People are awesome, and those who choose to recycle do it not for financial gain but to avoid the very real and devastating environmental impacts of not recycling. To be clear, when we recycle, we are active in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, preventing global pollution, and the spread of disease. Furthermore, we achieve all of this whilst also securing the earth's natural resources for our future generations. However, to prove all of these claims and more, we must look deeper into recycling and a product's life from its conception to its creation.