | |
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The green movement is getting more and more of us to consider the impact our environmental foot print has on the world. The amount of power we use, the waste we generate the resources we consume all have an effect on future generations. One way we can reduce our footprint, and thus our negative impact on the environment, is to reduce the amount of waste we generate, and recycling is one way of accomplishing this laudable goal. One way to make recycling less burdensome is to build or buy a can crusher . A key drawback of recycling is the amount of space aluminum cans we store for recycling can take up in a home. The problem is exceptionally bothersome for apartment dwellers or high occupancy homes. Hardly anyone has enough closet and storage space for a mountain of aluminum cans, and while we all intend to get them out of the house ASAP, that hardly ever happens. Also, who wants the neighbors to see a house full of aluminum cans when they come over to visit? Opting out of recycling is becoming a less viable option, as a growing number of municipalities are requiring citizens to participate in mandatory recycling programs. That's where can crushers come in and save the day. A can crusher is an efficient and convenient method of saving space and keeping your home tidy while fulfilling your recycling duty. There's a wide variety of can crushers available on the market. For simple jobs you can purchase a single can crusher or even build your own can crusher. For more substantial work, there are multi-can crushers or even garbage pail crushers. Some retail can crushers include the Easy Can Crusher, a single can crusher that's constructed of steel and can crush all regular-sized aluminum cans to a tiny oval. Another good crusher is the Easy Pull Can crusher, which can be mounted to a wall. This crusher is good for the elderly or children because the series of levers it employs does not require the user to have great physical strength to operate the device. For larger jobs, Bee Cool Manufacturing makes an electric can crusher, the Little Squeeze electric can crusher. At 3 x 1.5 feet the device is small enough to be portable, but large enough to handle big jobs at restaurants and industrial sites. The Little Squeeze electric can crusher can deliver crushing force up to four tons. The device costs about $1,500, however, so it appears that unless you drink a LOT of soda, only big businesses or restaurants may need a Little Squeeze. Although recycling is almost universally heralded as a responsible policy, some folks disagree disputing the net environmental and economic benefits of recycling over its costs. Critics say the resources consumed in the transportation, collection and processing of recycled materials outweigh its benefits, and that producing fresh products is actually more economically viable. Studies show that recycling is beneficial, depending on what you recycle. A Danish study has shown that incineration is actually better than recycling as a disposal method for some products, but another study by the Technical University of Denmark reports that in 83 percent of cases, recycling is the most economically and environmentally sound method of disposing of materials. If you choose, or are compelled, to jump on the recycling bandwagon, a can crusher can make it into less of a task, however. Can crushers can help you save space and make transportation of your recyclable materials easier. Also, crushing cans appeals to the destructive 8-year-old in all of us who likes to break things, making recycling a little more fun. |
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