Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash Many people hold on to the belief that recycling is unnecessary, and even among those who believe in reducing waste, some find recycling to be inconvenient. Facilities do not always exist to handle certain materials (such as packaging and batteries), and some towns require residents to go through elaborate sorting processes or transport their recycling to a central location, all of which can seem like extra tasks in a busy world. But recycling is becoming increasingly important. According to Zellar in an article for National Geographic entitled “Recycling: The Big Picture,” “Every shrink-wrapped toy or tool or medical device we buy bears the stamp of its energy-intensive history . . .. A product’s true cost includes greenhouse gases emitted in its creation as well as use, and pollutants that cause acid rain, smog, and fouled waterways.” Essentially, recycling is necessary because of the amount of resources and energy required to produce new items from scra...