If it is even remotely possible that any man-made item on Earth is more ubiquitous than plastic bags, it would have to be aluminum cans. But unlike plastic bags, which endanger marine life and trash the planet, aluminum cans are actually good for the environment. At least, they are if people like you and me take the time to recycle them. Aluminum recycling provides many environmental, economic and community benefits; it saves energy, time, money and precious natural resources; and it generates jobs and helps to pay for community services that make life better for millions of people. Globally, the aluminum industry annually emits millions of tons of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, which contributes to global warming. In addition, every ton of new aluminum cans that must be produced to replace cans that were not recycled requires five tons of bauxite ore, which must be strip-mined, crushed, washed and refined into alumina before it is smelted. That process creates about five tons of caustic mud that can contaminate both surface water and groundwater and, in turn, damage the health of people and animals.
